The Regional Championships are over for another year and Betteshanger managed a very credible sixth place in the second section with their rendition of ‘Kaleidoscope’ by Philip Sparke. I certainly enjoyed practising this test piece and it is now a firm favourite of mine to listen to.
The coach trip up to Stevenage had started from the band room at 6am and, for a variety of reasons quite a few of the band had to make their own way in their own transport. Despite this everyone made it on time and everything went without a hitch until the band had registered and were just about to take the stand. It was at this point that Cornet player Nigel Bogue noticed that Amy Shepherd’s mouthpiece was not in her Flugel. He mentioned it to her and she told him to stop messing about as the band were already making their way out to play. Nigel told her that he had not removed the said item and, one major panic later, the offending item was found having dropped out onto the chair Amy had been sitting on. It is a good job he noticed it was missing because even Amy, who is undoubtedly talented, would have struggled to play the piece without a mouthpiece!
For my part I enjoyed playing the piece and it was a rare treat for a back row cornet to have the melody for a while and the whole back row were particularly pleased with Peter Bale’s comments on the ‘4BarsRest’ website where he said ‘got off to a fine start, with the back row cornets particularly good’. I have never met Peter but if he is reading this and looks me up I will buy him a drink as he sounds like a man with a good musical ear.

Steve Grindrod had been playing Eb Bass for the last couple of years but moved the short distance back to his usual position of Bass Trombone and so the band was pleased to see Tim Vinall make a contesting comeback for the occasion. Tim was formerly the band’s Principal Cornet but had had a rest from banding to follow other musical interests for a while. He was able to help us out on Eb Bass for the day and was very welcome.
Dennis Wilby’s comments were, I thought, objective and useful. He was able to get his point across with tact and diplomacy which was constructive and able to be used as learning points by the competing bands. All too often adjudicators remarks can be thoughtless and I am sure we have all heard comments like ‘I don’t like trombones’ which can only lead to bad feeling if you happen to play trombone.

The other thing I was impressed with was that Dennis Wilby must have the courage of his own convictions because he was present when the ‘adjudicator’s remarks’ were being given out to the delegates immediately following the contest and had not mysteriously disappeared as sometimes happens at contests. Hopefully we will see him again soon.
The whole contest went very well and I would like to say a big thank-you on behalf of the band to the army of organisers and helpers who make it all happen. The venue is far from ideal and there were the usual problems of instrument storage etc. That aside, there were no major hitches. As I sat on the coach on the way home I considered how much effort it had taken to get the 29 people who had made the trip to the venue and onto the stage. I reasoned that to organise the two-day event for so many bands must be an absolute nightmare so, once again, thank-you.
This event also saw Cornet player Kim Atkins leave the band temporarily as she has gone on a round the world trip. It was sad to see her go as she was a valued band-member and a nice person who will be missed. The whole band wished her the very best of luck and she was last heard of via an e mail sent from Thailand which was apparently ‘hot’!
On Thursday the 25th of March the band played at a PTA function at Clarendon House Grammar School for Girls in Ramsgate. In truth the audience turnout was very low but the band played well and those present were treated to a good night’s entertainment.
Bass Trombone player Steve Grindrod was ill on the day and could not play so Graham West who is a music teacher at the school was roped in and boosted the trombone section. He did a great job and with a bit of luck will take us up on our invite to join the band.
Tim Vinall, who I mentioned earlier stood in on 1st Horn as our regular horn player Sue Holland could not make the event. Tim ended up sitting between his wife Sarah who plays Solo Horn and my wife Karen who plays Second Horn. As he himself said ‘I’m a thorn between two roses’. Yep!
Alan Sessions made a welcome comeback for the event and helped out Ian Thomas on percussion. Alan had not been able to make the Stevenage contest and we were very grateful to Ross Underwood who had stood in for him and had done an excellent job. Never the less it was good to see him back from his travels.
It was at this event that our Musical Director David Burridge announced to the audience that Rosie Cullen was stepping down as Principal Cornet. Rosie has been the Principal for a couple of years and has done a great job during this time. Nigel Bogue will be taking over the role and will make a fine Principal.
Last Thursday we had a visit from the ‘Deal Camera and Video Club’ who had asked permission to come and video the band as a project. The band were happy to oblige and I think most of us expected a couple of guys to turn up with their cameras. I for one was very surprised when a dozen or so turned up with a variety of cameras to film every conceivable angle, microphones galore and a mixing desk and proceeded to film everything. As Music Director David Burridge pointed out ‘we are quite used to a microphone or two but nothing on this scale’. They seemed quite pleased with the results and are apparently editing the footage down to a five minute video and we are looking forward to seeing the results. Quite exciting really.
Last time I wrote for the Bugle I mentioned the band’s new CD and how well it was selling. Our most interesting sale so far has to be a lady from California who had been looking at British band sites on the Internet. She had seen the advert for the CD and contacted the band to obtain one. Our cousins across the pond certainly have taste!
The new band season is upon us again and, at the time of writing we are all looking forward to Deal Bandstand next Sunday which will kick off the season of concerts there. I can not wait!

Steve Griffiths