| The Fairey Band | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1937 |
| Type | Brass band |
| Headquarters | Sir Richard Fairey Road, Heaton Chapel, SK4 5DY |
| Musical Director | Russell Gray |
| Parent organization | Fairey Aviation Company |
| Affiliations | Geneva Instruments |
The Fairey Band is a brass band based in Heaton Chapel in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Its name comes from Sir Richard Fairey and the Fairey Aviation Company, famous in later years for the Fairey Delta 2 aircraft - the first aircraft in level flight to exceed 1,000mph, and had an important contribution to the shape of Concorde and its droop nose.
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The band was formed in 1937 as the Fairey Aviation Works Band by workers at the aircraft factory. This was at a time when the company was producing aircraft that would see plenty of action in the first few weeks of World War II, although sadly few of its aircraft would be of sufficient calibre to pose a real threat to German aircraft. Its aircraft mainly carried torpedoes for the Fleet Air Arm, especially the old-fashioned yet versatile and destructive Fairey Swordfish. Fairey were taken over by Westland Aircraft of Yeovil, chiefly due to its innovative Fairey Rotodyne.
It became known as the Williams Fairey Band when Fairey Engineering was taken over by Williams Holdings in 1986. This company was bought by the American Kidde fire safety company in 2000, although the band retained the Williams Fairey name. The sponsorship by Kidde finished at the end of 2002. In 2003, they were sponsored by FP (Music), a subsidiary of Fosters Partners (Asia). At the beginning of 2010 the band acquired a new sponsorship in the shape of the British brass instrument maker Geneva Instruments of Saltburn-by-the-Sea and is now known as the “Fairey (Geneva) Band”.
After several lean contesting years 2010 has seen a remarkable resurgence in the bands fortunes, with overall victory in the Tameside Whit Friday march competitions and an invitation to the 2011 European Brass Band Championship in Montreux courtesy of their victory at the 2010 English National Brass Band Championship. Further success followed with runners up spots at the 2010 British Open and Brass in Concert Championships, and a 3rd place at the National Championship finals at Londons Albert Hall.