Ipswich and Norwich Co-op Band Circumnavigate and endeavour to gain Further Success.

Following on from our success on 'James Cook' in the First Section at the weekend the Ipswich and Norwich Co-op Band are looking forward to ‘circumnavigating’ their way to Harrogate in September - their first trip to the National Finals in over ten years.

Two years ago the band was ‘knocked for six’ when we were demoted to the First Section after our performance of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, my first contest with the band. However, with hindsight, this has given us some breathing space and a chance to re-build and work together to grow stronger. Butlins this year was a fantastic result for us against some top class national competition but all the members worked hard giving us our first step on the ladder to where we want to be. The result at the weekend proved that Butlins was no fluke and we look forward to representing the London and Southern Counties region in Harrogate in September followed by a return to the Championship Section in 2009

New Signing

In addition to the great result at the weekend the Ipswich and Norwich Co-op Band are pleased to be able to announce the signing of Steve Alexander on Soprano from the Wigston Band. Steve is a first class Soprano player who has been a regular ‘dep’ for us over the last twelve months. He was part of our Butlins team and we are thrilled that he has agreed to sign with the band in a full-time capacity well in advance of our finals appearance. I would also like to publicly thank Paul Varney for jumping into the Sop seat for the area where he did a great job whilst Steve fulfilled his commitments for the area to Wigston. Paul will now return to his favoured B-flat

Final Thanks

Finally, on behalf of the band, I would like to thank all the people who have sent us congratulations and good wishes for the result at the weekend. Also a deserved thanks to David Hobbs and the London and Southern Counties contest organisers for a tremendously well run event, as always. Congratulations to all the qualifiers but particularly to our fellow First Section ‘finalists’, Jersey Premier Brass; we look forward to seeing you in Harrogate.

 

Congratulations indeed. We look forward to competing against you again in Harrogate. Your recent journey strikes a chord with me. We too were demoted after the 2006 areas which was my first contest with Skelmanthorpe. Our third place at the 2007 first section area also meant that we missed out on promotion back to the top section but, despite the disappointment, we were all sure that this would give us the time to consolidate and build a strong team. 2007/8 has been a great year for us with victories at Pontins, twice at Butlins and now the areas. It'll be tough going back in the top section no doubt. Wishing you all the best for Harrogate (preferably in second place of course!)

 

Hi Robin,
Congratulations on Ipswich's placing at the weekend - despite my best efforts to sabotage the performance! Hope that you fly the flag for East Anglia at Harrogate and show these Northerners how to play.

Congratulations on your promotion, too. It seems that the statistics are against us here at Cambridge and we will be seeing you in the Championship section next year. If truth be told, we might not quite be ready to fight with the big boys yet, but you never know, stranger things have happened!

See you soon, mate.