Recent News

Joint Concert 2008! Due to the resounding success following our joint concert venture last September, Whitchurch Band has organised a concert with a difference this year. We will be playing alongside the Shrewsbury Male Voice Choir for an evening not to be missed. Just imagine the sound of brass accompanied by 70 voices! This concert has now been booked for 17th May 2008 at Shrewsbury Abbey (near to the old Shrewsbury Town FC Gay Meadow football ground). The start time has now been confirmed as 7.30pm. Keep your eye on our Events Planner.

Juniors Join In The Fun. Members of Whitchurch Junior Band hit the spotlight by playing the opening slot during the annual Whitchurch Rotary Club Concert for the elderly of the town on Tuesday 6th May 2008. This auspicious concert, held at The Civic Centre in Whitchurch over two consecutive nights, is the highlight for many elderly residents of Whitchurch, kindly organised for many years by the Whitchurch branch of The Rotary Club. Their efforts to lay on an evening of fun and frivolity never fails to entertain, and this year was no exception. Junior Head Tutor Les (Mr Les) Roberts exclaimed, "The children, as usual, played brilliantly and are a credit to themselves, and their performance certainly had the crowd clapping and showing their appreciation." Whitchurch Band is certain that its juniors will be playing at this worthwhile concert for many years to come.

Pete Rowley. On Sunday 6th April 2008 Pete Rowley, our Second Trombone player, sadly passed away following a short illness. He was 70 years old. Although a relative newcomer to Whitchurch Band, Pete had soon become an established member of our family unit, along with his partner Ruth (Tutti Cornet), and had made many new friends. His enthusiasm was infectious and, as a new member of the trombone section, this was made apparent when the band re-introduced "Frolic For Trombones", a tremendously upbeat piece of music, with Pete always asking Musical Director Simon Griffiths to conduct it faster and faster! Unknown to us, Pete was a well respected player and also a conductor, who had worked with a variety of bands in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and north Wales. Unfortunately for us, we didn't get to truly know the Pete that so many people did, as the testaments on The Mouthpiece website concur, but everyone at Whitchurch Band is proud to have played alongside such a fine musician as Pete, but, more importantly, to have met Pete as a friend. We all extend our sincere sympathies to Ruth and families for their sad loss.

Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service Medal Ceremony. Wednesday 26th March 2008 saw Whitchurch Band perform at this prestigious event, where nine members of SF&RS received their 20 year long service and good conduct medals presented by Vice Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire Colonel Edmund Thewles OBE, standing in for Lord Lieutenant A Heber-Percy who was detained in London at Her Majesty's request, who sent his sincere apologies. Chief Fire Officer Alan Taylor thanked us for our performance, and retiring Divisional Officer Phil Brookes, organiser of this event for many years, stated that our attendance added a special touch to the proceedings. This is our second year performing at this important event, and we look set to entertain the guests for many years to come.

The Long & Winding Road. Our intrepid 1st Baritone player Mike Wright is off on a journey many of us would envy - unfortunately for Mike it is a case of the "Busman's Holiday". We will be missing Mike for a few weeks as he travels to the nether regions of Europe, including Munich, then on to the further reaches of the globe, ending up in the windy city of Chicago, promoting his company Envin Scientific Ltd, after having just moved factory premises to boot! We all wish him well and hope he has enough "wind" in his Baritone when he returns.

Whitchurch Band Needs You! As mentioned on our Recruitment link, Whitchurch Band is always (as with any band - the more the merrier) on the lookout for more players of any instrument, but we are particularly keen to audition for principal cornet players. We are casting our net far and wide, so, as mentioned, if you play, used to play but are in need of some brushing up, or if you know of someone who plays or used to play, and they may need some rehearsal time, contact Whitchurch Band now.

