As well as the return of Carnival,  the Well Dressing also came back to Whaley Bridge this year after the four year break.

The Well Dressing is now displayed at the "Art Box" by the entrance to the station car park, and the service of blessing was a complete contrast to the hurlyburly of Carnival in the Canal Basin the previous day.
The Band played some hymn tunes as people assembled, accompanied the singing during the service, and rounded up the proceedings with a few more hymn tunes at the end.  

Carnival is back in Whaley Bridge.
After a break of four years, the new Committee have staged their first Whaley Bridge Carnival.
And what a success! Well worth the long wait.  A magnificent parade, followed by an afternoon of events in the Canal Basin......which of course included a performance by Whaley Bridge Band.

The programme had a Bier Keller theme, complete with The Happy Wanderer, Edelweiss and
The Beer Barrel Polka to name but a few.

And to add to the festivities, we were all in fancy dress. To complement the Alpine music, there were plenty of knobbly knees on show in their Lederhosen, and more than a few maidens in their Dirndls.
We even had Batman's arch enemy, The Joker, playing a Tenor Horn in the Band.

In the run up to the big day, all fingers and toes in Whaley were crossed for a fine, sunny, summer afternoon.
But maybe we over did the crossing, perhaps should have been fingers only, because it was sunshine in spades.  We shouldn't complain about sunshine, but it really was too hot, and our "slot" from 2.30 to 3.30 was the hottest part of the day.  But the Band played on, way beyond the call of duty. 

Huge thanks to our deps - Clare on Sop, Mike on Cornet, Euphoniums John and Simon, Liz on Trombone and - all the way from Yorkshire - Rhiann, Nick and Lou on Cornet. 
And, last but not least, Ros, not only playing percussion but leading the actions for YMCA. Amazing!
Thank you, Ros.  

And finally, thank you to the Carnival Committee for all their hard work to bring back Carnival back to
Whaley Bridge with a bang.