. . The story I am going to unfold to you really starts back in 1904, which is over 104 years ago. The 11th Viscount Massereene & Ferrard who lived in Antrim Castle who had a deep passion for music and was also an accomplished violinist, decided in 1904 to purchase musical instruments from Bossey of London. Then on January 13 1905 Lord Massereene & Ferrard sent a letter to the Town Commissioners who were in charge of the running of Antrim - just like the Council of today - and set out his vision for the future: He wrote: 'I have in my possession as my own property a set of musical instruments for a Brass and Reed Band. As I am anxious to see a good band in Antrim, I intend to hand these over to trustees, to become their property, but for the use of a Band to be got up in Antrim to be called the Massereene Brass and Reed Band'. 'The trustees are to lend the instruments, or as many as may be required, to the members of the band, who shall each undertake in writing to return his instrument in good condition or the value thereof on receiving notice from the trustees. 'Accordingly I hereby transfer to you, the musicals set forth in the schedule hereto in Trust for the purpose mentioned. I authorize and direct you to add to your number whenever you think fit. Massereene & Ferrard'.

. . The response from the local townsfolk was overwhelming and more had to be purchased right away, in fact up until January 23 1934. Lord Massereene then had a circular 'Band Room' music tower built in the grounds next to Antrim Castle - and he even hired and brought over from London a professional musical Conductor. The band room seating was circular so that the conductor could stand in the middle and turn on himself to conduct the band.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sadly the 11th Viscount Massereene & Ferrard died later that year but his son who now became the 12th Viscount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Massereene & Ferrard was also fond of music and continued his father's sponsorship of the band. In fact the new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viscount Massereene in June 1912 held a grand bazaar in the Castle Grounds for his friends solely to raise funds for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .the continuation and as he said 'to revive and stimulate a love for music in our ancient town'.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The band became very famous and played not only at concerts but also at dances but was also held in high regard by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .the 12th Viscount and the people who heard them play. To show how highly important and regarded the band were . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .on June 22 1911 King George V was crowned and it was a public holiday. All of Antrim were out celebrating and to lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the people in their celebrations was the Massereene Brass and Reed Band. As they marched from Massereene School to the top of the .town, then called Townhead, the townsfolk followed them joining in the tunes and then retraced their steps with the.band back to Market Square were in front of the Courthouse steps they played the National Anthem. After that all the town's schools pupils went off to the Agricultural Showgrounds which was near the railway station. Then in the evening the locals amassed once again in the Market Square and the Massereene Brass and Reed Band once more assembled opposite the Ulster Bank to play a selection of tunes which the crowds enjoyed and enthusiastically joined in.

. . Then on Wednesday November 13 1918 when the world celebrated the news of the cessation of hostilities of World War One. Antrim like many other towns celebrated also with flags being flown from all business premises and private houses which along with the local factories closed for a few hours. The Antrim Town Commissioners then held a special meeting and arranged for a thanksgiving service, which was held at the Market Square, where thousands of people had assembled the the Rt Rev Dr Thomas West presiding. After prayers and the singing of the 100th Psalm, the audience was addressed by Rt Rev Dr West, Rev MFH Collis, Rev AA Crawford, Rev WA Adams and Rev A Gibson. Then to finish off the service the Massereene Brass and Reed Band played some 'choice selections' - the occasion once again highlighting the important role they played at the heart of their community.

. . Now you might be asking yourself where this band is now and why haven't you heard of them before - well like a lot of things in the past they were quietly forgotten deliberately. When the band disbanded the instruments along with their uniforms were given to the band's trustee George Clarke who stored them in his offices in High Street. In the 1970s when Jack Allen former Mayor of Antrim Borough Council learned of their existence had them catalogued and collected. Jack knowing how famous they were had them displayed for a while not only inside Margaret Kelly's shop in High Street but also in the window for all to see, it was were the Nationwide offices are now. Jack believed and quite rightly so was that they should be put on public display - perhaps at Clotworthy house, which he was negotiating to transform into an Arts Centre. Before that could happen the instruments along with the uniforms which were Black with Red trimmings to the Antrim Forum to a store room and sadly this was the beginning of the end of the instruments.

