A MEMBER of Stanhope Silver Band is celebrating 50 years of playing music publicly.
Janet Walach is originally from Bishop Auckland but spends most of her time at the holiday home she shares with her partner, Debra, at Bradley Burn. The 61-year-old first took up the trombone when she started secondary school, encouraged by the music teacher – Alf Liddle who hailed from Hunwick.
“He took one look at me and said, ‘trombone player’ and I replied, ‘no way’ but the very next day, I started to play at the age of 11 years old,” recalled Janet.
“We had a great school brass band and I progressed to play for Durham County Youth Band on a weekend at Gilesgate. Mr Liddle was a massive influence in my life as it turns out, he encouraged me when family and friends mocked me: ‘a girl playing a trombone? You will get laughed at – they said.”
Before Janet left school, Mr Liddle encouraged her to join Brancepeth Brass Band who practised at Willington. She still has a film of her marching with that band at a carnival in Witton Park where she remembered being asked to play 1st Trombone.
“I didn’t because I was not confident enough even though the 1st Trombone player was willing me to do it!”
Janet later joined West Auckland band where she discovered that her great grandfather had played for them and he played Trombone too. She has also helped out Middleton-in-Teesdale band too until she joined Cockerton Band in Darlington where she met and made lots of good friends. These included the late Dickie Harrison who Janet admired as a ‘fantastic’ trombone player.
“He was my hero,” she said. “He also wanted me to play 1st Trombone but I was happy being second. Cockerton was in a different league – very good and very professional and I stayed there for many years.”
Janet, who is a mother-of-two and grandmother to six, was a property valuer for Halifax Estate Agent for 14 years before being made redundant when the business closed. She moved to Lifestyle property until last year when her daughter, Katie, gave birth to identical twin boys and she took a part-time job with Ultimate Flowers in Bishop Auckland, delivering flowers. She also began painting rocks during lockdown with her granddaughter and didn’t stop! She says it is a relaxing hobby and offers them for sale at local craft fairs.
At Cockerton, Janet and the band competed in many contests, including one in Torquay and especially enjoyed taking part in Darlington’s Santa Parade, following real reindeer. She took part in the Remembrance Parades in the town too and at many other events. But times – and people change – and she found travelling to Darlington just too much from Bradley Burn and so decided to look closer to home – to our own Stanhope Silver Band.
Janet’s partner, Debra, has joined her at Stanhope and at the age of 64, she has begun learning to play the cornet.
“Debra is doing brilliantly. I think, until you actually join a band, you don’t realise how the band is like a second family and the pleasure you get from entertaining others. It’s just second nature to me but Debra highlighted how proud she is when I play and is in awe of me!”
Janet played for Stanhope for the first time at the Christmas lights switch on last December and then Covid put a stop to band practises and she joined others for meetings via the internet before moving into the barn on Stanhope show field for socially distanced rehearsals.
“It was the first time I had played with a tractor beside me,” Janet laughed. “I’ve had lots of firsts and another was just last week when we played in the bull ring at the auction mart in Darlington.”
And so, the 50th anniversary sees Janet with the almost 200-year-old Stanhope Silver Band – at last playing 1st Trombone.
“Dickie and Mr Liddle would be so pleased and proud,” she said.
