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York RI Golden Rail Band marks 40th anniversary with special NCEM concert

York RI Golden Rail Band members: Playing 40th anniversary concert at National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, on Friday

YORK RI Golden Rail Band, a brass band with its roots in York’s railway history, will mark its 40th anniversary with a special concert at the National Centre for Early Music on Friday (1/11/2024).

Based at the band room on Queen Street, next to York Station, the Golden Rail Band came into being in 1984, taking on the name of its sponsor at the time, British Rail’s Golden Rail, the operators of popular all-inclusive holidays by train to British resorts in the 1970s and ’80s from a base in York.

Before taking on the Golden Rail name, it was the training band for what is now York RI Band (previously York Railway Institute Band), also based at the Queen Street band room.

The parent band’s relationship with the railways goes back even further, to 1952, following a merger that saw Ebor Excelsior Silver Band and York City Band allied to York Railway Institute, as most members were railwaymen at the time.

After the arrangement with the British Rail package holidays company ended, Golden Rail Band retained the name and went on to take part in brass band contests under the baton of long-time conductor John Warley until 1994.

A number of different conductors succeeded him, not least Huntington schoolboy Jack Capstaff, who took on the role at only 16 years old in 2010, earning the title of Britain’s youngest brass band conductor.

Jack was succeeded by older brother Nicholas Eastwood, who had previously held the title when he began his conducting career aged 19 with Honley Band in Huddersfield.

Other former Golden Rail conductors include Peter Andrews, funeral director Kevin Moxon, the RI Band’s James Lolley and Iain Fell, now of Malton White Star Band, before trombonist Nicholas Eastwood took up the baton again as musical director in January 2022.

He embraced his return to brass bands with typical verve and enthusiasm, driven by an ambition for the band to aim higher and do more innovative programming, and in 2023 he was shortlisted for the Brass Bands England Conductor Award.

Nicholas has devised the programme for Golden Rail’s 40th anniversary concert, with tickets priced at £5 to make the experience accessible and affordable for all, on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk.

“I’m looking forward to our anniversary concert, where we can not only celebrate the successes of the past but also look with pride at the band that has evolved, one that encourages grassroots performance, enthuses audiences, and innovates at a level above its stature,” he says. “This concert will do that, for sure!”

As well as marking the band’s railway roots and connections, Friday’s 7.30pm programme features an environmental-themed original story for brass band written by Nicholas, featuring vocalist Rachel Tuckett and narrated by York actor Paul Joe Osborne. Blackbird brings together a repertoire of popular music, including songs by Paul McCartney, Sia, Queen, Disney’s Hercules and The Cinematic Orchestra.

Reflecting on Golden Rail Band’s history, Nicholas says: “The band’s 40-year legacy is so rich and colourful. We have had so many players that have been through this phenomenal organisation and have gone on to the highest of musical accolades, including other areas of music like jazz, military and orchestral. It’s a privilege to have contributed to that vibrant history, both as a player and as musical director – twice!”

Many of York’s established brass musicians learned to play with Golden Rail, which enjoyed a thriving and sociable youth scene. Former band member Paul Stamp, who now plays with Championship Section Shepherd Brass Band in York, says: “I still have vivid memories of my first ever concert as a young player with the Golden Rail Band. I was around ten years old when I joined the band in 1987.

“It was at the Citadel on Gillygate. I remember pulling on the massive green Golden Rail concert jacket and green tie and walking into the band room before the concert. There must have been at least 20 people that told me I looked like a Teddy Boy! I had no idea what they were talking about.

“I sat on the third cornet seat next to my grandad Bill. I remember returning home and my dad asking my grandad how I did. He said I was great, but I needed to learn my sharps and flats. I’m still working on that!”

Paul retains a fondness for the now dilapidated band room, which is to be knocked down as part of the work connected with York Station Gateway.

“The band room is amazing,” he says. “Its history, intensity and aura are something many bands long for. You can’t buy that. The generations that have come through the Golden Rail Band and emerged as excellent players and friends to this day is quite astonishing.”

Sharon Greenfield joined in 1982 when in its training band days and was there for the transition to the Golden Rail Band name.  “I was very much a part of that band family,” she says. 

“There were a number of kids all of a similar age that grew up in this band together. We had a number of, dare I say, mature players that kept a good eye on us kids and I considered them my banding uncles. John Scarboro, Peter Duck, Billy Stamp, to name a few. I have some wonderful memories of my time with the band. 

