 Foden's Band are one of the top brass bands in the world; regularly appearing at the top of the "World of Brass – World Rankings" In 2012, Foden's became double winners of both the National Championships and the British Open.The origins of the band go back to 1900 when the village of Elworth near Sandbach in Cheshire formed its own band having been let down in its attempt to secure the services of the nearby town band to feature in the celebrations marking the relief of Mafeking in the Boer War.After a couple of years the village band was wound up, but from that base local industrialist Edwin Foden formed the Fodens Motor Works Band.