Its been a while since an update and lots of things have happened!
Sadly we had to say goodbye to our Conductor Stephen Craig due to work. Stephen joined with the band in 2013 along with his Wife Katie, in his time with us he brought the band from 4th section to 3rd section, his winning ways saw us swell our trophy cabinet bringing much needed silver into the bandroom, something we hadn’t had for a long time. Stephen made good friends in the band and will always be welcomed back. Katie is still in the band as she splits her time between their two houses (ooooh Posh!).
We obviously needed a new conductor, David Houghton had been standing in for Stephen on occasion and when the opportunity came we were glad to not only offer the position to Dave, but that he accepted it. At the same time we were also able to offer Dave’s partner, Nichola Gates, the position of Principal cornet which she accepted. After the loss of Stephen and part of Katie, things were looking up.
Wedding bells were ringing for our Soprano player Beth in June last year as she married her fiance Ash.
Beth moved away with her husband Ash as his Band the Kings Division were posted to Yorkshire. Both play Soprano and Ash wants to go down the bandmaster path at some point….hmmm are we seeing a theme here?
Our first foray into the contest arena with Dave was the Blackburn and Darwen Hymn and March Contest.
As you can see we did OK, not only winning our section, but coming 8th overall, not bad considering we beat at least one band from every section including Championship
Finally a bit more up to date, last weekend saw us claim our first 3rd Section Championship at The Brass in the Wire Contest, Warrington. This is the replacement contest for Preston’s Brass at the Guild, since the closure of the Guild Hall.
Again as you can see we did alright, along with section Champions, we won Best Soloist (Nichola Gates), Best Trombone (Howard Midgley), Best Basses, Best Percussion, Best MD (David Houghton), Best Contest Secretary (Ian Holland).
So we are up to date, we have new members who you can see on the Players page, you can see and hear the band this Sunday online at Boarshurst Band Club
or if you can catch us at the area contest in Blackpool on Feb 23rd in the Empress Ballroom.
Hopefully the next update will be sooner than 2 years.