North of England - Championship Section Results

[MRSH]

Courtesy of www.4barsrest.com

1. (Reg Vardy) Ever Ready, Ray Farr, 7, 193
2. East Yorkshire Motor Services, Gareth Pritchard, 9, 192
3. Fishburn, Graham O’Connor, 3, 191
4. BHK (UK) Ltd. Horden, Peter Parkes, 4, 188
5. Chester le Street Riverside, Ian Robinson, 5, 185
6. Harrogate, David Lancaster, 6, 183
7. Nestle Rowntree, Chris Hirst, 2, 182
8. Cottingham, Graham Walker, 1, 181
9. Broughton’s Brass, J. Bell, 8

Gateshead Brass, Derek Broadbent, W
Westoe (STHCT), TBA, W

Best soprano: Fishburn
Best solo cornet: Fishburn
Best basses: (Reg Vardy) Ever Ready
Best percussion: East Yorkshire Motor Services

 

[geordiecolin]

People talk about Yorkshire Championship Section becoming unhealthy, but the situation in the north isn't much better by the look of things. The same 3 bands came in the same top 3 postions for the 3rd year running!!

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table you have 5 bands on 20/22.5 points occupying the bottom 2 postions!

Many hoped Horden might stir things up a bit, but the North is rapidly becoming a 3 horse race, and even amongst those 3, the status quo never seems to change.

I find the number of withdrawals in the North as a whole rathering worrying too.

Well Done to all who took part and best of luck to Reg Vardy (Ever Ready) and EYMS at the Nationals

 

[BoozyBTrom]

the situation in the north isn't much better by the look of things. The same 3 bands came in the same top 3 postions for the 3rd year running!!

Sorry to dissapoint you colin!! We will have to make less of an effort next year. but if the rumours are true regarding the northern areas then your concerns will be addressed!!!!!!!!!!!
We will have to wait and see.

Plus it seems to be the same situation with the premiership and is that such a big problem (Arsenal and Man Utd) . not according to the veiwing figures,

However congrats to EYMS see you in london guys and well done to horden an excellent peformance and a welcome return to the top flight.
And a big thank you to Larrs for the help. Cheers mate and see you at the european

 

[bassinthebathroom]

The same 3 bands came in the same top 3 postions for the 3rd year running!!

And?....
If they're the best three bands, then it doesn't matter.

A fair result, and we were really pleased, of course. Thanks for your good wishes.

 

[neiltwist]

yeah, well done to everyone, wanted to be there, but unfortunately mothers day and restuarants = busy!

 

[Heather]

Well done to everyone...if you're the best, then you're the best and its up to the others to catch you up!

 

[Straightmute]

...and rest assured that those below will keep on challenging for places on the podium and be right in there if any of the top three let their standards slip!

The situation in the North of England is similar to other areas where the top places are regularly fought over by the same two or three bands. But it's great that we have the opportunity to take them on once a year and use the occasion to measure our progress and development.

D

 

[bigcol]

I find the number of withdrawals in the North as a whole rathering worrying too.

Me too - seeing as we were one of the withdrawals.

We withdrew because we had 4 players who either at short notice or because of bad communication could not do the contest for us in the run up.

With a piece like Tristan you can't get away with it, there aren't players in the area who will come in and help bands out anymore, and we didn't want to spend silly money buying in hired help, although it was seriously discussed at one point. As a self-sufficient band, we decided to spend the money on uniforms and instruments.

Looks like even if we had turned up, unless we had done a stormer we'd have gone down anyway. But such is life - we have far too many things planned for the next 9 months to worry about being in the first section next year. Should be fun!

 

[geordiecolin]

OK, just to clarify - My post wasn't intended as a "everyone in the North of England Championship is rubbish apart from the top 3 - Get It Sorted!!" type post. (Which is not the case by any stretch of the imaginaaion!) It was merely an observation, hoping to spark some meaningful debate. Although I have been shot down in flames!! Doh. I'll just shut up now. (Keep on digging, keep on digging..... :lol: :lol: )

On the subject of withdrawals Big Col, I totally understand and sympathise with your position, my sister who plays for Westoe tells me that they withdrew for very similar reasons. It was the high number of withdrawals across the board that caught my eye - out of 58 bands on the Register, 14 failed to contest this time around! Admittedly some of these I believe are folded bands still to be deleted (Ovington Tynedale, Ebor, Barnetby (?), Boldon (?)) but even so, still quite a high proportion I think.

 

[bigcol]

Colin - it's a very high proportion and some established bands were amongst the cull (us, Westoe and Lanchester spring to mind).

It does worry me - we have discussed this problem internally and believe that a lot of players are no longer making banding their no.1 priority in life anymore, and thus are either leaving to do other things, or not being able to play with bands for particular contests/concerts because of other committments. Banding used to be the be all and end all for a lot of people.

That and the continuing trend of the better players in our area going to play with bands in Yorkshire (we've lost 3 to Yorkshire bands in the last 6 months).

Nevertheless I did the contest with Five Rivers, who played well and came fourth, so it wasn't a wasted weekend.

 

[BoozyBTrom]

It does worry me - we have discussed this problem internally and believe that a lot of players are no longer making banding their no.1 priority in life anymore, and thus are either leaving to do other things, or not being able to play with bands for particular contests/concerts because of other committments.

Its the same situation at both ends of the spectrum. We havent had a regular Sop player for nearly 3 years. The position has been offered to certain players in the area. But all say that cant commit 100%.
It is worrying but with setups like houghton youth band trying to get them hooked young will hopefully produce committed players ( or as committed in the past) in the future.

and the continuing trend of the better players in our area going to play with bands in Yorkshire (we've lost 3 to Yorkshire bands in the last 6 months).

