The Royal Signals (Northern) Band

• Active since: 1952 
• Role: British Army Reserve Band 
• Location: Darlington
• Catchment area: County Durham, North Yorkshire, Northumberland

The Band is proud to hold a long-established place within the heritage of the Royal Corps of Signals.

The Regular Army ‘Band of the Royal Corps of Signals’ was formed in 1921, receiving official recognition in 1938.

The Army Reserve Band, initially known as ‘The Band of the 50 (Northumbrian) Signal Regiment’, was formed in 1952, making it one of the oldest in the British Army Reserve. In 1967 the Band was renamed ‘The 34^th (Northern) Signal Regiment (Volunteers) Band’ upon the amalgamation of three Territorial Army bands: The Royal Signals, the Royal Engineers, and the 6 Durham Light Infantry. In 1999 the Band lost its ‘official’ status when it was disbanded under the Strategic Defence Review. Fortunately, with the support of the Corps, the Band was kept alive as an ‘unofficial’ band within 34 Signal Regiment - the musicians were re-trained as Driver Linemen and served a dual role (and learned some interesting new skills in the process!). In 2008, the Band received its official status back and was renamed ‘The Royal Signals (Northern) Band’.

For many years, the Royal Corps of Signals had two bands - the Regular Army Band and the Army Reserve Band. The Regular Army Band was disbanded in 2019 upon its amalgamation into British Army Band Sandhurst with the Band of the Royal Logistic Corps; leaving the Army Reserve Band as only Band representing the Royal Corps of Signals.

Address: 50 Signal Squadron, Bradford Armoury, Neasham Road, Darlington DL1 4DF.

Rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings from 1930-2130 plus one full weekend per month.

Travelling by car: access is straightforward from the A1, A66 or A19.

Public transport: Darlington train station is a short walk away and there is a bus stop nearby.

The Band comprises of brass, woodwind and percussion instrumentalists aged between 18-65. Some Band members also play string instruments, bass guitar, guitar, keyboard, and/or vocals.

The Band is non-deployable, and the majority of our members have regular civilian jobs and play in the Band on a part-time basis. Members include ex-Regular Army Musicians, professional musicians, and civilians from all walks of life, including a number of University students.

Many of our Band members also play in other ensembles, such as Brass Bands.

The Band performs in a variety of formats, including marching band, concert band, mess/dinner band, brass quintet, saxophone quartet, woodwind quintet and jazz combo.

Engagements take place throughout the year. We regularly support Military, charity, and community occasions, as well as events held by the Regiment and the Royal Signals Association. Darlington Proms in the Park has taken place annually since 2013 and is the most popular community event in our calendar.

We perform throughout the North-East and Yorkshire, and abroad - in recent years the Band has travelled to Germany, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Sweden, and Jersey; and small contingents have travelled to Finland, Israel, France and the Falkland Islands.

The Band regularly performs alongside The Pipes and Drums of the Royal Corps of Signals, and collaborates with other Army Reserve Bands and Regular Army Bands.