Below is the most
recent band news - listed with most up-to-date first:
15th
July 2009
Durham
Weekend
The Band left
Buckhaven at 3:00pm on Friday 10th July on the coach
for Gateshead where we arrived at our hotel in time
for evening meal at 8 o'clock. We were met by Roy
Lambeth from Durham Mining Museum, who contacted the
Band and invited us to attend this week-end.
Immediately after the meal the assembled Band and
supporters were pleased to witness the presentation
of a Life Membership Medal from The Scottish Brass
Band Association to our Chairman Jim Hyslop in
recogniton of Jim's continuous involvement in brass
banding for 50 years. A silver quaich from the Band
was also presented. The presentation was carried out
by the Band's resident accountants, Bradford &
Bingley (aka Brian McCabe and Jim Cameron) and the
consensus from the audience was "Don't give up
your day jobs boys!!!!". Jim's wife Liz, was
presented with a bouquet of flowers and then joined
Jim in telling a few anecdotes from both their past
memories of the Band. Due to legal
restrictions these stories cannot be put into print!!
A few beers as a night-cap and then most
people retired to bed to prepare for the busy
schedule the following morning.
Saturday morning
6:45am breakfast and then on the bus to Thornley
where the Band marched through the village at 8
o'clock collecting villagers who would be going into
Durham for the day's main event, Durham Miners Gala.
Back on the bus at 9:15 and then the drive into
Durham where we led the Thornley villagers who were
carrying their village's Mining Banner. The Band
supporters were also parading the Banner of the
Scottish Area of the National Union of Mineworkers as
this was the 25th anniversary of the miner's strike
as well as the 125th anniversary of the gala itself.
After marching 1/2 a mile the Band stopped amid
thousands of on-lookers and dignitaries on the
balcony of The County Hotel and gave a rousing
performance of "500 Miles" (made famous by
The Proclaimers). The crowd went ballistic and the
applause and cheering when we finished was
tremendous. We then marched off to Alford's march
"Holyrood" on our way to the Old Racecourse
Ground, where the main gala takes place. From noon
till 3:30 we were free in the park to enjoy all the
activities that were taking place and then it was
back into formation for the march back to the bus
retracing the morning's route, only this time it was
UPHILL. Back on the bus at 5 o'clock, (minus 1, Ron
went AWOL) and then back to Thornley and, believe it
or not, another march around the village. Then we had
a couple of hours in the Thornley Working Men's Club
to quench our thirst before returning to Gateshead
for our evening meal. Following the meal, at 10
o'clock Darren presented the Awards at a prize-giving
ceremony in the upstairs foyer. This was followed by
the Alternative Awards. This year these awards were
planned and presented by Kirsty and Gavin and they
did not disappoint!!!! Off to bed after a few beers.
Sunday morning
breakfast at a respectable hour but still all the
Band was out the hotel and on the coach at 10:30am on
our way to Tanfield Lea Working Mens Club where we
gave a one hour's concert to the assembled locals.
Then back on the bus and the short trip to Beamish
where we played on the Bandstand from 2:00 till
4:00pm. Then, yes you've guessed it right,
.........back on the bus for the journey back to
Scotland. A pit stop in Berwick on Tweed for chips
and refreshments for a few and then back to the
Bandhall arriving home about 9:30pm. The whole
week-end we were accompanied by Alec Harron who was
recording our activities to produce a documentary DVD
of the excursion. More details of this in the near
future. A selection of photos from the week-end can
be found by clicking here Picasa
Web Albums
Also searching on
youtube for "Durham Miners Gala 2009" then
sort by Newest and you will find some more videos of
the Band from Durham and Beamish.
5th July 2009
Itinerary
for Durham Weekend
Depart Bandhall
3:00pm on Friday June 10th on bus to
Swallow Hotel High West St Gateshead NE8 1PE
Telephone: 01914787214
Saturday
11th July. Early Breakfast and board bus for
travel to Thornley.
Arrive at Thornley. Post Code DH6 3HP as soon as
possible after 08.00.
(The post code is a known house about 100yards from
the start point).
March with banners down through village.
Coach to follow procession to Working Mens Club.
Anyone in Band Uniform can have free tea of coffee at
the club. There will be bacon sandwiches available
for sale.
Leave by bus ASAP after 09.00 for Durham.
