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Our History

Thundersley is situated on the Thames Estuary in Essex, between the towns of Benfleet and Rayleigh, some six miles west of Southend-on-Sea.  Brass banding in the local community goes back to at least the early part of the last century.  The modern ‘Thundersley Brass Band’ was formed in 1980 from a nucleus of young local players, some of who are still current band members.  In the late 1980's and early 1990's the band achieved regular success at numerous competitions including qualifying for the 1989 Fourth Section National Finals in London. The journey to success gathered momentum in 2006 under the baton of Keith Schroeter when they were crowned London & Southern Counties 4th Section champions, gaining promotion to the L&SC 3rd Section for the following year.  During this busy period they continued to perform well in competitions and were declared ‘Southern Counties Amateur Bands Association Band of the Year’.  The band took up permanent residency at Richmond Hall in 2009 which has proved to be a versatile base for rehearsing purposes and also serves as a suitable venue for concerts.

Thundersley Brass steadily progressed over the next few years under musical director Roland Morris and were promoted into the L&SC 2nd Section.  By winning the L&SC areas in 2011 under Stephen Tighe and in again in 2012 under musical director John Ward, entry was gained into the 1st Section for 2013, finally realizing a long standing goal for its founding members.

With the appointment of musical director Nigel Taken, the band won the 2014 L&SC (1st Section) and were promoted into the Championship Section for 2015.  The band were runners-up in the L&SC areas for 2018 qualifying for the Nationals at the Royal Albert Hall later that year.  Under new musical direction of Melvin White the band earned a qualification at the Welsh Open in 2019 for the British Open Spring festival and competed in May 2019 with a strong debut finish earning a return invite.  Thundersley Brass Band continue to look forward to cementing a strong place in the regional Championship Section in the coming years…

About Thundersley Brass Band

Our provisional list of events are as follows

Date Event
Fri 1st Dec'23 Xmas concert, Runnymede Hall, Benfleet
Sun 17th Mar'24 L&SC Areas, Stevenage
Sat 11th May'24 British Open Spring Festival, Winter Gardens, Blackpool
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(Priory Park bandstand, Southend-on-sea, April 2017)

Where to find us

The location of our rehearsal hall is Richmond Hall, Richmond Avenue, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 5HA:


News Archive


Past Honours

* May 2023 - British Open Spring Festival (Senior Trophy winners)

* March 2018 - L&SC Areas (championship section runners up)

* September 2017 - SCABA Autumn Contest (championship section runners up)

* November 2015 - Milton Keynes Open (runners up)

* March 2014  – L&SC Areas (1st Section winners)

* September 2013 - SCABA Autumn Contest (1st Section winners)

A complete list of our contesting results can be found at www.brassbandresults.co.uk