The Oswaldtwistle (Fenwicks Embalming Fluids) Band is celebrating its 200th anniversary with a series of special events throughout 2012.
Secretary Rita Liar said, "All early records of the band were destroyed when the old bandroom burnt down in 1974. Nobody could remember when it started, so we had a meeting in the pub and decided that it must be 200 years ago this year. This makes it by far the oldest brass band in the country, a fact that we have been proud to add to the website, which is now receiving 3 to 4 hits per month".
Players have been challenged to raise £200 by the end of 2012, a pound for every year it has existed. Rita said, "All sorts of ideas have been rolling in from the players, from staging cock fights in the Lame Labrador on Friday evenings to a sponsored wankathon. Watch this space!"
