A TISSINGTON couple have helped make Ashbourne Town Band a real family affair — by playing alongside all four of their children.
Edward and Margaret Carr have played in the brass band for 16 years and as their children have grown, so has the band.
And while the son, daughter, brother and niece of conductor Eric Lees are also band members the Carrs have the distinction of being the only complete family set.
Margaret, 40 and Edward, 42, met at Broomfield Agricultural College and were married in 1989. They moved to The Stables at Edward’s parents’ farm and have lived in Tissington ever since.
The family, who also keep fit together and work together on Margaret’s designs for the Tissington Well Dressings, are a close-knit group dedicated to keeping the tradition of the town band alive.
Margaret said: “I’ve been playing the cornet since I was nine years old. I’ve always enjoyed it and when we got married, Edward decided to learn the bass trombone. We joined Ashbourne Town Band together in 1994 and the kids have joined us as they’ve learned to play.”
The four Carr children play alongside their parents at many functions around the region.
James, 18, plays the baritone, Stephen, 17, plays the BB flat bass, 15-year-old Naomi plays the tenor horn and Kathryn, 11, plays the flugel horn.
Margaret said: “I was always hopeful that they would join.
"It’s brilliant really — it’s something we can do together and they always seem to enjoy it.
"We wouldn’t force them to do it if they didn’t want to, but we all enjoy travelling around and playing in the band.
“We go all over the place doing garden fetes and indoor concerts — we’ve done some crazy challenges for charity fund-raisers and all kinds of things.
“I think it is important for children to learn a musical instrument. You hear so many people say they wish they’d learned to play, so we encouraged the kids to learn and they’ve just carried on.”
The family, who are playing at the Waterloo pub in Biggin on Saturday night and Oakamoor church on Sunday, try to spend as much time together as possible.
Margaret said: “We all attended Slimming World together for a while. I still go regularly with Naomi, who is a child member. Since I first started I’ve lost five stone and as Edward came too, he lost a lot of weight as well. Because of that, the kids came with us and were just weighed for a while to monitor their weight as they grew. Now I try to drill it into them about eating healthily and keeping fit— it’s something else we try to do as a family whenever we can.”
Margaret, Edward and their children will be at a Brass Band Workshop held by the Ashbourne Town Band at Ashbourne Town Hall from 10am on Saturday where potential new members are welcome to attend.
