The band was originally formed in 1890, and rehearsed in Wensley. The band was a typical village brass band, taking part in local traditions and events such as Fairs, Church Services, and other annual events entertaining the community.
However, come the early 1960’s, the numbers in the band began to dwindle, and in 1965, the band admitted defeat and ceased to exist, selling all the instruments to the County Education Authority along with the music and all other equipment.
In 1984, a local business man, and Brass Band enthusiast, Richard Marriott, had aspirations to re-form a brass band in Darley Dale, and so funded the re-formation of the Darley Dale Brass Band, and on 14th October 1984, the band began playing once again.
For two or three years, the band continued as before – playing locally in Derbyshire, however, as time went on, the band gained a new Conductor – Roger Jepson in 1987. Roger had aspirations for the band to compete at the Regional Brass Band Championships, which they entered in the Fourth section for the very first time in 1989, where they won first place.
This was the start of a chain of high finishes for the band.
The band went on to win the Fourth section again in 1990, and was later promoted to Third section in 1991. Although the band did not manage to win this section, they accrued enough points to win them a second promotion in to the Second section in 1993, where they stole the winning prize two consecutive years leading to their final promotion in to the First section in 1995.
The band remained in the First section for seven years until 2002, when they were relegated in to the second section.
Due to once again dwindling numbers – the band participated in their final contest in 2005, being placed a disappointing 13th out of 14.
Now, 2008, the band is back down to only a handful of members, but with high hopes of making a come back during 2008 – hopefully the Darley Dale Brass Band can be put back on the map.