Whitchurch Band Recording. As mentioned on our sound bites page about a possible recording, Whitchurch Band has just received a CD of its recent joint concert at Whitchurch Civic Centre on Friday 14th September 2007 with Tarporley Band. Although the quality is very high and the bands sound fantastic, unfortunately the quality is not good enough to produce a CD for sale to the general public, so this particular recording will only be available to members of Whitchurch Band and Tarporley Band. We will endeavour to produce a CD for general sale in the near future.

New Members. Musical Director Simon Griffiths became a Granddad on Thursday 24th January 2008, the proud Granddad of Oliver and Charlie, twin boys by his daughter Kelly. Early reports say that Charlie has accepted a glass mouthpiece for the cornet whereas Oliver has been beating his hand and foot in time so will be joining the percussion section along with family members Trevor and Jack.

The Beat Goes On. The band recently purchased a brand new drum kit for percussionist Trevor Griffiths in shiny pearlescent black which he will be proudly showing off this year. This means that his old kit, an Arbiter Flat metal kit, is FOR SALE. See our Instruments page for more details. SOLD

Big Money. Plans are afoot to approach the newly formed Big Lottery Fund for a further grant to expand our instrument collection. The Awards For All Scheme offers grants from £300 to £10,000, and The Cleveland Beekeepers are an example as follows:

"A farm in Teeside has welcomed thousands of unusual visitors onto its site thanks to an Awards for All Lottery grant this year.

Cleveland Beekeepers, based at Newham Grange Leisure Farm, have set up an apiary with £4,500 from the Awards for All programme. The funding has helped the group to create two new hives complete with bees, as well as providing a new laptop, suits, display boards, tables, beekeeping tools, sound equipment and a projector.

With 40 members, this group is looking forward to encouraging more people to take up the craft. Chairman of the organisation, Sal Mancina, said: “Eventually the hives will have between 50 000 and 70 000 bees in each hive. We have lots of people wanting to join and learn about the art of beekeeping.” Further details can be obtained from their website www.teesbees.co.uk."

There are many more examples on the website, from Cleveland Beekeepers onto small primary schools, so Whitchurch Band will be actively seeking to secure a similar grant.

A New Role. This New Year has also seen Jayne Griffiths voted in as the new Whitchurch Band secretary, taking over the role from the departing Meriel Edge. Musical Director Simon Griffiths spoke of Meriel's commitment at the recent AGM and passed his thanks onto her husband Simon (who was present) for her work during the last few years. He also welcomed Jayne into her new role and wished her every success. Jayne currently plays 2nd cornet and is in charge of the band's uniforms.

Archive News

 

Presentation. On Saturday 8th December 2007 members of Whitchurch Band presented a cheque for £970 to Mrs Margaret Hiles in aid of Whitchurch Hospital at a Christmas coffee morning at Whitchurch Civic Centre following the hugely successful joint concert with Tarporley Band in September (see Joint Concert feature below). Pictured presenting the cheque to Mrs Hiles (middle) are (from left to right) Mrs Jayne Griffiths (Secretary), Mr Simon Griffiths (Musical Director), Mrs Lindsey Wilkes (Booking Secretary) and Mrs Gaynor Ackerley (Treasurer). Also present was Mr Trevor Griffiths (Website Co-Ordinator, who was not in the picture as he was taking it at the time!)

 

Matthew Flies The Nest. It was with great regret and sadness that on Tuesday 6th November 2007 Matthew Radford, one of our young tutti cornet players, announced that he was leaving Whitchurch Band to join Normid, which is closer to his home town and a National winning band. Matthew has been with Whitchurch Band for about 10 years since he was 7 and Musical Director Simon Griffiths spoke of the pride in watching this young man become the player he is today. Matthew has promised to help out when he can with functions but unfortunately his rehearsal commitments clash. Everybody at Whitchurch Band wishes Matthew every success at Normid and every success in his future playing.

