In July 1900 a new organisation came to Hope Church. This was called 1st Denton Boys' Life Brigade now known as 1st Denton Boys' Brigade. The founder of the company was Thomas Thornhill who was captain for over 50 years.

Thomas Thornhill was born in 1875 and was a member of Hope church. He first started the company with just 19 members but this number increased dramatically. He had his friends helping him to make the company start. As well as doing the company nights he also organised camps for the boys. The company also entered carnivals, parades round Denton and put on concerts/displays for the people of Denton. In 1906 the company bought a side drum which was bought with the proceeds of a football match against another BB company. This meant that parades were no longer unaccompanied. With keen interest from boys to play this instrument it was decided to start a band. It was called Fife and Drum Band. Their instructor was Mr J Skirvin. Twelve fifes, another side drum and a triangle were all purchased but these didn’t make the band very loud even though they were playing good music so in April 1911 it was decided to change over to bugles. The band played a significant part in the life of the brigade with many boys learning to play an instrument.

By 1914 the company had reached the peak of its strength but then came the first world war where many old boys and officers were serving in the forces by May 1915 80 old members were serving forces. This meant that the company depleted in numbers during the time of the war and had to be closed for several months towards the end of the war due to the fact that Thomas Thornhill went serving in the army. The company re-opened immediately after the war was over and in 1919 it was running as strong as ever with 91 members.

The 1920’s saw the company’s band at its best and this was the company’s best asset with strong numbers. Tt entered many competitions and parades and won many awards.

Another attraction was the annual week’s holiday camp which was under canvas and would take place at a variety of places with the favourite in the twenties being at Llanddulas, which in those days, was a quiet village in North Wales. Annual week long camps still take place today and are normally in July and down south and our favourite place is Swanage. We still camp under canvas.

In the early 1930’s the company experienced a few difficulties. These were difficult years generally due to unemployment and hardship. Numbers in the company declined, staffing became more difficult than ever before, irregular attendance, purchase of uniform were all typical problems during these years. The band also had its difficulties during these years but remained a major attraction to the boys.

In 1939 the war came again and although the company didn’t close down it was a testing time due to all senior boys leaving the company to join the forces and Thomas Thornhill was left to run the company on his own. Even though it was short staffed there was no decline in number of boys. To help the war efforts the boys collected waste paper which was sold with the proceeds being used to send parcels to former BB members in the forces. The band had great difficulties as it mostly had young members who only knew five or six bugle marches, but the bandmaster maintained the enthusiasm of its members. The standard of drill went down and it was no longer possible to camp under canvas so they stayed in the church house at Llanddulas.

The years following 1945 were a period of change. It was hoped that after the war some of the returning brigade members would come and re-staff the company but unfortunately this didn’t happen and staffing remained a problem. New senior boys however had grown up in the company and were eager and forward looking. Drill was re-established and improved, the band was re-organised and new bugle marches were learnt. In 1947 camp was again held under canvas still being at Llanddulas.

In 1950 the company was celebrating both the Golden Jubilee celebrations, fifty years of the company and fifty years of Thomas Thornhill being the captain. Several presentations were made to him during this year with main events being old boys' reunion supper, thanksgiving service and church parade.

By 1955 Thomas Thornhill’s own health had been falling and returning from camp he offered the resignation of his captaincy to the deaconate which was regretfully accepted and he was appointed honorary captain. He continued as much as possible to attend company meetings until his death in February 1957. Thomas Thornhill was a blessed and dedicated man. His death was of great sadness.