| THE BEGINNING.
July 1996, seen the fallout amoungst members of a very good and well known flute band the Whiteabbey Protestant Boys, half of which lived in the town of Carrickfergus. A few of the Carrick members left the band after walking in Londonderry that august, and the following week most of the Carrick contingent either leaving or being thrown out by the remaining Members this started the idea of us getting our own band off the ground. A Connor rang around several ex-members and those who had been on the committee of the W.P.B. and arranged a meeting to discuss the possibility for and against a new Blood and Thunder band. |
| We arrived at D McMurtry's house for this meeting; who himself had not been a member of a flute band for some time. David had an interest in seeing a local band that would take part in parades and competitions all over Northern Ireland on a weekly basis. This had been the main reason for young men from Carrick joining bands outside their own town. The local bands at that time only took part in orange parades and local competitions, we talked about numbers realising we had a good core of a band to build around.
There were five drummers including two capable of lead tip, a bass drummer and eleven to twelve fluters of which three were former band captains. We also had the benefit of having played together for a few years. Then we decided to have a public meeting to see if there was a similar interest amongst others. A new name had to be found; we all thought the name, if possible should be linked to something historical with the town of Carrick. Library books were consulted over the next few days. Fusiliers was proposed but it came to light another band had used this name for a short time and a band in Armagh was also off this name. As many regiments had been stationed in Carrick Castle, some of the lads decided to go through the names for a now disbanded regiment. We liked the idea of a military type name but to no avail. There were plenty of names but none had that ring to it. It was then revealed that most of these regiments had Grenadiers, These soldiers had artillery duties throwing bombs and in later years grenades. We then thought this not possible because at present, there still is a Grenadier regiment in the British Army whose roots lay in the British Grenadiers. At that, one member remarked,"well couldn't we be the Ulster Grenadiers"? This posed a problem as another local band had used the name Castle Grenadiers for a few weeks. When we had established the fact that they never walked under this name and were on the verge of breaking up, we agreed on the "Ulster Grenadiers F.B." Now we had a name, now we needed a band and money. The last Saturday in August was only over a week away. The Belfast Black Men were coming to Carrick for their annual Demo. The opportunity to make some money for our new funds was upon us. One of the members suggested setting up a stall at the starting point of the parade, selling tea and sandwiches, this was agreed. Another suggested selling keyrings, this was also accepted. On the morning of Black Saturday the keyrings were distributed among the lads, while some of their wives and girlfriends delivered sandwiches to the stall, this was a great success and a lot of much needed funds were raised. |
| THE BIRTH OF THE "GRENS".
The forming of the Ulster Grenadiers took place on the first Wednesday night in September 1996. To everyone's delight around 40 people were in attendance the meeting was opened and the first committee was revealed. This was made up of five members who had attended the first meeting a few weeks earlier. The committee then told everyone present what type of band was being formed including rules and dues, which were set at £5 per week. Money had to be raised to purchase instruments etc.. This was a good means to root out any deadwood from the outset. A register was taken of peoples names with everyone present joining this new band, Alot of these new members had played with bands in years gone by but could see nothing attractive in local bands, who for years had not moved forward. These young men were excited by what was taking place, they got the "Buzz" back! Others had their sons or nephews with them and some brothers too, almost everyone had at least one relative in the band. But from that night on we were all one family with the surname "The Ulster Grenadiers". |
| TAKING OUR FIRST STEP.
A collection permit was obtained and a route form submitted to Carrickfergus R.U.C. Station. The drum struck a beat and the Grens took their first step, all dressed in hats and scarves and the warmest coats in the house, we marched for about two and a half hours around four housing estates taking turns at collecting and playing. People gave us a warm welcome and commented on how well we played given our short time together, but boy didn't we look awful, or like a gang of local roughians as many of our new donors probably thought. At the end of November we were invited to play at an indoor concert in the Bently Nite club in Magherafelt, T-shirts were needed as we still didn't have a uniform and had decided to buy a new uniform, as opposed to second hand ones. Screen printed T-shirts were handed out on the production of £5 from each member, the coach arrived and off we went with our stomachs in knots, the reason for the nerves and being on edge, was knowing we were to be judged, by every bandsman and woman there. We went down well with everyone congratulating us for what we had achieved in such a short time, most of all we surprised ourselves, seeing other bands performing on the night and knowing we were as good and better than most. |
| NEW YEAR - NEW UNIFORM.
On the first band night in January, everyone got measured for new uniforms, this was to be light blue (aqua) jackets, black hats and trousers with silver piping down the leg, dress cords, white hackles and white gloves. Easter was getting closer and hymns had to be learned for Easter Sunday.A tape was recorded with the title being "Simply Exsplosive", this recording took place in the band hall of "York Road No Surrender F.B. on the Shore Road area of Belfast, the members present on that night played until the early hours of the next morning, in an effort to get it on to a master cassette as bringing back the mobile recording studio would have been an unwanted expense, This was a great success with over 1,000 tapes being sold. The week before Easter, Marcus Tailoring arrived with our new suits, belts and dress garments, the sight of the "Grens" in their underwear was not a pleasant sight of this motley crew in their new gear, sent the heart beating faster. |
| EASTER PARADES.
