We were welcomed inside the church hall at St John's Church Furness Vale for the last of our Tree Lighting events, as Storm Darragh was already in full swing on Friday evening.   

An early start on Saturday for The Big Brekkie and carols at Chinley Independent Chapel, and another rendering of The Twelve Hours of Christmas led by Reverend Foday.

The last event of the weekend was at Holy Trinity Church WB for the grand finale of the Christmas Tree Festival. 

Everybody's favourite carols and Christmas songs, and even a Rocking Around The Christmas Tree to match the music.  Good planning or just good luck? 

Thank to Holy Trinity Church for inviting us to take part in the Christmas Tree Festival, and of course special thanks to our guest player, Alice, on Eb Bass, no band is complete without a bass line.  

The first of three triple bill weekends in a row - what a busy band we are!

First stop, Buxworth on Friday evening for the lighting of their Christmas Tree.

Saturday morning and it's the Kettleshulme Christmas Coffee Morning in the Village Hall, our band room.
Always a pleasure to play for the Kettleshulme crowd, with a welcome brew and home made cake to refresh thirsty bandsmen after a long blow.

A few hours off, and it's Christmas Lights in Whaley Bridge.  A break with tradition at a new venue in the
Canal Basin, much more hospitable than the station car park of previous years, and a great improvement.  After the lantern Parade arrived in the Basin down the old tramway, the music began lead by WB Band and Whaley Choir.

And to finish off, a few more carols outside the Mechanics Institute before rain stopped play.

We're off! Christmas has officially started for WB Band. 
An amazing event at Chinley  for the first of our Tree Lighting events.  Just as well the road was closed at Squirrel Green when virtually all the Chinley residents gathered to welcome Christmas.  A break in the weather and we stayed dry. Enthusiastic singing including the Primary School Choir with Silent Night, a real challenge for the Band to play pianississimo so we didn't drown them out,

Then round round the corner to St Mary's Church for more festivities, and a grand finale of
The Twelve Hours of Christmas, lead with great gusto by Rev Foday and accompanied by WBB.
And last of all, a well earned brew and first mince pies of the season.

Six members of the band attended a Masterclass at Thornsett Bandroom, run by Adam Bokaris, prinicpal euphonium with Black Dyke Band. How amazing is that!

Along with around fifteen other local bandsmen, we were introduced to "buzzing" and a number of other techniques to help us sound better, not only as individual players, but also as an ensemble playing together.

Teamwork and listening to each each, that's the secret.   So now we know what to do, the hard part is actually doing it.

Thank you, Adam, for an excellent day, and also to Dave G and Thornsett Band for planning the event and making all the arrangements.

Prior to the service in the park, the Last Post is sounded the War Memorials at Bridgemont and Furness Vale, and this year the Bugler was our principal cornet, Holly.  Well done Holly, we're so proud of you. The Last Post is always emotional, but even more so when the player is the same age as those who gave their lives for their country.

And huge thanks to Rhian, Sheila and Laurie's granddaughter, for playing the Last Post, another moving performance by a young player.  

This is an event organised by Churches Together in Whaley Bridge, and another opportunity for the Band to play in the Canal Basin at Whaley community occasion.

And, yes, the weather was in our favour this time, maybe something to do with it being a church event and a little help from on high!   Half an hour after we finished, the rain was back as we enjoyed a well earned brew upstairs in the Transhipment Warehouse cafe.  Lucky or what?

Quite a blow with three verses each of five hymns, some of which included a chorus each time, plus a few favourite pieces to make the occasion really special.

Thank you to John for once again helping us out, with his first public performance on cornet since Adam was lad.  Is there no end to his talent? 

Postponed from July,  the day for our D-Day Commemoration concert had arrived at last.

Rehearsals had been going well.  A couple of pieces which had seemed impossible when we first looked at them in the spring were now at "concert standard" so it was definitely the right decision from a performance point of view to delay the concert.

