Introducing our exciting new project, A Grimethorpe Adventure – the playalong with Grimethorpe Colliery Band musical adventure story!

Learn to play a brass instrument whilst joining us in an audio quest as Kim the Canary discovers the exciting underground world of the Grimethorpe mines, complete with noise, trains, explosions and fun!

The pieces are aimed at giving youngsters an opportunity to learn amongst the finest brass musicians, and there will also be some singing, whistling and pots and pans along the way…

This exciting playalong scheme is aimed at all standards of young player from the absolute beginner up to Grade 1, and caters for Bb and Eb instruments. The scheme is particularly suited to differentiated teaching such as Whole Class Ensemble school teaching (known variously as WOPs / WCET/ First Access), as there are a set of differentiated parts which fit together to enable them to be taught simultaneously. The music is also ideal for learning individually, with or without a teacher, or in a small group setting.

In performance terms the pieces can be performed in their entirety for an assembly or alternative performance with the backing tracks or as standalone pieces, and the children can take part in narrating the story between tracks. Grimethorpe Colliery Band will also be doing live performances, so keep an eye out to come and perform with the real-life Grimethorpe musicians.

The parts range from Part A, which is the simplest part aimed at the complete beginner, through to Part C which is pre grade-1 standard. Each part builds gradually in range and complexity, with an emphasis on fun. If you’re feeling adventurous you can work your way through all the A parts, then when you get to the end go back again to the beginning of the story and start all over again with parts B and C.

Pick your part and join us on our GRIMETHORPE ADVENTURE!

1 – THE COLLIERS (Ben Palmer)

Early one morning as the sun is rising Kim the Canary lands in the colliery village of Grimethorpe. From her perch up high she can see the quiet streets, sleepy and empty in the early morning sun, but to her surprise she sees a crowd of miners start to gather and walk down the road, footsteps in sync and lunchboxes swinging from their arms. Intrigued as to what they are doing she decides to follow them through the village to see where they could possibly be going at this time in the morning…

2 – THE FLYWHEEL (Jack Stamp)

Kim follows the colliers to the mine pithead, where she sees the colliery for the first time. The huge intimidating flywheel looms overhead, enormous and awe-inspiring, standing tall above the village. There is a quiet energy around the buildings as more and more men appear for their early morning work, and the steam whistle blasts to mark the start of the shift…

3 – INTO THE EARTH (Rebecca Lundberg)

Kim decides to follow the miners into the lift, leaving the sunlight of the emerging day behind and travelling down the lift shaft, down… down… down into the gloom. Crowded in with the miners, the atmosphere is exciting but nerve-wracking as they head into the blackness down into the earth, with only the spooky light of the miner’s lamps illuminating their journey…

4 – HOPPING THE COAL TRAIN (Ben Palmer)

Having descended deep down into the depths of the earth everyone jumps out of the lift and onto the waiting coal train. The tram taking the miners through tunnels to the coalface is a bumpy and rickety ride… hold on tight… all aboard!

5 – IT’S THE PITS! (Jack Stamp)

They arrive with a jolt at the coalface, and Kim is shocked by the noise and dirt. The gritty action at the coalface is a sight to behold, and the fiercely passionate miners are grafting hard in their dirty hot surroundings. The relentless sounds of machinery and men swinging pickaxes against the walls causes a great din.

Get your pots and pans at the ready for this one, or be inventive and create your own sound effects!

6 – SHUT YER TRAP (Jack Stamp)

Kim spots a young boy opening the trap tunnel for the coal wagons to go through. Intrigued, Kim follows into the long quiet tunnels of the mine. As you leave the coalface behind hear the whoosh of the escaping air rushing through the long long tunnels…

7 – THE MINER’S REFRAIN (Liz Lane)

Kim soon gets lost in the labyrinth of tunnels, straying further and further into the darkness and quite alone in the eerie blackness. Hear the melancholy refrain of all the past souls lost in the mines.

8 – TRAPPED IN THE DARKNESS (Rebecca Lundberg)

As Kim listens to the silent eeriness around her she realises she can hear quiet sounds. The dripping of water and little gusts of air whistling through the tunnels resonate around her, and she can hear the echo of her own voice…

9 – LIGHT OF THE DAVY LAMP (Jack Stamp)

Having almost given up hope Kim starts to think that she can see the tunnel lightening, and there appears a dim distant lamplight, bobbing up and down in the darkness, growing gradually closer and closer. The miners are coming, and whistling a happy song of comradeship…

10 – NOTCH IT UP / FLIGHT! (Ben Palmer)

C’mon, it’s time to head home – let’s race through the labyrinth of the mines and take flight!

11 – KIM THE CANARY (Liz Lane)

It’s time for an encore. Of course no trip to Grimethorpe would be complete without a trip to the miner’s welfare club afterwards. One thing that Kim and everyone in Grimethorpe knows is… how to have a good party!