On Sunday (27th September), the band competed on behalf of Yorkshire at the national finals in Harrogate. 16 bands played Triumphant Rhapsody by Gilbert Vintner, with Wakefield being drawn to play last. The band performed well, were justifiably proud of the performance and were placed 4th overall. A lot of hard work was put in during the run up to the big day, and we would all like to express our gratitude towards Norman for his usual stirling efforts and making music out of the piece. Our thanks also go to the enthusiastic members of the audience who shouted, screamed, and waved a Yorkshire rose flag! Starting in March, we will compete in the Championship section at the regional championships and we look forward to the challenge!

The band managed a near clean sweep at the Easingwold march contest in North Yorkshire. Prizes included; best Trombones on march, best Bases on stage, highest placed first section band and best march on stage. See some pictures of the performance. We were extremely pleased with the result and had put in a lot of effort during the runup. Once again, there was a great atmosphere in the town square which went on long in to the night.

So its a first place at Bradford in the first section! The band has worked extremely hard over the last month and we're all very proud of the performance we gave. Graham Cole, composer of the piece (Pentacle) had some nice comments for Norman after the results and seemed genuinely pleased with the standard of the entire section. It's a piece that, as Graham said in his speech, grows and grows and as a band we also found more detail with each rehearsal. We certainly enjoyed performing it! As a band we would like to thank Norman for his tireless efforts in the run up to the big day, Jeremy Stokes (guest second Trombone) for helping us out with such enthusiasm, and also the many people who supported and congratulated us on Saturday.

The win means we have booked a place at the national finals (Harrogate) in September. We will also be promoted into the Championship section and will have the opportunity to compete against the likes of Black Dyke and Grimethorpe at Bradford next year which we're all excited about. A full list of results, and review of all the bands performances can be found here (link).

We start 2009 with a brand new bass Trombone for Rowena Sykes to enjoy, a new test piece to tackle, and plenty of concerts already booked for the year. We have started looking at Year of the Dragon (a fiendish piece by Phillip Sparke) for use in contests, but our next engagement is at the Yorkshire Regional Brass Band championships in Bradford, where we hope to do well and progress up into the championship section. After this we have several concerts in Leeds parks (weather permitting!) and hope to see you there. Hopefully in September we can report our participation at the national brass band championships in Harrogate, but we will keep you posted on how things progress! For a full list of events this year, see our list.

The band gained a very credible 3rd position at the Yorkshire championships in the 1st section. This is the first competition in the 1st section since being promoted a year ago. As expected the band are pretty pleased to be playing at their top form and obviously enjoying the quality that Norman brings to the bandroom. One place higher and the band would again have been booking its place at the national finals in Harrogate in September to represent Yorkshire. Despite that confidence is high so roll on next year! Check out the comments of 4barsrest.com.

Following the success at Harrogate the band went to Pontins feeling confident we could do well. We are again pleased with our performance and first place in the second section which the adjudicators called outstanding. The band has a shiny new trophy to add to the cabinet and further confidence for our move to the first section in March 2008.

The band is proud to announce a very respectable 4th place at the UK national championships in Harrogate. The band, along with Kippax, represented the Yorkshire region after winning the Yorkshire region contest at Bradford in March of this year.

The test piece was Introduction, Elergy and Scherzo by Darrol Barry, and the adjudicators praised the sound of the band, and the style of the interpretation.Our win at Bradford in the regional 'semifinal' means that next year we will compete in the first section at Bradford. The band extends its thanks to the MD, Normal Law, for the hard work he put in to the contest in the weeks leading up to the big day. Norman, who conducted without a score, seemed to enjoy the occasion!