Blue Plaque unveiled

The following is taken from the Rhondda Leader.

THE world-champion Cory brass band have been honoured with a Blue Plaque to mark their 125 years of music-making.

The internationally-renowned Cory Band were saluted by RCT Mayor Robert Smith at a special concert at St Peters Church in Pentre, where he unveiled the plaque.

The Blue Plaque was installed on the band’s practice room behind the Post Office in Ton Pentre. The honour came only a few months after Cory claimed the World Championship title in their field.

Coun Smith praised their musical prowess: “You are fine ambassadors, not only for Rhondda Cynon Taff, but for the whole of Wales. Your achievements are recognised throughout the world as champions of the highest honour.

“The Blue Plaque is richly deserved and I hope every time you see it as you walk into the rehearsal room you will think of the incredible legacy which you currently protect and enhance in memory of the many past members and for the benefit of those players of the future.”

The band was formed in 1884 and originally called Ton Temperance until 1895 when Sir Clifford Cory, chairman of Cory Brothers, heard them and offered to provide financial assistance if they took his name.

Cory first gained championship status in 1920 and three years later performed what is believed to have been the first radio broadcast by a brass band.

A significant honour was bestowed on the band in 1976 when they were chosen to represent Wales on a tour of the USA as part of America’s bicentennial celebrations.

Under musical director Dr Robert Childs in the millennium year, they won both the British Open and the National Championships and made history in taking the British Open Shield home to Wales for the first time in the contest’s 148-year history.

This triumph was repeated in 2002 and again in 2007 when the band won their third British Open title. In 2008, the band won the European Brass Band Championships in Stavanger, Norway.

Members of the Vintage Cory Band – which includes former members of the Cory Band itself – helped provide a first-class concert.

The Mayor unveiled the Blue Plaque to an appreciative audience before it was transported to the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea to be showcased on stage for a spectacular anniversary concert by the Cory Band on the following evening