“As I grew older and my banding career went off in a different direction, I remember with much fondness my days with the Golden Rail Band. Even though my life took me to a different part of the county, I will never forget my roots and where my brass banding was nurtured.”

York RI Golden Rail Band will round off a year of celebrations by performing at three more iconic venues, playing Selby Abbey with Leeds Male Voice Choir on December 7, a service for the Lullaby Trust at York Minster on December 8 and the Community Carol Service at York Barbican on December 15.

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York Theatre Royal and BBC Radio York team up for Good Friday and Easter Sunday instalments of York Radio Mystery Plays

Director Juliet Forster, top left, and the cast for The Resurrection at a rehearsal on Zoom

BBC Radio York will broadcast two more instalments of the York Radio Mystery Plays in collaboration with York Theatre Royal.

While the Theatre Royal has been closed in Lockdown 3, actors and creatives have been working behind the scenes to record The Crucifixion for Good Friday and The Resurrection for Easter Sunday.

The plays have been adapted by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and writer husband Kelvin Goodspeed from excerpts from the York Mystery Plays, dating back to the 1300s, for recording by a combination of community and professional actors. 

These latest recordings follow on from the audio versions of Adam And Eve, The Flood Part 1, The Flood Part 2 and Moses And Pharaoh, broadcast on BBC Radio York last June.

“I’m delighted to have returned to the York Radio Mystery Plays series this Easter,” says Juliet. “The York Mystery Plays are part of the DNA of this city. They belong to the people of York and have brought people together to create, perform, watch, laugh and cry since the 14th century.

“The longevity of these potent plays clearly demonstrates how vital the collective act of storytelling is and has always been to human beings, and how much we need to explore and reflect together on our experiences and understanding of the world.”

The sourcing of the scripts, recruitment of actors and provision of music has been conducted by the Theatre Royal. In keeping with the social-distancing rules, the production required the actors to rehearse remotely on Zoom, then record their lines on a smart phone from home, whereupon the recordings were sent to BBC Radio York for mixing and collating into finished crafted instalments.

Acting assistant editor Allan Watkiss says: “We’re excited to be working with York Theatre Royal once again to keep the centuries-old tradition of the Mystery Plays alive during the pandemic.”

York Radio Mystery Plays director Juliet Forster

The York Mystery Radio Plays project is part of the Theatre Royal’s Collective Acts, a programme of creative community engagement taking place while the building is closed under Coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

Joining director Juliet in the production team are Edwin Gray, composition, foley and sound design, and Madeleine Hudson, Theatre Royal Choir musical director, songs.

The cast for The Crucifixion is: Andrew Isherwood, as John; Daniel Poyser, 1st Soldier; Toby Gordon, 2nd Soldier; Adam Kane, 3rd Soldier; Ged Murray, 4th Soldier; Stephanie Wood, Mary, mother of Jesus; Joe Osborne, Pilate; Jared More, Jesus; Elizabeth Elsworth, Mary Cleophas; Maria Gray, 1st Thief on the cross, and Kelvin Goodspeed, 2nd Thief on the cross.

Poyser, Gordon, Kane, Murray, Wood, Osborne, More and Elsworth reprise their roles in The Resurrection, performing alongside Sarah Woodmansey as Angel, Dora Rubinstein as Mary Magdalene and Maggie Smales as Caiaphas.

“Like we did before, we’ve gone for a mix of professionals and community actors, but everyone is new for this production as we’ve moved from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and I wanted to reflect that by using new voices,” says Juliet.

BBC Radio York will air The Crucifixion on Good Friday, April 2, at 6.30am and 1.30pm; The Resurrection on Easter Sunday, April 4, 6.30am and 9.30am. They will be available too on BBC Sounds at bbc.co.uk/radioyork

Actor credits:

Elizabeth Elsworth performed in the York Mystery Plays 2012 and the Wagons Festivals in 2014 and 2018. She appeared in York Theatre Royal’s community productionsBlood + Chocolate, In Fog and Falling Snow and Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes, as well as several productions for York Shakespeare Project and York Settlement Community Players.

Toby Gordon as Lucifer in the 2016 York Minster Mystery Plays, when he memorably switched to playing Jesus during the last week of the run

Toby Gordon appeared in the York Mystery Plays 2012 as Workman, in the 2016 York Minster Mystery Plays as Lucifer and in Two Planks & A Passion as Edward Young. Other credits include Antigone (Barbican, London) and The Great Gatsby(Guild of Misrule).