March through Durham to racecourse. Free time from
arrival at racecourse (could be any time between
10.00 and 12.30) until lift off for homeward march at
15.30.
On arrival at the morning's start point, march with
banners through village again.
On arrival at Working Mens Club the bar will be open.
Prize draw to take place.
Return to Hotel for evening meal.
Sunday
12th July. Normal Breakfast and board bus to
arrive at Tanfield Lea Working Mens Club Post Code
DH9 9NA for 11.30 am.
One Hour's Concert starting at 12 noon.
Depart no later than 13.15 for Beamish
Arrive Visitor entrance at Beamish Museum.
Instruments by museum transport to bandstand.
Band follows by museum bus or tram
Concert to start at 2pm. To be played in 2 parts with
short break. Finish by 16.15.
Board bus and return home!
30th
November 2008 Negotiations are
underway to have the Band participate in The 125th
Durham Miners' Gala on Saturday 11th July 2009
followed by perhaps two concerts on Sunday 12th July.
Most of the band are available and keen to attend
this prestigious event next summer. I believe we will
be the first Scottish Band to appear in over twenty
years. One setback the Band will have to overcome is
the loss of one of our main fundraising events
(Christmas in The Mercat) which sadly was withdrawn
at the last momemt due to a change in marketing
policy by the management of The Mercat Shopping
Centre. New ideas and initiatives from anyone will be
welcome as we try to fill this hole in our funding.
More information about Durham will be posted when we
get it.
29th
November 2008 On Frday night
the band was the main performer at a St Andrews Day
Concert held in Leven Parish Church. We opened the
concert with the march 'Moray Firth' and played a
further seven pieces during the evening, all with a
Scottish flavour to the delight of the large
audience. One slight variation from the programme was
when our Musical director Gordon Evans tried to
convince the audience that the next piece on the
programme was 'The Pirates of Pittenweem' to keep the
Scots theme going!!!! However it was soon revealed
that it was indeed 'Pirates of the Caribbean' we were
playing. This was a necessary change to the programme
as one of the junior quartet had forgotten his music
for the piece they were due to play....Isn't that
right Nathaniel???? The audience again showed their
appreciation by purchasing several CDs during the
interval.
9th
November 2008 Last night saw
the Junior Band, Buckhaven Brass Beginnings, join the
Senior Band in Cupar Old Parish Church performing a
concert to help the church raise funds for a project
in Peru. The audience were well entertained during
the evening, and were especially impressed with the
youngsters. It was obvious that the Senior Band was
enjoyed as well as 12 CD's were sold to the admiring
listeners. This morning saw the annual trek to Methil
War Memorial for the Armistice Service and despite
cold blustery weather Gordon Evans was pleased with
the standard of play in difficult conditions. Thanks
go to Jim Cameron for stepping in at short notice to
do the necessary with The Last Post and Reveille.
Well done, Jim.
4th
November 2008 Following a good
performance at the Borders Entertainment Contest on
Saturday 1st November, the Band now looks forward to
the busy period in the run up to Christmas. We start
on Saturday evening (8th November) at Cupar Old
Parish Church with a concert to raise funds for a
project in Peru. The Junior Band BBB will perform in
the first half of the concert. The next day as in
previous years we will be in attendance at the
Cenotaph in Methil for the Armistice Service, then we
start preparing for the busy Christmas period.
6th
August 2008 The band have
been successful with a recent award of £4000 from
the 'Awards for All' Lottery funding. This will be
used to further the development of BBB, the junior
arm of the band, culminating in a Masterclass
week-end at the start of February under the baton of
renowned flugel player, Stan Lipeat. More details
coming soon about this exciting news.
8th
June 2008 The band have
just finished a run of concerts in the past few
weeks. The first was held in Leven Parish Church for
the Guild and the next was then Dairsie Parish Church
with some of the proceeds raised going to help
projects in Malawi which are being supported by
Dairsie Guild. The final concert was held in the
intimate Buckhaven Theatre just round the corner from
our bandhall in Buckhaven. The audiences at all three
venues enjoyed the music played by both the full band
and the juniors who had their own slot to perform.
These performances were so well received that already
more people are contacting us with a view to booking
the band for concerts in their own locality. Watch
this space for more news of these events.
15th
October 2007 As soon as Bob
announced his impending departure the search was on
for a replacement conductor and tonight saw his
introduction to the Band. The new man in charge is
Gordon Evans MBE. Gordon is well known in the brass
band world and we are pleased to have him onboard for
the forthcoming contest in Perth and the run up to
the Scottish Championships in Glenrothes in early
2008.