Easter Sunday 1997 was a very special day in our history Carrick junior District Annual Service and parade was held that day, but differently than any other year the "Ulster Grenadiers were on parade"! The biggest Carrickfergus flute band to have walked in the town for several years but not only that, to be doing it on a sunday! with colours carried at the front followed by a drum major with gleaming new mace pole, eight side drummers, two bass drummers with a cymbal at each side and twenty-two fluters at the rear all dressed in brand new uniforms with D.M. boots shining, following their bannerette with the bands badge as a crest, all in rows of four. Gladly nights of marching practise in a large community centre in Woodburn had paid off. Proudly, with our heads held high we marched to Carrick town hall for the service during which, members were asked to stand for a dedication ceremony by Pastor Sam Grant, we then marched back to the "King William III", orange hall on the Albert road. After the playing of the National Anthem hats were thrown in the air, and everyone shook hands before striking up on our return journey to our Chairmans house, a sigh of relief went up when the last note was heard as we had proved to ourselves that this was going to be the start of a new era in Carrickfergus. Easter Tuesday seen the "Grens" travel to Bangor in Co.Down the band again played well and comments by the spectating public were encouraging. This set us up nicely for the competition scene, which we were all now looking forward to, very rarely was there more than one member missing at any particular parade. The efforts shown were reaping success, trophies and prizes were flowing every week as well as the beer on the homeward journey on the bus. On the "Twelfth" we marched with Whitehead Temperance Lodge, with whom we proudly to several 12th demos ever since. The band have since cut ties with their freinds in Whitehead and now parade with Bennets Chosen Few lodge 553 in Carrickfergus the band felt as we are from Carrickfergus we should parade in Carrickfergus on the 12th morning an on returning from the main parade. |
 |
 |
 |
Now that we had some funds, a bank account in the name of the band was set up, One of the lads commented he had heard that South Belfast Young Conquerors were selling their old side drums, this was found to be true and a deal was struck with us recieving an old bass drum as part of the deal. David McMurtry, Albert Connor and David Milliken then went searching around the music shops in Belfast to obtain flutes. Two-piece millar brownes seemed to be the best option, a good tone and reasonably priced we needed around 20 flutes, this was all well and good but had us stretched beyond our means. At this point David McMurtry offered to loan the the band the money for the flutes and any other instruments needed to get the band started, this was gratefully accepted and allowed us to buy another 3 side drums being sold for £150 each from the essay shop in East Belfast, these were a match for the 5 we had and were in first class condition, they had the crest of the Royal Irish Rangers on them explaining why they were so well looked after. |
 |
 |
 |
| ULSTER GRENADIERS HISTORY . |
| NEW FLUTES AGAIN.
Over the marching season more new members joined the ranks and another set of flutes were purchased 30 this time. These flutes were now silver made by Clifford Rae the band continue to play these flutes today ase they are thought to be the best flute on the market for B & T bands. We held our first parade and competition on the first Friday in September (5th) setting off, from the Harbour car park and marching to Carrick Rangers Social Club via the town centre, there were 37 bands in attendance thus being the biggest ever band parade in Carrick that was not an Orange parade. Fundraising was successful again through collecting tins and a disco after the parade, this was to be the best first birthday party a band could ask for. OVER THE YEARS. Over the next few years the band was to see much success in competition, this was sometimes a bad thing as on some occasions we only had to get of our bus and the trophies were ours regardless of how good we played. Every year in September, our annual parade would grow with even more attendance and larger crowds coming to spectate, much of this was due to the number of parades we had attended and most bands returning the favour. |
 |
| WINTER 1998.
During the winter of 1998, a joint recording with Drumconvis F.B. Coagh was made this was titled "Hands Across The Province" and was sold in the form of a compact disc, this was not as successful as our first recording due to a breakdown in communication between both bands and were both selling the CD's at different prices and the CD's found their way onto market stalls before they should have. this prompted the band to make a new master copy the next year and taking the best of "Simply Explosive" and the Grenadiers half of "Hands Across the Province", this was a compilation cassette called,"Kick Ass" with name and cover influenced by the adult cartoon,"South Park" These were to be sold mainly by loyalist market stalls and shops. |
| DEATH OF A PRINCESS.
In the September of Diana, Princess of wales's death, our parade was held while the British people were in mourning. Initially, we considered cancelling the parade, but then decided to hold the parade in her Memory and Honour. Carrickfergus Borough Council was contacted and the use of the war memorial was granted for the laying of wreaths. The Council also donated shield bearing the Borough Coat of Arms, this was presented to the best overall band (and might i ad was given out the second year and was never returned) this shield was known as "Princess of Wales Memorial Shield", most bands in attendance laid wreaths and observed a short silence at the War Memorial, others prefered to play a hymn while leaving their floral tribute. The Ulster Grenadiers gained much respect from the local people over the way the parade was conducted. |
| GREN'S ON TOUR.