Maria Gray trained at East 15 Drama School (BA Acting) and Flic Circus School in Turin, Italy. She works as an actor, voice-over artist and movement director. Credits include Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre); The Machine Stops (York Theatre Royal/Pilot Theatre); The Beggars Opera(York Theatre Royal) and The Girl Next Door (Teatro Regio). Shewas movement director for A Midsummer Night’sDream and Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre) and Elves And The Shoe Makers (York Theatre Royal).

Andrew Isherwood has been performing on York stages since the York Mystery Plays in 2012, taking on leading roles in classical and musical productions for Pick Me Up Theatre, the York Shakespeare Project and at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre. He regards playing Max Bialystock in The Producers as his career highlight so far.

Jared More trained at the Newcastle Theatre Royal, graduating from the Project A actor training programme in 2019. He is a creative associate of York company Riding Lights, where his credits include Roughshod Deliver, The Selfish Giant and The Kaleidoscope Tour, as well as writing and editing on various projects.

Ged Murray’s first role in the Mystery Plays was as Joseph in the 1992 production at York Theatre Royal. He has since been in the cast in 1996, 2000 (again as Joseph), 2012 and 2016, along with being involved in the Wagon Plays since their resurrection in 1994. He last appeared in the Plays in December 2019 as Shepherd One in the Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s Nativity. His wider acting roles range from Shylock in York Shakespeare Project’s The Merchant Of Venice to the Dame in village pantomimes. 

Exchange of views: Paul Joe Osborne’s Sergeant-Major Reg Drummond and Rory Mulvihill’s Acting Captain Teri Dennis in Privates On Parade in March 2019 . Picture: Matthew Kitchen

Paul Joe Osborne featured in the 2012 York Mystery Plays 2012 but that time at the other end of the Bible, starring as Noah in the Potters Cast. He has played assorted characters at York Theatre Royal Studio in The Seagull, Twelfth Night, Breathing Corpses and Waiting For Godot and Sgt Drummond in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Privates On Parade at Theatre @41 Monkgate. He has also explored TV and film opportunities too in Peaky Blinders, Coronation Street, Ghost Stories and the York comedy horror Chestersberg.

Daniel Poyser trained at Arden School of Theatre.  He has played multiple roles for the National Theatre, as well as appearing in The Play That Goes Wrong (Duchess Theatre, London); The Crucible (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Island and The Three Musketeers (Young Vic, London); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Les Blancs (Royal Exchange, Manchester); An Enemy Of The People (Sheffield Crucible); Blue/Orange(nominated for MEN Best Actor Award), The Merchant of Venice and The BFG (Bolton Octagon), and Strangers On A Train, Arms And The Man and Blue/Orange (Theatre by the Lake, Cumbria). He has myriad television and radio credits too.

Dora Rubinstein trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Credits include A Page A Day (Northern Stage), Cinderella (Cast, Doncaster), Digital Ghost Hunt (York Theatre Royal), Peter Pan and Aladdin (The Dukes, Lancaster), The Wizard Of Oz (Leicester Square Theatre), Romeo And Juliet and Macbeth (Young Shakespeare Company) and The Ballad Of Robin Hood (Southwark Playhouse). She performs and teaches circus skills, such as contortion and acrobatics, and is developing an interactive circus/theatre show for families in partnership with Dance City, Newcastle. 

Maggie Smales is a York theatre maker with both directing and acting credits. She has directed The Stepmother; an all-female Henry V; Blue Stockings and When The Rain Stops Falling. Among her acting roles: York Mystery Plays, A Winter’s Tale, Coriolanus, Follies, Legacy, Twilight Robbery and Tom’s Midnight Garden.

Stephanie Wood trained at the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art and worked professionally for several years, most notably appearing in the cult TV show Knightmare as Elita the Cavern Elf.She has been involved in many of York Theatre Royal’s community shows and was last seen as Arkadina in Chekhov’s The Seagull, whose run in the Theatre Royal Studio concluded shortly before the first lockdown.

Sarah Woodmansey is training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London, on the contemporary performance practices course. She has acted in York Theatre Royal productions of In Fog And Falling Snow, Dick Whittington (And His Meerkat), The Beggar’s Opera and Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes.