Band News

MAY 2008

The band is pleased to unveil its new website to replace a previous one that had been in existence for approximately five years.  The new design is predominantly the band colours of red and black.  Other features include a ‘meet the band’ section and a member’s area.  The new website will allow us to display a greater number of photographs than was possible before.  The band would like to thank Lisa Hancock for her hard work in looking after and maintaining the original site for such a long length of time.  We would also like to thank friend of the band Alistair Woodman (www.Mad-Media.co.uk) for designing and setting up the new web site, all within approximately 10 days!

The concert season begins on top of a hill...

The beginning of May marks the start of the band’s concert season.  Since the end of the World War 1, it has been a tradition of Wotton band to welcome Spring by playing hymns and march tunes on top of Wotton hill, overlooking the village.  Unlike our predecessors we no longer march up the hill!!!  The band plays in front of a walled enclosure of tress that have commemorated Wellington’s victory at Waterloo (1815) and later the jubilee of Queen Victoria (1887).  The band were very pleased to continue the tradition although rain meant that we all got very wet and muddy.  However, it was a pleasure for the band to be conducted and lead by Gordon Phillips who has been very instrumental in maintaining this great local tradition in recent years.

Mayday Music Making...
The band was pleased to be asked back again to take part in the May day celebrations at the village of Tytherington, Gloucestershire.  This is a very traditional and enjoyable Mayday event where there is a town crier, May pole dancing, stalls, etc and of course a brass band.  As this was the bands first proper engagement of the year, we were performing some new music that we have been practicing throughout April including Albion Treasures, Penny Lane and Sad and Blue (Trombone trio).  The weather was very kind and the organisers would have been very pleased with the excellent turnout.  It was good to see Alan (Bass) in the audience listening to the band and looking very well after his recent heart operation.

March 2008



March 9th saw the band compete in the West of England Area Contest that was as usual held in Torquay. Preparations for this once again had its moments and stretched both the emotions and resources of the band to the limit.

The band had already come to terms with being without principal cornet player Lisa (on maternity leave) and 1st Baritone player Julie (attending a family wedding), when Alan Lovell (Eb Bass player) was taken into hospital and diagnosed with requiring a triple heart bypass operation!

The band gave a secure but nervous performance of the test-piece (Dark Side Of The Moon) and finished 9th out of 14 bands. This was a slight disappointment as the band knew it could have played better, as it had in rehearsals leading up to the competition.However, putting things into perspective, the best results for the band were:

February 2008

This month has seen the band preparing for the West of England Regional Championships in Torquay, where the band is hoping to consolidate its position in the 3rd section. The friendly and happy atmosphere in the band room over the past year has resulted in us achieving nearly full attendances at rehearsals. Although most seats in the band are occupied, the band welcomes new members or visitors to our rehearsals.



As part of our preparations, Duncan Beckley has spent two weekends working with the band and has made a huge impact with his relaxed and professional style of conducting. The practices were very enjoyable and it was very apparent that Duncan’s musical direction had taken the band's performance to another level. Duncan congratulated the band for the progress it had made but made it very clear that there is still much hard work to be done before the big day!! Everyone in the band would like to thank Duncan and Rachel for befriending our band and we look forward to seeing them again in the near future. Special thanks must also go to Dennis Grant for working with Duncan.

 Engagements for this year have been coming in fast and the calendar is already beginning to look very full. As well as the usual favourites, we are delighted to have been given two bookings at the Bath Parade Gardens, a venue that the band has not played at for many years. The band will also be hosting a concert at Kingswood Village Hall where all proceeds will be donated to the Acorn Children’s Hospital Trust. This is a charity that supports and cares for life limited children and their families.

January 2008

Most of December the band were out and about playing Christmas carols. We would like to thank all members of the public who have put money into our collection tins as this has ensured the financial stability of the band for another year.  We would especially like to publicly thank the following people for their help and support during this busy period:

Stan Rodman, Ann Cummings, Janet Tarr, Roy & Audrey Hale, Adam Colyer, Gill Stanulewicz, Nora Chappell, Lorraine & Steve Philips, Simon Tutty, Robert & Suzanne Warr and Rita Stinchcombe.

The highlight of the year was the annual Christmas concert at Kingswood Village Hall, where the band performed one of its most challenging and difficult programs for years. The star of the show was Alan Bruton whose rendition of 'Dublin’s Fair City – Fantasy for Euphonium’ was exceptional. Many of our supporters in the audience generously commented on how the band has improved considerably over the past year. During the course of the evening, the band presented a bouquet of flowers to Jenny Lovell, in recognition of her services to the band. Jenny independently raised sufficient funds that enabled the band to attend the brass band finals in Harrogate.  Jenny publicy thanked the Wotton and District community for the support and goodwill she had received.

The band also took part in a joint Christmas concert with the Yate Choral Society at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall.  This has become an annual event that is a huge favourite of the band. Special thanks goes to the organisers ‘Chipping Sodbury Lions Club’ whose hard work ensured that the concert was a sell out, and they were even turning people away!! This event and many others has enabled the Chipping Sodbury Lions to raise over £14000 last year for many charities.(www.cslions.org.uk)

Finally, the band would like to wish our principle cornet player, Lisa Hancock, a happy and healthy maternity break and we all look forward to seeing her back in the band in the future.

December 2007

Preparations now begin for next years annual West of England Area contest and the test piece will be ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ by Paul Lovatt Cooper.  This is a cracking composition that has received much praise nationally and the band is delighted to be able to work on it. Wotton band is delighted to announce that Duncan Beckley has agreed to prepare and train the band alongside Denis Grant, who will be conducting us on the day.

Duncan was born in London, but his family moved shortly afterwards to Wakefield, West Yorkshire and his love for music grew into a passion and a profession. He started playing the Flugel horn at ten years of age and progressed to the tuba, which he played with many brass bands. Duncan is a member of The Royal College of Music and a Fellow of Trinity College of Music. He also gained a degree in Music from Sheffield University and holds a P.G.C.E. from Leeds University.He is now a conductor, band trainer, teacher and adjudicator and travels widely conducting bands throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As the Musical Director of Newstead Brass Band, their recent success in winning the Championship section at the Midland Area Championships gave Duncan the unique honour of having won an Area championship at every level. He was Musical Director for the national tour of ‘Brassed Off', finishing at The National Theatre, London. He also conducted the band, which appeared in the film ‘The Full Monty' and has also made other TV appearances.



November 2007

Julie Ashby is presented with a new Baritone in the band room, by Joan Goulding. Joan donated the instrument to the band in memory of her husband Pat Goulding, who was a member of the band for over 50 years and played Baritone. Pat was instrumental in ensuring that the band kept going even when membership was low. During his retirement, Pat wrote a history of the band, which is lodged with the local Historical Society.

At the recent band AGM the new committee was elected as follows:

A number of new signings have been made this month and we are delighted to welcome:

October 2007

On Saturday 29th September the band took part in the National Finals of the 3rd Section in Harrogate and were delighted with the result of 13th out of 18 bands. However, the day had not run smoothly for the band with their Principal Cornet player Lisa Hancock being taken to hospital with a suspected fracture to a replacement knee joint and the conductor locking his score in his car!! Despite these set backs, the band pulled together and gave a very pleasing performance, with Ian Ford filling the seat of Principal Cornet. Perhaps the position of 13th was inevitable!!