Well, a number of your questions were actually answered in my first post.
I don't see myself as a 'demanding adult'; in the enquiries I sent to the teachers I've contacted, I'm pretty sure I've come across as somebody who is at the 'novice improver' stage, who wants to get better. I haven't said (or implied) that "I want to be good enough to play contests in a 1st section band", or anything like it; apart from anything else, I've no idea how good I'm capable of becoming, and I'm not that ambitious. I'm not looking for the absolute bees-knees of teachers, the sort who'd be lecturers at a music college, or teaching people who play at championship level - and I've made that clear in the enquiries I've made, and in my original post. I just want somebody who can help me move a bit further forward from where I am.
Your comment about teachers preferring to 'teach kids who are likely to be with them for a couple of years' doesn't make sense to me. Judging from what I've seen and been told by people in various bands, it's children who are far more likely to lose interest after a couple of months, rather than adult learners.
Yes, I could contact the MDs of all bands within 25 miles - but as my post on here has been seen by well over a hundred people without a single response from a teacher, nor any suggestion from anyone as to a teacher in my area, I rather doubt that contacting those MDs would be of any more help.
"there will be someone within forty miles of Buxton who can help you but actually getting them to come forward and do so is another issue"
So what am I supposed to do? Send out a press gang to drag them out by force? Frankly, I think it would have been worth your while to read my first post on this topic before replying.