13th
October 2007 After gaining a
creditable 11th place in the National Finals in
Harrogate on September 30th, conductor Bob McDonald
surprised the band by saying he wished to resign his
position as Conductor and Junior Band Trainer. Bob
explained his work commitments had increased and he
needed to concentrate more on his full time job. The
committee and band members had to respect Bob's
decision and wished him well for the future. Bob
wielded the baton at his last rehearsal on Friday10th
October and Jim Hyslop, Chairman, presented Bob with
a silver quaich to commemorate his time in charge.
Bob then conducted the band on Sunday 12th in Falkirk
Town Hall in the Fife Charities Open Contest.
21st
March 2007 Article pubished
in 4barsrest !!
Buckhaven Bounce
Back
20th
March 2007 Read what 4barsrest
retrospective says about the band's success in
Dundee.
4barsrest
17th
March 2007
Buckhaven Bounce Back
Buckhaven and Methil Miners
Band were crowned the Fourth Section Champions at the
Scottish Regional Championships last weekend in
Dundee, which ensured that they had the briefest of
stays in the Fourth section after their unfortunate
relegation the previous year.
Buckhaven band, although having qualified for the
Nationals in 1982, 87 , 93 and 10 years ago in 1997,
these results have always been as the “Bumper
Up”, qualifying as runners-up in every occasion.
Last weekend the band made it to the “principal
seat” and won the contest from Draw 1. The band
was placed ahead of Dundee Instrumental and the
pre-contest favourites Renfrew Burgh.
Well directed from the
Middle.
The bands performance on the day was highly
commended by both adjudicators, Richard Evans and
Kevin Wadsworth with particular praise going to the
conductor Bob McDonald for a “Fine Performance -
Well Directed”. The star performance however was
the Solo Horn Player, Brian McCabe who lifted the
Best Instrumentalist award for his “most
enjoyable” performance of the Horn solo, which
is cleverly disguised as a second movement. Special
mention was also given to the Soprano player, Jim
Cameron, who gave a commendable performance
throughout the test piece.
Proud Representatives.
Buckhaven & Methil haven’t had such a
significant result since 1964 where, as Wellesley
Colliery Band, they won the old Second Section
British Championships. In fact one of the players in
that winning band still plays with the band today,
Jimmy Hyslop. Jimmy, the long suffering Chairman of
the band, was also on duty throughout the entire
weekend as Registrar for the SBBA. Resisting the
chance to celebrate too much with the band, his
beaming smile was self-evident to all bands as they
passed through the registration room over the
remainder of the weekend.The band still pride
themselves in maintaining links with the mining
community and will be proud representatives for Fife
and Scotland when they take the stage in Harrogate.
As the band are predominantly self funded, a series
of activities to raise funds will now be the target
of the committee to achieve the dream of playing in
the finals. I’m sure Mr Hyslop will relish the
opportunity of lifting a second British Championship
40 years apart!
14th
March 2007
Buckhaven Take the 4th Section Title
Buckhaven & Methil only have to endure a short
stay in the 4th section as they are immediately
promoted after winning the Scottish Championship
contest in Dundee. The band conducted by Bob McDonald
took the title by one point from local heroes Dundee
Instrumental in second place.
The results of the Scottish Championships 2007
4th Section
| Venue: |
Caird Hall, Dundee |
| Date: |
10th March 2007 |
| Adjudicator(s): |
Kevin Wadsworth, Richard Evans |
| Set Testpiece: |
The Seasons, Philip Wilby |
| |
Band
|
Conductor
|
Draw
|
Pts
|
| 1. |
Buckhaven
& Methil |
Bob
McDonald |
1 |
180 |
| 2. |
Dundee
Instrumental (St. Margaret's) |
John M
Tonner |
6 |
179 |
| 3. |
Renfrew
Burgh |
David
Hutchison |
5 |
178 |
| 4. |
Queensferry
Community Brass |
James
Anderson |
3 |
176 |
| 5. |
Brass
Sounds Inverclyde |
Alistair G
McCorkell |
2 |
175 |
| 6. |
Penicuik
Silver |
Frank
Culross |
4 |
173 |
Best Instrumentalist - Brian McCabe
(Horn, Buckhaven & Methil)
Youngest Bass Player - Tommy Dennington
Trophy - Graham Deacon (Renfrew Burgh Band)
4th
July 2006 . The Band is
still looking to attract a euphonium player since
Roy's departure and perhaps we will have some good
news soon. James Wylde (Eb Bass who is now studying
in England) has been encouraging prospective St
Andrews students for next year to come and have a
blow. If there are
any new players reading this page please be assured
of a warm welcome at our friendly band if you come
along.
