2003 : Spitfire
The new year started off with a birth, when Dai and Clare Hale had their first child, Lucy, early on the 4th January. The band spent the early months of the year working on two test pieces. The first of these, Prague, was a new composition in use for the Area Contest in March. This was a very strange piece without many tunes, and there was much controversy in the brass band world over its choice as a test piece. Also to be played this year was Paganini Variations, required for the Senior Cup in May. We had attempted to appeal against the decision to demote us from the Grand Shield into the Senior Cup, but the appeal was unsuccessful.
On the player front, we gained a new Flugel Player in John Ward, and a new member of the horn section, Simon Thewliss, joined us from the Black Dyke Mills Band. Lucy Murphy left us to take up the Flugel chair with the Leyland Band, and Ivor Phillips had to leave the 2nd horn chair due to work commitments.
The early months of the year saw two reviews of our CD, the Start of Something Big, in both Brass Band World and the British Bandsman.
At the beginning of February, the band members (minus percussion) had a residential weekend in Clitheroe, including intensive rehearsals for the area contest. Mid February saw the band playing at the NEC in Birmingham. Our sponsor, Autocruise, were taking part in a show at the NEC, and we were asked to attend. After a very early start (7am doesn’t exist on a Sunday!) we travelled down to Birmingham, and spent much of the day playing in the foyer. We were provided with some free “VIP sandwiches” for lunch, and it appeared that the organizers had paid over £100 for the food for us.
Tim Hammond, who plays cornet on the front row, and is engaged to Joanna on the back row, is an army bandsman. Due to the impending conflict in Iraq, Tim was sent out along with the other members of his band. We all wished him a safe and speedy return. In early March, the band were placed an excellent fourth at the Yorkshire Area Contest (Contest Report). This was an excellent result, and was a win over several of the top bands in the region.
The band then began to prepare for their annual Big Band Spectacular, which took place in early April. We again played with our band augmented by friends on Saxophone and Clarinet, and also a bass and lead guitar for one piece. Our guests for the evening were the Leeds Grammar School Swing band who played a short spot between our final set. The evening was again a good success, with more tickets being sold than last year. A week after the big band night, the band played a traditional brass band concert in Howden. This was very well attended and the audience were quite surprised by how young the players in the band were.
May was again our usual hectic season, with two competitions in one month. First up was the Senior Cup, which we wanted to do well in after our relegation from the Grand Shield last year. The band performed true to their status and won the contest off a very late draw (Contest Report). Next up was a concert in Rothwell followed by a scramble to rehearse the piece for the Masters in Cambridge, which this year was a difficult one for percussion. This proved to be a problem, as we were struggling for players. We finally managed to borrow Ashley, who is studying at Cheethams school of music. He was very much in demand, and did not manage to attend many rehearsals. This lead to Dave Roberts, our conductor, asking who was playing particular parts of the music, to which I would reply “Ashley”. This became a standing joke, especially when I was led to believe that he was a tuned percussionist (and so gave him the hard tuned parts) only for it to turn out that he was a jazz kit player who struggled with the tuned stuff! The band came in with a creditable mid-table position again, which was what we expected given the little preparation time we had (Contest Report). We also saw Tim Hammond return to us in late May, safely back (and tanned) from his time in the Gulf.
The Whit Friday March Contests were this year in June and, due to the fact that they didn’t clash with the Masters contest, the band decided that they would take part. After competing in several contests we were placed 6th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 11th and 12th. In late June, the band played a concert at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield. The concert was poorly attended, but the band were very well received.
Right at the end of June, the band spent the weekend at Rothwell C of E School, recording a new CD to be released towards the end of the year. This was a very intensive weekend, but the band enjoyed themselves and the CD shows improvement over the previous release. The Wednesday after the recording, the band played a joint concert with Royds Stage Band in the school hall. The band went into their summer break with their march at the head of the Rothwell Carnival. This year they declined to play for the evening event, mainly because in previous years players had to hang around in Rothwell from 2pm when the procession finished, until 8pm when the band played on stage in the park.
Summer was a time of player changes as it usually is, with this year seemingly busier than usual. The cornet section was strengthened with the arrival of Billy Parkinson and Neil Cole. Andy Rigby left us due to his new job in Milton Keynes, and his place was taken by Andy Padgett, an ex-Black Dyke player who joined from Hepworth. Matthew Allsop moved from Baritone to Euphonium and Sophie Rhodes, a member of the National Youth Brass Band, joined on second Baritone to replace Matthew.
The trombone section lost their principal of four years, Stephen Haynes, as he was going off to study in London. His place was taken by Will Porter with Alison Stockdale joined on second trombone. Gemma Howley was another long time member of the band who also left to go to University. The percussion section was strengthened with the arrival of Rich Prentice, a student from Leeds University. Ben Ridgeon joined on Bb bass, also a student from Leeds. Graham Williams also joined on Bb bass, with Nigel Walker moving to Eb, taking over the position of Michael Cox who left us to go to university. Chris Larder left us as he got a job in Morecambe, and the solo euphonium chair was taken by Jamie Ogden.
Dave Roberts was a little worried at first at the amount of players who were changing in the band, but after working with them for some months he relaxed. The new players that came in fitted in well and put in some excellent performances, strengthening the band even further.
The band started back after the summer break with a cricket match. Dave Roberts and Billy Parkinson both hit unbeaten 33s as John Ward’s XI beat Tim Hammond with just five balls to spare. A great day was had at the excellent Carlton Cricket Club. We extend our apologies to guest player James Fletcher of Grimethorpe, who came a distance to play only to be run out for 0. (He wasn’t pleased but it was funny!) The final indignity came for Tim Hammond as he was bowled by my girlfriend, Sharon, as he was going for a six!
Concerts came thick and fast after summer, with the annual Autocruise event starting things off in early September. This featured the usual background music in the afternoon and big band set in the evening. Then, later in the month the band played in Yeadon Town Hall as part of the Best of Brass season. This concert was reviewed by 4BarsRest. The following day the band played for the wedding of long time band member Chris Rhodes. The following week, the destination of the band was Ilkley, where they played a joint concert with Steeton Male Voice Choir.
In early November, two members of the band took part in the British Open Intermediate Solo Championships. In a stunning result, our solo Euphonium, Jamie Ogden took first place, and Thomas Hutchinson, our principal cornet, took second place from a field of 28 competitors. Jamie thought Tom had pipped him to first prize, and vice versa! The final concert before the Christmas season saw the band back in Ilkley, playing at Westville House school.
Christmas was much lighter this year than last, with the only big concerts being the two annual Christmas ones in the (newly refurbished) Blackburn Hall. This year featured the Rothwell C of E school choir on both nights, singing a selection of Christmas music with backing from the band. On the Saturday evening, a presentation was made to Kathy Kearsley on her retirement from the band, after trying to escape for many years! We also had a special guest, in Rachel Maguire, who had just returned from doing a masters in percussion in Texas. Rachel took part in the percussion feature Tea for Two. This concert also saw the release of the band’s new CD, “Spitfire“.
The band then finished up the year with their Christmas party, where player of the year was awarded to Matthew Allsop. The band’s year was complete with the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in Rothwell Church, and playing carols around Rothwell on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
In 2004 we look forward to a complicated piece (Tristan Encounters) for the area, when we will do well to improve on this year’s result. The piece is much more interesting and tuneful than Prague in 2003. May will be its usually busy time, with the Grand Shield in early May, where we will be looking to do very well, and Cambridge at the end of May. There is also a potential return to the Swiss Open in September to look forward to.