. . In the 1980's Manager of the Antrim Forum Allen Moneypenny invited up to the former council Offices a member of Whiteabbey Silver band and the Treasurer to ask their advice on how to start up a band. Also two former employees of the Antrim Forum remember during their lunch breaks trying on the uniforms and pretending to play the instruments while marching up and down.

. . Disaster now strikes the band's instruments in the form of the refurbishment of the Antrim Forum in the 1990's when according to the council an unknown employee of the council decided that the instruments along with the uniforms were useless and were then dumped in a skip or were they?

. . Five years ago in 2003 I heard about the band as I was researching the history of Antrim and I wondered where these Musical instruments could be so I asked the council and was told they knew nothing about them. Then in 2004 at nomination award ceremony at the former Antrim Council Offices, a council employee from the Antrim Forum came to me and said that he had seen the instruments and uniforms in a storeroom. He said he and his supervisor would go and check in the morning and give me ring, sure enough the following morning he rings me to say he and his supervisor were shocked and astonished to find that the instruments were gone. What puzzles me is how could the instruments have been thrown out in the 1990's is these two people had seen them since that?

. . For over the past four years I have put photographs regularly in our local paper the Antrim Guardian of the Massereene Brass and Reed Band asking for information about the instruments and uniforms. In fact a spokesperson for Antrim Borough Council rang the Antrim Guardian office to ask them to refrain from putting anymore articles of this nature in the paper!

. . For the next two years anytime I asked the council about the instruments I was brushed off. I even received a copy of an audit that listed the musical instruments they had on the 31st January 1980 from the Antrim Town Development Company, still they didn't want to know. Then out of the blue I get an email from the owner of 'The Thatch Inn' in Broughshane in 2007 to say he had purchased some musical instruments to put up on the bar wall as a focus of local interest, but wasn't exactly sure of the band's correct name. When I arrived at The Thatch Inn I knew immediately that here were some of the Massereene Brass and Reed Instruments, but sadly some in a poor condition. There on the Silver instruments was the maker's name, serial number and the name of the band. The owner was shocked to say the least when I told him about the story of the instruments. I advised him to go ahead with his plan to put them up on the wall, for as least I now knew where some of the instruments were.

. . Once again I got in touch with Antrim Borough Council overjoyed to tell them the news, their reply was " They might not be the one's that were in storage at the Antrim Forum" and once again nothing was done! This seemed strange to me that here were not only historical but valuable musical instruments which do belong to the people of Antrim and were entrusted to the council for safe keeping. So I once more turned the Guardian newspaper to have another article put in the paper after being in touch with the curator of the Horniman Museum in South London. Dr Bradley Strauchen-Scherer who looks after over over 7,000 instruments at the museum said what exactly was at stake. " It would be a mistake to simply suggest that these are old instruments of little or no value," she said. " Having spoken with Mr. Kinley I can see that these items have a real cultural value as they are part of the town of Antrim's History. "But these instruments undoubtedly have a financial value too. "Instruments dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s were hand-crafted and they can be worth a considerable amount of money. "It would be fair to say that a very valuable nest egg has apparently slipped through the fingers of Antrim Council."

. . Now in June 2007 at a Antrim Council Awards night I was asked to a council meeting to discuss the musical instruments. When I attended this meeting I was asked to come on board to help sort out this mess. At this meeting among the things I was told was "We must get these instruments back. "Do you think he would sell them to us?. "What if we offered to replace them with other instruments. And finally "We must make arrangements to go and see this man and the instruments."

. . Sadly nothing came of it so on the 20th May 2008 I sent in a Freedom of Information request to finally get some answers, here is their reply to my request dated 17th June 2008. The replies to look at are Questions 1-29 also Question 39 these concerned the musical instruments. How can they at the start of the letter say they don't know where they are or that they ever possessed them. When at the end of the letter they state they threw them out!

. . Something else I have found out, before they sent out their reply to my request for information, they had a councillors meeting behind closed doors to discuss the letter. That they had sent a senior Council official to the Thatch Inn as the owner had told them he would sell them back to them at the price he paid for them. This council official then reported back that they were not worth buying back! I have therefore had to send in a further 3 Freedom of Information requests. I will let you of their answers.

. . On Thursday 26th June 2008 I was invited to speak on BBC Ulster radio in the David Dunseith's radio show "Talk Back" concerning the musical instruments. I of course accepted, the council only gave a statement which in fact was their reply to my Question 39!

Len Kinley.