Chesham All Girls Band was born on
21st January 1981.

It was the brainchild of Tim Smith MBE and Daphne Ellis, who were both well equipped for the job, having vast experience of youth bands. In the 6 years before Chesham All Girls, Tim and Daphne had ran the Chesham
Girls Brigade band.

The passion for banding however, had begun well before that. Tim had joined the Sea Cadets at a young age and became band instructor at the Hertfordshire Sea Cadets
for 6 years. Daphne had been a member of the Greenford Girls Brigade band for much
of her youth.

The idea for Chesham All Girls Band was formed when Tim and Daphne took the Girls Brigade to see the Greenford Girls in the early 70's. They couldn't believe that the the band wasn't just marching up and down but were going here, there and everywhere, and the drum major was throwing the mace!

They thought it was fantastic. Both Tim and Daphne worked hard with the girls brigade and got the band up to 28 girls who then played for Princess Anne
when she opened Green Park in London. Unfortunately the powers that be
wouldn't let Tim and Daph take the
girls forward. And so the Chesham All
Girls Band was born.

To start with they needed uniforms so Sheila Smith and some parents got to work making skirts and hats (the same ones we wear today). The girls wore
white blouses with blue scarves white football socks and white plimsols.

Tim and Daphne bought some old drums from Welwyn Garden Sea Cadets which Tim stripped down and did up. He got two old snare drums which he made into tenor drums, then some bugles which were £12 each from St Albans Music – cheap and nasty things which leaked a lot! The girls used them for a year until they raised enough money for new ones. And had one bell lyre was donated.