Brass band set a gold standard for our history

Why have we not heard of this part of our history before? The band's performance was spectacular and hopefully they will be back in Newcastle very soon. Thank you to those who organised this.

SIMON McCarthy's story about the BHP Newcastle Steelworks Band's 1924 overseas tour ("The mighty brass band from Steel City", Topics, 17/6), was a worthy contribution to the centenary celebrations of that legendary event. The recent tribute concert to the 1924 Steel Works band by Brass Band Newcastle was a ripper. A near full Harold Lobb Concert Hall expressed its joy at this celebration of Newcastle, music, and life itself by giving a standing ovation to the 33 fine musicians that band leader Conrad Curry and his colleagues had attracted from far and wide.

We heard music that the BHP Steel Works performed in Britain, South Africa and New Zealand during their 11-month tour. An excellent commentary from the microphone by Ross Fiddes and Mark Corben's slide show of historic images displayed above the stage made this a very Newcastle event.

As a long-time band and Newcastle enthusiast, I'd wanted to contribute to the centenary celebrations. I had noted a photo of an unnamed band in a book in a glass case at Delprat House (the Newcastle Industrial Heritage Association's headquarters) and suspected that this could be a picture of the BHP Steel Works Band. This little book turned out to be a souvenir of the Prince of Wales's visit to the BHP Steel Works on 25 June 1920 and it contains four band images.

A close-zoom comparison of the musicians, their uniforms and accouterments, and their instruments, with those in known photos confirms that these pictures are indeed images of the 1924 Steel Works Band. Wonderful! Formal, posed photos of the band are easy to find, but these "new" pictures are the only unposed images of the band that I know. These are pictures of the band on the job, playing music.

These images have not been shared since the prince's visit, but now I expect they'll be available at the uni's Living Histories site.

While they were in London the band made a series of gramophone recordings, some of which are available free of cost on YouTube.

WHAT were the motives of the vandals who senselessly damaged kids' sporting facilities in and around Swansea, Pelican and Blacksmiths? ("Copper crooks test the metal of volunteers", Herald, 3/7).

Since there is virtually no market for used copper pipes and taps, I have to assume their motives cannot have been pecuniary. I would personally bet that the culprits are disaffected and mindless teenage boys, who feel discouraged in pursuing any sport. I say 'teenagers,' because little kids neither know nor care whether they win or lose unless they are influenced by an adult.

I recall an under-6s soccer match between Belswans and Valentine that was played many years ago at Chapman Oval. I was the luckless and ignorant coach of Valentine, roped into the job since my son played in the team. The Belswans team was well prepped, and stayed in their positions and passed the ball to each other, whereas my team thought the ball was a honeypot and that they were bees, all drawn towards it.

At the end of the game, when the final whistle had blown, all my team triumphantly jumped in the air, yelled, and did high fives with each other. One team member asked 'How did we do, Mr Black?' I said nothing. They had been defeated 20-0. Pretty one-sided, in a 24-minute game. But who cared?

TONY Morley ("East End coal site was best choice", Letters, 29/6): as an East End resident who came to surf here when Zaara Street power station was still there, I think it is about time to put the term NIMBY to bed.

A narrative was created around the Supercars imposition. Residents and ratepayers were cast as NIMBYs and told to accept their fate by those outside the city's historic precinct and surrounding locations.

What came with the Supercar imposition and the precious little regard for the lived history of Australia's oldest export port? Collectively and individually, the residents were on notice; I was told, In My Back Yard is Sweet (IMBYS).

Tony Morley's opinion may well be correct. Zaara Street power station was in the right place at the time. But a Supercars race in Newcastle East was always in the wrong place. Seven years of dragging the residents down an avenue of community disharmony and wasteful fossil fuel indulgence was plain imbecilic.

If there is one takeaway from the Supercars experience, it is time to put the stereotyping aside and look to a better-off overall assessment; NIMBYism has lost its value.

THERE are two choices facing the Reserve Bank. They can let the economic slowdown take longer to get to the target inflation band, or whack rates up another one to three times and crash land it. What's clear is we are in a per capita recession. While the various governments spend like drunken sailors, the RBA might be better off pushing out the timeframe for getting to 2 to 3 per cent and landing the inflation plane behind schedule but with less carnage.

THE carnage goes on in Gaza and world leaders turn a blind eye. Macron is taken up with election results, Sunak is gearing up for an election, Biden is trying to hold it together and Albanese is a gutless wonder. Shame on the lot of them.

DON Owers ("Would costings help Dutton case?", Letters, 3/07"), it was a former Liberal defence minister, David Johnston, who denigrated Australian shipbuilding, not a Labor minister as your letter stated. Johnston lived to regret his incongruous comment, by his own admission. By the way, it is not cost that is the greatest problem with nuclear.

YOUR correspondent stated that "a previous Labor minister said that the Australian submarine corporation couldn't build a canoe". This is incorrect. On 25 November 2014, Liberal Senator David Johnston, Tony Abbott's Minister for Defence, said during a Senate debate: "... you wonder why I wouldn't trust them (the Australian Submarine Corporation) to build a canoe?"

JOE Biden, the most popular president in American history with 81 million genuine votes in 2020, looks like he will be rolled in a bloodless coup by the party machine.