Disappointment in Torquay

Last Saturday saw the band take to the stage in Torquay for the Annual South West Brass Band Championships. It was an early start for the band, with an 8 o'clock rehearsal in Torquay. The band was sounding pretty good in rehearsal, and we were ready to go on stage for 11 o'clock.. Sadly nerves seemed to take their toll and we didn't put together a good enough performance on stage and we came last in our section.

Without being too downbeat there were a few positives to take out of the performance. Most notably we had a number of new faces who were taking part in the first contest with the band, including: Hannah and Claire (cornet), Elliott and Adrian (EEb bass), Adam (bass trombone) and Dave (percussion). In addition, mentions must go to Steve Taylor and Julie Bulgin who both had very exposed solo's in the piece and both played very well. Hannah Bulgin's participation on the cornet bench meant that the entire Bulgin family were now contesting together, with Hannah joining her older brother Mark and parents Dave and Julie. With the likes of Hannah and Mark, the band has a bright future to look forward to.

Finally a big thanks must go to Dave Hatton for his commitment to the band in travelling to and from London to take rehearsals. Sadly this contest looks likely to signal the end of an era with Dave at the helm as he has been re-posted with the army and it's likely that he may not be able to take the band to another contest. Dave will still be "waving his stick" for a while yet and no doubt we'll have a big send off when confirmation of his transfer comes about, but it is sad to mark the end of contesting under Dave's direction without a win. 

I have no doubt that the band will be back to contest with success at the Areas next year and also at Exmouth in September. Congratulations to the winning bands on a testing piece.

David Thornton's Adjudicators Comments

Nick Grace's Adjudicators Comments

Released On 11th Mar 2013