Joint Concert. Whitchurch and Tarporley band recently joined forces to perform two concerts played on consecutive weekends, the first at Whitchurch Civic Centre on Friday 14th September 2007 and the second at Tarporley Community Centre on Saturday 22nd September 2007. Both concerts were a resounding success with the two bands playing on the same stage, performing classic and modern tunes. The concert at Whitchurch raised over £950 for the local community hospital with Tarporley's concert raising over £300 for their local hospital. Many thanks go to those involved in both concerts (you know who you are), but specific mention (for the Whitchurch concert) has to go to Mike Wright, our solo baritone player, who sponsored the Civic through his company Envin Scientific Ltd www.envinsci.co.uk, Mrs Margaret Hiles for her unstinting work in fundraising for Whitchurch Hospital and her sterling work in selling so many tickets, and Lindsey Wilkes for producing the fabulous programme through her company The Carrot & Stick Design Agency, and for securing the advertising spaces from the numerous local businesses who kindly sponsored this event. These were, in no particular order, The Dodington Lodge Hotel, Stokes Estate Agents, Green End Pharmacy and The White Bear Public House.

Retirement. After 30 years of loyal and unstinting service, first as a horn player and in more recent years on drums and percussion, Kate Pate decided to call it a day and retire from the band. Following on from major surgery in 2006, Kate tentatively returned on percussion after the drums were taken over by Trevor Griffiths, but quickly realised that the travelling and commitment were taking their toll. Upon her retirement Kate was presented with an engraved glass leaf on a glass plinth and a bouquet of flowers. Musical Director Simon Griffiths spoke highly of Kate's many years of service and added that she would be greatly missed. The band has promised to keep her up to date with future concerts and band news through its newly acquired newsletter "The Hornblower".

New Players. Following Kate Pate's surgery, Trevor Griffiths was drafted in at short notice to take over the helm on the drums in 2006 after a plea from his brother, and, following Kate's retirement, has now settled in well within the band. Other recent new additions included Trevor's wife Jayne Griffiths on 2nd cornet (having never picked up an instrument in her life!), Lindsey Wilkes on solo horn and Bruce Douglas on 2nd horn. 1st horn player Lucy Mullock established herself as a full member of the main band from the junior section under the excellent guidance of Les Roberts. Kate's position on percussion was recently filled by Master Jack Griffiths, son of current drummer Trevor Griffiths. Jack has attended his first few rehearsal nights (along with having to face an audience of over 200 people at Whitchurch Civic Centre during the aforementioned joint concert - talk about being thrown in at the deep end!), and is now a fully paid up member of the junior band section under the guidance of Les Roberts.

New Positions. Solo Horn player Lindsey Wilkes was recently voted in as the new booking secretary, taking over the role from current main secretary Meriel Edge. Current drummer Trevor Griffiths was also voted in to take over the running of the band website and other graphics projects including the band's first full colour promotional leaflet, and his wife Jayne was voted in to oversee the band uniform, purchased with a £5,000 lottery grant in 2001.

Internet Fraud. The band unfortunately succumbed to the evil of internet fraud when they successfully bid for a new flugel horn on Ebay for Master Peter Evans. The seller turned out to be a fraudster and £400 of the band's precious funds were thought to be lost. The culprit has subsequently been identified by the police and due to the tenacity of the band's treasurer Mrs Gaynor Ackerley steps are being made to recover the lost funds. After a report in the local papers generous donations were made of £100 by Whitchurch Lions from their funds and £20 by Councillor and Mrs Rob Hewson following a coffee morning. Whitchurch Lions and Councillor and Mrs Hewson work tirelessly for local causes and these donations were gratefully received. The band recently purchased a new flugel horn for Peter (but not from the internet!)

A New Home. After many years of practising at The United Reform Church, the band found themselves without a home when the church was put up for sale, until Meriel Edge and her husband Simon came to the rescue. Meriel and Simon (parents of young flugel horn player Peter) are on the committee of the Brownlow Community Centre. Whitchurch Band now has its own rehearsal room permanently set up, whereas before it shared its room with Whitchurch Toddlers Group and had to empty the room after every rehearsal! Many thanks go to Meriel and Simon for securing the band's rehearsal future.

This page was last updated on 08/05/2008 23:34.