AT a procession for local dignitary Sir William Baillie in 1870, some of the musically-inclined men of Whitburn were a little miffed when the Bathgate Band had to be engaged to play at the event.

Why, they queried, should Whitburn not have a band of its own?

A few meetings later and, thanks to a subscription collection and the acquisition of 15 second-hand instruments from Messrs Glen, Pipemakers, Edinburgh, and Whitburn Public Band was born.

Now, 150 years later, through trials, tribulations and triumphs, the band is marking its landmark anniversary in unusual of circumstances with an entire virtual concert featuring one of the world’s best trumpet players.

Mike Lovatt, Principal Trumpet player with Proms favourite the John Wilson Orchestra and the BBC Big Band, will feature alongside the Scottish Open brass band champions tonight at 7.30pm in a cash-raising concert.

The band members have recorded eight pieces of music individually from their homes during the lockdown - including two with Mike – and after it is all edited together, the concert will be broadcast for free on Whitburn Band’s YouTube channel.

The event will be raising money for the West Lothian Food Bank, which is providing much needed help to the people of Whitburn and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic.

The concert will be the centrepiece of the band’s 150th anniversary year. It follows on from Whitburn’s “virtual’”performance of Stars And Stripes Forever, which has been viewed more than 26,000 times online.

Originally formed in West Lothian’s coalmining heartland, Whitburn started as an outlet for members of the mining community to perform at local parades and gala days.

The band’s first notable concert, according to its archive, “must have been on January 25, 1877, when they played at the unveiling of Robert Burns’s statue in Glasgow’s George Square.”

Whitburn Band was one of the founder members of the Scottish Central Brass Band Association in 1900 and four years later, under the conductor’s baton of Mr Friend Farrand at the St Andrew’s Hall in Glasgow, the ensemble won the Association’s Challenge Cup and an impressive £12 prize money.

Known locally as the “Downdies”, Whitburn Band’s present day links with community food banks hark back to its early efforts to support a range of charitable causes in the town and beyond. In November 1904, the band played at the formal opening of the free Carnegie Library in West Calder.

The First World War greatly depleted the ranks and a difficult few years followed. But by 1931, times were more settled and a school for junior bandsmen was set up to encourage new talent.

After the Second World War, a name change – to Whitburn Miners Welfare Band – followed, along with great success. According to the West Lothian Courier, the band won 34 trophies or placings between 1948 and 1954. It became the first Scottish band to secure a National title by winning the Third Section competition in London in 1954.

Success continued during the early 1970s and following the appointment of Major Peter Parkes in 1978, Whitburn dominated the Scottish brass band scene and became regular prizewinners in the major band contests in England.

The band has played for the Queen (in West Lothian in 1955 and, representing Scotland, at the Golden Jubilee celebrations in London in 2002), performed in many of the finest concert halls in Europe, and joined some of Scotland’s finest singers in concert through the decades – Bill McCue, Helen McArthur, Peter Morrison and Anne Lorne Gilles to name a few.

Whitburn Band has been Scottish champion 20 times and in 1990, it was runner-up at the European Brass Band championships.

Today, it is possible to spot the band at major cultural events, such as Celtic Connections and the Edinburgh International Festival, or on the rugby field, where television audiences numbering in the millions hear Whitburn perform the National Anthem of Scotland’s opponents in international games at Murrayfield.

Charlie Farren, the band’s chairman, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to perform our 150th anniversary concert despite the difficulties everyone is having just now.

“We are delighted to have Mike Lovatt as our soloist. He is a joy to work with. We are all looking forward to seeing and hearing the final product, and it is great that we can give

a little bit back to our community by raising money for the West Lothian Food Bank.”