All weekend: Friday 22nd to Monday 25th January.

Full Report

On a cold weekend at the end of January the band once again traveled to the northern climate of Skegness to compete in the Mineworkers 2010 brass band festival.

Participating in the second section, the set test piece this year was Keith Wardle’s Folkmusic, an unusual piece with many different styles and in great contrast to last year's Crusade by Rieks van der Velde.

The draw for the contest took place first thing on Saturday morning and Alder Valley Brass was drawn an earlier than wanted number two. This meant an early start but also an early finish on the Saturday and therefore giving time to be able to spend the rest of the weekend listening to other sections playing.

The band had worked hard in the preceding weeks to learn and perfect the test piece and tried to impress adjudicators Richard Marshall and Kevin Wadsworth. The performance on the day was a good rendition, with most of the practised sections being played as at rehearsal and the band were place 8th out of the 15 bands.

The weekend did not stop there, as most of the band stayed on for the rest of weekend to listen to other bands in top sections, with the culmination to the weekend the championship section entertainment contest.

Five players of the band also took part in a charity event called the “Boob Blow” This was choreographed by the all women band “Boobs n Brass” which has been set up to raise funds for various causes but mostly breast cancer awareness. On the Saturday afternoon, a massed band event took place, with any player at Butlins being able to partake in the large band for a sum of £2.50 (£3.50 if you were male! ). The event was compered by Frank Renton and managed to raise funds over the weekend in excess of £7000!!!!

Liz McGrath