And so the Flemish Open and the Senior bands trip to Belgium.

It was an early start for all the players on the morning of Friday 11^th April, most people having to leave their beds about 5am but a few having to rise even earlier than this in order that they could arrive at the band room on time in order to assist with the loading of the coach.

It was quite apparent that there are a few players in the band who didn’t realise that there were two 5 o’clocks in one day.

Once loaded we set off on our merry way, it must be said that there were quite a few people who continued with the sleep they had missed earlier.

The coach had only travelled 16 miles when the driver left the motorway and drove into as service area, bit early for breakfast? But no it was just a change of driver, our driver for the three day’s Ian, joined us.

In a short time we set off again and headed South.

People were now starting to come round a little and a buzz of anticipation ran through the coach.

A slight detour was taken due to the heavy traffic and eventually the driver pulled into Watford Gap services in order that food stocks could be replenished.

Dave Marsh kept the band entertained on the journey South with quizzes and the like.

We eventually reached the Euro tunnel and after a short stop at customs we made our way to the train.

The coach driver explained to some of the players that there may be a delay and the crossing could be rough due to bad weather. Yes someone asked how long the delay would be.

Once in France it did not take long to move into Belgium and past Brussels, another couple of stops but we arrived at the hotel in Mechelen.

All credit to Carina Halliwell who had made the enquiries and booked the accommodation.

Mechelen is a beautiful city which is full of magnificent buildings, the whole area being free of litter very clean and inhabited by some of the friendliest people I have ever the privilege to come into contact with.

Arriving just after 7pm local time we were met by William Coffindaffer one of the members of the organising committee for the contest, William, we thought, had obviously been chosen to meet us because of his fluent use of English which had more than a touch of an American accent, complimenting him on his use and understanding of English and more than that understanding Wiganeeze he informed us that he was infact American by birth having moved to Mechelen from Oregon.

The players got keys for their rooms and had time for a quick freshen up before we were off again to the rehearsal room for a run through the pieces the band would be playing the following evening.

It has to be said that there were more than a few tired bodies by the time Mark bought the rehearsal to an end, but there was still a little energy left to down a couple of beers before everyone made their way to bed.

Saturday 12^th and most of the band did make it to breakfast, after which all were free to have a walk round the city take in the sights and generally relax. Several players had a walk to the contest hall, a stone building close to the main city centre.

The weather on Saturday was crisp but with plenty of sun and blue skies.

We were amazed by the size of the shopping area, what most of us remember shopping being like in England before the introduction of the dreaded shopping arcades. Forward planning by the local council had ensured that there was sufficient off road parking, the large town square having been excavated and a large underground car park being installed, the square being re-laid with cobbles which then allowed for a large outdoor market on Saturday morning.

The players made there way back to the hotel but not before one or two discovered a chip shop which was not 100 yards away from our accommodation (Typical Wiganers).

4pm and the band made its way to the rehearsal room for a final warm up before the order of play was made. Only seven bands in the A grade but each were required to play a 25 minute programme, one of the pieces having to be a test piece of the standard of the bands ranking.

The draw was made and yes you guessed it we had been drawn 7^th estimated time on stage 10pm, so we

had a bit of a wait as they say.

The band were still in good spirits and managed to relax before they made their way to the warm up room. Several players did listen to some of the bands who had been given an early draw.

Having listened to the first four bands my feelings were that they all played the notes on the paper and played them with meticulous precision, however there was a certain lack of playing from the heart which tended to leave me feeling a little cold towards the performances, it must be the norm with European bands because our result did not reflect the way that Pemberton band had performed and I was a little more than disappointed with the result, but not the way the band played.

Taking to the stage at 10am the band opened up its programme with the test piece Elgar Variations, the band playing well and all the soloists excelling in tone and dynamics, Jenny (Gengis) Moore then thrilled the audience with some excellent playing of the xylophone solo The Joyful Skeleton. The programme concluded with Pirates of the Caribbean.

The band were happy with their performance as was Mark but we may have to alter our method when we attend this contest again in 2010.

Contest over results and prizes awarded, it was time to have one or two bottles of beer before we made our way to bed to dream of what might have been.

Sunday 13^th and once again it was an early start to the day, Ian our driver advised that we needed to be away from the hotel by 9am in order that we could catch the train at the tunnel at our allotted time.

Apart from one stop to refuel Ian drove well through some horrendous rain to get us to the tunnel not only on time but just in time for the earlier train.

Most of the band slept on our way to the tunnel I am unsure if it was due to the lack of sleep or hang overs

We arrived back in Pemberton just after 7pm everyone having had a good time.

Better luck next time, onward and upward.