Ellington Colliery Band

Category	Music
Dates	Founded 1925 at Ellington; contest successes in the 1980s; twice at the National Championships in the early 2000s; colliery closed 26 January 2005; Northumbrian Water support for more than a decade; centenary 2025.

A brass band founded in 1925 in the Northumberland pit village of Ellington, which rehearsed at Ellington Colliery until the pit closed in 2005 and now plays from Morpeth as a volunteer-run charity.

Dark statue of a miner in a helmet beside a red pit wheel on a stone plinth, with a fence and cloudy sky behind. — Miners' monument at Ellington, opposite the old colliery institute (2011) Oliver Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

The mining history in this record

The band was founded in 1925 in the mining village of Ellington and was closely tied to the local colliery, rehearsing on the colliery site. The 1980s were a period of great success, with many contest wins, and in the early 2000s the band twice qualified for the National Brass Band Championships and won promotion to the First Section. The closure of Ellington Colliery in 2005, and with it the loss of the miners' support, was a severe blow. Northumbrian Water stepped in as the band's supporter and backed it for more than a decade.

People

John Colvine, band manager at the centenary.

Legacy today

The band has been based in Morpeth for more than ten years and rehearses in the old youth block at King Edward VI School. It is a registered charity run by volunteers, and through its Brass Roots programme it teaches anyone to play, with loan instruments and no fixed fee; over 60 per cent of the band is home-grown. For its centenary in 2025 it commissioned a new composition, planned a commemorative plaque in Ellington beside the village's miners' statue, and began a digital archive.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

The band was founded in 1925 in the mining village of Ellington and rehearsed on the colliery site until Ellington Colliery closed in 2005. (documented fact) ^1,2
In the early 2000s the band twice qualified for the National Brass Band Championships and won promotion to the First Section. (contemporary account) ²
The closure of Ellington Colliery in 2005 and the loss of the miners' support was a severe blow; Northumbrian Water supported the band for over a decade. (contemporary account) ²
The band is a volunteer-run registered charity based in Morpeth, whose Brass Roots programme teaches newcomers with loan instruments. (contemporary account) ¹
For its 2025 centenary the band commissioned a new composition and planned a commemorative plaque in Ellington beside the miners' statue. (contemporary account) ¹

Mines

Ellington Colliery — Northumberland
Founded in 1925 in Ellington, the band rehearsed on the colliery site and drew on the miners' support until the pit closed in 2005.

Real-world mining concepts used here

Colliery

Sources

(secondary) How Ellington Colliery Band are celebrating their centenary — Living North
(secondary) Ellington Colliery Band — Open Concerts

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026