History of The Band (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry)
The Band of the Royal Yeomanry wear the uniform and badges of the Regiment of which it previously formed part, the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry. The records of the Inns of Court Regiment and its predecessors show that in the middle of the nineteenth century the officers of the Regiment hired 'five Italian musicians' to provide them with music. The tradition of music in the Regiment is thus long established.
The present band dates from around 1960 when musicians were recruited for the Maidenhead Town Band and a Regimental band was reformed. The band flourished and in 1967, when the Regiment was formed, it became the Band of the Royal Yeomanry.At the same time it was supplemented by musicians from other bands in the London area which had been disbanded.
The Bandmaster at that time was Mr B Lee, who already had long experience in the Regular Army before he became Bandmaster of the reformed Band of the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry.Mr Lee continued as Bandmaster until 1976 when he handed over to Mr C Appleby, who had been an established member of the band for several years. For personal reasons Mr Appleby had to give up the baton less than two years later, and he was succeeded in 1978 by Mr Richard Walthew.
Mr Walthew had just retired from 21 years in the Band of the Life Guards. Soon after he became Bandmaster, a long term plan was adopted to form the band into a concert calibre band. The band's location in central London gives it a special opportunity to recruit high class musicians, many of whom had retired after service in the Brigade of Guards and other senior army bands.
They were joined by students and graduates of the London College of Music. Many of the members of the band are professional or semiprofessional musicians. This tradition of musical excellence will continue in 1993, and on Mr Walthew's retirement, the band has for the first time a Director of Music- Major Rodney Parker, who has recently retired from the regular army. The band has twice been inspected by the Kneller Hall School of Military Music. In 1973 it was graded excellent, and in 1987 it was graded outstanding, the highest grade, which is rarely awarded.
The band carries out engagements both at home and abroad, in addition to its Regimental duties. It has made several trips to Germany and twice toured Switzerland where it is twinned with Stadtmusik Zurich, the Band of the City of Zurich. It marches each year in the Lord Mayor's Show in London (on one occasion joined by the Stadtmusik Zurich) but by preference the band plays at concerts, either in public or private.
The most usual venue is the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, where the band has played in massed band concerts with the best of the Regular Army bands. The band has been heard several times on radio, both in the UK and Switzerland, and has recorded the Regimental Marches of the Royal Yeomanry.
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