Since the formation of the band, we have had two trips to Scotland every year, one for the Scottish, "Twelfth", with Motherwells Killyman True Blues Lodge 712 and the other visit, being a fund raising trip, playing at the Ranger Association Club at Ibrox and attending the game afterwards. We have also played in three different premises in the Loyalist village of Harthill and countless times in Motherwell, playing in Motherwell Orange Hall, Masonic Hall and the Milton Vaults {War Office}. The connection between the Grenadiers and our freinds from Motherwell still continues to this day, with people from Motherwell and Carrickfergus traveling back and forth on a regular basis to visit each other. |
| PRESENTATION OF APPRECIATION.
At the bands Christmas dinner dance in December 1998, the band members presented a gold flute mounted on a mahogany plinth to David McMurtry the Chairman of the band in appreciation of the monetary contribution that he had given to the band. NEW DRUMS. Through various fundraising ventures, we bought a new set of 12 "state of the art" side drums, these were Premier's as opposed to our old Andantes, not to put a fine point on it, we had paid thousands of pounds for a load of rubbish, on our first parade after our new purchase, leg rests fell off and screws fell out, in the space of one year we had the drums repaced twice, rims kept cracking and the drums were basically falling apart on us. We were not happy! after much wasted time complaining to the shop and to the manufacturer we had gave up, three sets of drums and a couple of thousand pounds later, we have just had to make the best of a bad job. Without a doubt they have been the worst expense the band has had, and we would never purchase or promote Premier again. |
| SECOND UNIFORMS.
In the year 2000 the Grens bought another new unform, we changed the design of the new tunic keepimg the blue and adding navy panels under the arm, we also dropped the black hats and trousers and opted for navy and changed the braiding, hackles and ropes to gold we also have the name "Grenadiers" on the back of the collar and gold wire badges added to the top of each arm.The new uniform seen the membership drop in numbers, drastically, this was to probably be the hardest marching season we had since the formation of the band. However, we kept our attendance up at the same number of parades as in past years but now we had a number of members missing, we felt it from marching with 24-28 fluters and 11-12 side drummers every week we now struggled at times to get 4 drummers and 12 fluters at parades, this was a severe knock to our pride and at times tempers flared, encouragement from members of other bands, and strength of character of our own members pulled us through. As numbers had been dropping we rarely had a colour party to lead the band, the band therefore took the decision, though not lightly, to except girls into the band, but only as members of the colour party the band |
| from the outset had always remained a male dominated band. We filled the three available places within 24 hours of the decision being made, the girls made their first public appearance at Whitehead Mini Twelth, and the girls remain in the colour party to present. 4th ANNUAL PARADE AND COMPETITION. In August 2000, fierce feuding between Loyalist paramilitries broke out, the on-going tit for tat attacks and families being put out of their homes were out of control several peoople were killed on both sides of the fence. On the weekend prior to our parade dozens of people had to flee their homes after being threatened or attacked in Carrick housing estates, Carrick was at boiling point, Carrick Police contacted us and asked if we would cancel our parade, as they feared serious street violence and worse might take place. The Grenadiers held an emergency meeting the Wednesday prior to our scheduled parade, it was a split vote as to whether to carry on or cancel the reason being the amount of planning and effort that went into the competition. Another problem had arisen, two Scottish bands were travelling over to take part in the competition and couldn't cancel their boats, buses and hotels at such short notice, after much negotiation with local polititcians and the local R.U.C. we agreed to postpone for the good of the town. The Mayor of the town Mr Jim Brown publicly thanked us for the decision on local radio and members of the public also offered their thanks, we also had to gain permission from the R.U.C. to hold a small parade early on the Saturday morning for the Pride of Motherwell F.B.(who usually lead our parade) and the New Stevenston Loyalists F.B. which were the two bands who had travelled across and not to make their journey a complete waste of time...But wait for it! Even after we had agreed to postpone the competition to keep the peace, the Parades Commision still gave us a warning for not giving the required notice, this proves how ridiculous these upper class quango's are and how out of touch they are with marching bands. Today the Parades Commision are still making silly determinations on Orange Order and Band Parades. HONOURY MEMBER. Over the winter months of 2000, a decision was made by the band to make David McMurtry an Honorary Member, David had been the Chairman of the band from it's humble begining until the summer of 2000. Work commitments were the reason for his resignation, so the committee and members felt that without David's time and generosity the band might not have got on the road as quickly and definitely not with the same style. The now Chairman Ken Bennett presented David with an engraved plaque and offered him a new uniform if he wished to walk, whenever he pleased. David thanked everyone for their kind gift and took up the offer of a new uniform and has been back in the ranks several times since then. |
 |
 |
 |