But what about the point of view of the audience? Had we missed the boat for commemorating D-Day?
Would anyone still be interested three months after the actually 80th anniversary of D-Day?
And even if they were, would they turn out on a rather dismal day? Would the Band outnumber the audience?

But we shouldn't have doubted the commitment of Whaley Bridge!
Of course they came. In droves. 
​Even the back row benches and stacks of extra chairs were pressed into service.   

We are indeed fortunate in Whaley Bridge to have the luxury of a huge indoor space which provides shelter for both the Band and the audience in wet weather. Many thanks to Whaley Bridge Canal Group for their  hospitality and use of the Transhipment Warehouse which makes a fantastic concert venue.

The programme Sheila had created hit exactly the right note, including patriotic marches, music popular in the WW2 era, reflective pieces for Remembrance and of course lots of opportunity for community singing - just like they did during the war. 

And a big thank you to Derbyshire County Council and our County Councillor Ruth George for their support of this event, so that it was free for everyone to attend.

So it's Well Done all round

• the bandsmen for playing their hearts out
• Sheila, our Musical Director for selecting the programme and coaching us through to performance
• Nev and Whaley Bridge Canal Group for the amazing venue
• Ruth and DCC for supporting the event
• and of course the audience.  You did us proud - in numbers, enthusiasm, volume and generosity with over £60 donated to the Royal British Legion.

Although the concert was a long time coming, there is never a wrong time for Remembrance, so it was well worth the wait.

We struck lucky again with the weather for our performance at Whaley Wharf Weekend.
A mixed programme, ideal for a sunny afternoon, including a tribute to our Bass Trombone player,
Graham Robinson, who passed away in July.

As well as being an accomplished player, Graham was also an arranger of music, and it was a privilege to play his arrangement of Let There Be Peace On Earth. A bit of a break with tradition if truth be told: Graham's normal territory was Big Band/Jazz Band music, so a hymn tune was out of his normal comfort zone. But he more than rose to the challenge. Thank you, Graham, for your legacy to us of a very beautiful and moving peace of music. 

Eighteen players on the stand today, all of whom are Whaley Bridge Band regulars. Thank you one and all.
And thank you too, to the audience for your donations to Band funds which are very much appreciated.

It was a great honour to be invited by Foday, the Minister of Chinley Independant Chapel to lead the community hymn singing during a day of celebrations at the Chapel.  The occasion was to mark the
350th anniversary of Isaac Watts, founder member of the Congregations Church movement.

As well as half a dozen hymns, we also played a couple of marches and Highland Cathedral all of which went down very well with the congregation, who sang three verses of everything with great enthusiasm.

The Band were so wrapped up in the occasion that no-one remembered to take any photographs.  Ooops!
So you'll have to use your imagination to picture the pews filled with bandsmen . . . . . . . .

  . . . . . . . .players in the three rows at the back looking this way, and Sheila conducting from the far end of the pew end on to the camera.

And in the great bass band tradition, "Bandsmen's Teas" were part of the deal and we were treated to an excellent lunch afterwards in the Sunday Schoolroom opposite the Chapel.

Thank you, Foday and your congregation, for inviting WB Band to share in your celebrations in your amazing Chapel and for your warm hospitality.  Hope we will have the opportunity to play here again before too long. 

We were delighted when WB Band was again  invited to join forces with Over Alderley Band at
Rainow Church Fete.  What an amazing experience to ride through the village on a trailer sitting on hay bales playing Yankee Doodle Dandy!
​Surreal or what?

The ride was over all too quickly, but that wasn't the end of the show.
The "massed bands" of Over Alderley and Whaley Bridge played two sets during the afternoon to entertain the crowd.  Fortunately we were under shelter (or at least most of us were - a few players on the windward side did get a little damp) and it was a great sense of occasion to play so well together after only one joint rehearsal.

Many thanks to Rob and Lindsay, who play with both bands, for arranging this joint venture.
Hope we'll be back again next year.