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Extracts from St Agnes and its Band by Tony Mansell

Bill Cheshire was born in Lancashire in 1919 and brought to Cornwall at the age of four. He joined the band when he was 11 years old and played cornet. He sat next to his future wife, Esther, at primary school and it could be said their romance started then. During the Second World War he wrote to her and, by sheer coincidence, their letters crossed in the post. By the time he was demobbed they had decided to become engaged. Following their marriage in 1944 they moved to Redruth from where he cycled to St. Agnes for band practice until he resigned in 1946. That was the end of his banding career except for a later period when he was President.

Ronnie Matthews, known to some as Cuthbert, was born in 1925 and started learning the cornet just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The band was disbanded for the duration of the war and when it reformed in 1945 Ron was on National Service. When he returned in 1947 he rejoined and played cornet for a few years. In 1949 Ronnie married Daphne and they had two children, David and Susan. Daphne was a member of the Ladies’ Committee and a good worker for the band. Ron later played baritone and euphonium and I spent most of my playing career sitting next to him. He left the band in 1974 but did return to help out from time to time

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