The Year got off to a reasonable start and members of the B band enjoyed a good weekend at Butlins in Skegness. The result wasn't what they wanted but with a little extra practice and concentration they should fare better at The brass at the guild contest later in the month. Although I wasn't present at the contest I believe that Barry on Soprano cornet played very well throughout the piece.

The B band didn't do too bad at The Brass at the Guild in the second section coming 5th, Peter did say that he thought that there were too many slips in the performance and that the adjudicator was fair with his remarks regarding the performance.

The senior band had an excellent day being awarded 1st place in the Championship section against quite a strong field. All the soloists on the day have to be congratulated on their performances. The sound of the band is quite something now and although the performance wasn't error free it was exciting Mark was able to get a lot of Music out of the performance. Our thanks go to Brian Taylor from Faireys who helped us out on the day, I spoke to Brian later in the day and he said that he was becoming quite emotional with the performance and congratulating the band on their playing.

The Senior Band are pleased to announce 3 new signings in readiness for the forthcoming contest season.

The first signing is Fiona Staples from Haydock Band, a first year student at Salford University who is tutored by Russel Gray. She is also Principal Cornet of St. Helens Youth Band and has filled the vacancy on the front row. Another cornet player Matt Fern has joined on third cornet and transferred over from Wingates, and made a winning debut at Brass at the Guild last weekend. The third signing is ex Sellers and Grimethorpe Bass Trombonist Stuart McCreedy who has made a playing come back after retiring a few years ago. Stuart heard the band at his local church at Christmas and introduced himself to conductor Mark Peacock.

“Tom Simm our young bass trombonist had informed me that he was hoping to move away to University in September and that if we could find a replacement he would take a back seat to concentrate on his studies before leaving in the Autumn. To say it was fortuitous to meet Stuart at the concert was something of an understatement, and then to discover he had played in Sellers for 10 years alongside my wife Alison was another coincidence.”

Mark paid tribute to cornet player Colin Knowles who after 15 years with the band has stepped down from the Senior band and joined Pemberton “B” to help Peter Ashley with all the youngsters on the cornet rank.

“Colin has been a tremendous servant to the band and decided that now was the time to step down from the demands of Championship playing and put something back into the organisation by lending his experience to the B Band. He is a true bandsman who will be missed from the Senior band, especially for his percussion playing in You Are My Sunshine! I am delighted that he will still be involved in our organisation and wish him well for the future.”

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