Hopefully with the Brass Studies course being setup at Durham Uni we could keep hold of some of the student aged ( if there is sucha thing ) players and stop them from moving away to study music. If this started happening we could produce better players for all NE banding. Plus who knows it may even persuade players from outside the area to move north and Play\Study. This would certainly raise the standards in the area. Something i think would be welcomed by all.
Who Knows?

 

[Valvecap]

I enjoyed yesterday (despite CG getting outrageously hammered and hardly talking to me all the way home - prob cos she couldnt... ;-)
Cant say i was 'happy' with sixth - dont think anyone enters contests with the aim of coming 6th, but thats not to say i think it was the wrong result. I agree entirely with SM - we went yesterday and played confidently, were happy with our own performance, came 6th with it, and accepted it. It is an opportunity to play against bands of 'higher' calibre and I and i would guess all other people who went to the competition have the same aim - to beat the 'usual 3'. 2 years in top section having pinged through the lower sections, 2 6th places on the trot gives us a solid base to build on and and I look forward to challenging the 'big 3' again next year. Dont think many would argue about the result yesterday. Yes the top 3 were the same again - Reg Vardy were excellent by comparison to the rest of the section as were EYMS (although i think that although they were definitely the second placed band, if honest i felt that they could have produced an even better performance than the one they did) but this does not mean that the standard of the rest of the section has not got better - i felt there was a gulf in class in previous years that perhaps closed a bit yesterday. Withdrawls due to lack of players or other commitments is unfortunate and shows perhaps dwindling numbers putting band contests ahead of other things in life - again noticeable by the numbers of deps walking around yesterday with the bands that did compete.
Good discussion Colin

 

[bigcol]

Hopefully with the Brass Studies course being setup at Durham Uni we could keep hold of some of the student aged ( if there is sucha thing ) players and stop them from moving away to study music. If this started happening we could produce better players for all NE banding. Plus who knows it may even persuade players from outside the area to move north and Play\Study. This would certainly raise the standards in the area. Something i think would be welcomed by all.
Who Knows?

Not a chance Gaz - it's a nice idea, but whilst the bright lights big city of the Yorkshire bands are there, it is easier for players to do 150 mile round trip to well-established 'top' bands than hang around trying to build up the bands in our area. The best will always want to play with the best. Sure whilst they are at Durham Uni you might get them to play with you, Fishburn, us, whoever, but as soon as they are done why should they stay? you can tell dozens of tales of players moving south, know any that have done the reverse?

Anyway with your band's heavy connections with the course and the uni, is it cynical of me to suggest that you would have first pick at the players who joined the course? How would other bands in the area benefit?

 

[BoozyBTrom]

you can tell dozens of tales of players moving south, know any that have done the reverse??

I know of at least one. Me!!! Orginally from the village next to Frickley in west yorkshire. I moved north to study and guess what I stayed.

Anyway with your band's heavy connections with the course and the uni, is it cynical of me to suggest that you would have first pick at the players who joined the course?
How would other bands in the area benefit?

You could say the same about Sellers in Hudderfield. They have excellent connections with the university there. But not all the people studying brass go to them. You cant make people do things they dont want to do. If they dont want to join us there are plenty of other good bands in the area.

 

[bigcol]

But Gaz you don't commute from Frickley to play with ER do you? Anyway I get your point, but there's still a huge number (at least a band's worth) of players that go down the A1 twice a week to ply their trade.

I applaud your optimism, but I do not quite how starting a course at one the local universities for brass banding will help an area which has seen a 20% decline in attendance for it's main contest. If you were looking to take a course in banding and were weighing up the options, where would you go? I know we have the best night life, the lowest costs of living and the best birds in the country, but there are other things... :lol:

Anyway who wants a career based in banding - why not try computing? Computing isn't dying out, and additionally you can be on the internet all day discussing it and do posts on website like this one

 

[Pierre]

- Reg Vardy were excellent by comparison to the rest of the section as were EYMS (although i think that although they were definitely the second placed band, if honest i felt that they could have produced an even better performance than the one they did)


Yes Dave you are quite correct we knew we hadn`t played to our normal expectations which was very dissapointing considering how things had been progressing. On the subject of withdrawals I too am concerned but can fully understand the reasons when you consider the expense of hiring
in deputies if you can find someone willing and able to help out. We had the same problem when our principal euph went down with pnuemonia 8 days before the contest. Had to go to Norway to get cover. Get well soon Mel! Congrats to Reg Vardy see you in London! Have to see if we can ruffle a few feathers this year. :lol:

Tony

 

[Pierre]

Iain your jacket and house keys are in the post! :!:

 

[Valvecap]

Hi Tony - Might even make it down to London this year if lucky... If u need a dep for gigs etc give me a bell. You know where to find me.
I see Billy hasnt lost any of his flair on stage (grinning at the audience and things...)

Oh - and whose phone started playing Flower of Scotland at the start of your performance - sounded like it was someone stood next to the door minder!

 

[BoozyBTrom]

But Gaz you don't commute from Frickley to play with ER do you?

Your right I dont. At the moment I commute from Glasgow. Isnt the live of a commuter great

 

[yorkie19]

Admittedly some of these I believe are folded bands still to be deleted (Ovington Tynedale, Ebor, Barnetby (?), Boldon (?)) but even so, still quite a high proportion I think.

Just for the record, Ebor Brass haven't folded.

Sam