2nd
July 2006 Yesterday saw the Band marching
at Dunfermline and Cowdenbeath Gala Parades. Our new
polo shirts were very comfortable and well admired
during the day, which was a scorcher. Thanks to all
who attended this final engagement of the current
season. The Band is now on holiday until Sunday 13th
August. Conductor Bob McDonald asks if all players
could keep their "lip in" during the break
by having a look at the pieces we are rehearsing for
the rest of the year. Remember, when we start back
there is only two weeks until the next contest in
Troon!!! Have a nice holiday.
18th
June 2006 The Band has taken delivery of
its new polo shirts thanks to a grant from Fife
Charities Trust. More details on Support page.
10th
June 2006 This Saturday saw the Band
participating at East Calder Gala Day. The weather
was scorching and everyone enjoyed the march and the
picnic bags supplied by the Gala Committee!!! We were
well applauded by the crowds on our way around the
town as we made our way to the park where all the
day's events took place. This was a well organised
event and we are pleased to announce that we have
already been booked to appear next year. Let's hope
there are no delays at the Forth Bridge next time!!!
13th
May 2006 Several band members went along to
the Caledonian Hotel in Leven to say good-bye to Roy
Perrie (Principal Euphonium), who is moving on to
pastures new in Aberdeen. The Band would like to
thank Roy for his services to the Band over the years
and wish him well in the Granite City. Needless to
say we are eager to find a replacement for Roy's seat
in the Band.
3rd
January 2006 Following a very busy November
and December for the band, with engagements and carol
services in the run up to Christmas, we now look
forward to preparing the test piece for the
forthcoming Scottish Championships. Bob McDonald
(conductor) and mangement committee would ask all
players to attend as many rehearsals as possible in
the next two months. This year we again are having an
intensive rehearsal weekend in Pitlochry. This proved
very successful last year, and Bob would like the
opportunity to have the band together for a whole
weekend to get to grips with the very demanding piece
of music, Entertainments.
1st
November 2005 Last Saturday the band had a
welcome boost following a good result in the Fifie
Charities Contest held in the Carnegie Hall,
Dunfermline. Drawn to play fourth, the March, Hymn
and Test Piece played were Brass Ablaze, Meditation
on Slane and Alan Fernie's Royal Mile Suite. The
adjudicator's points gave the band 1st position in
Section 3 and an overall contest position of 6th. We
also managed to finish above a pair of first and
second section bands which is really encouraging as
we look forward to preparations for the Scottish
Finals at the start of next year.
In the
run-up to Christmas the band has several engagements
to fulfill and we would ask all players to try to
attend as many of the events as possible as a full
band always gives a good impression to our audiences.
20th
February 2005 Last weekend the band had an
eventful and successful two days in Pitlochry
rehearsing the "Scottish" Test
Piece.........Tam O'Shanter's Ride. With three weeks
to go we are now getting to grips with this
technically challenging work, and I'm sure the band
will give a good account of itself in the Caird Hall.
9th
February 2005 This year sees the long
awaited arrival of the band's centenary year. The
band has been successful in receiving lottery funding
from "Awards for All" and kicks off the
celebrations with a weekend Masterclass of intensive
rehearsals in Pitlochry. Later on in the year a
similar event will be held in Troon prior to the Land
o' Burns contest.
5th
February 2005 Following the recent Lottery
Grant, all players in the main band now are playing
relatively new instruments, with their previous
instruments being cascaded down to the youngsters in
the Junior Band. The percussion section has also
acquired lots of new toys to play with!!!!!
4th
April 2004 The band has just heard that it
has been successful in its latest bid for lottery
funding. Congratulations to the team who submitted
the application on behalf on the band. More details
about this coming soon.
27th
March 2004 The band took part in an event
in the Glen Pavilion, Dunfermline. The Apple Blossom
Time Concert was compered by Alastair McDonald and
the band played two slots during the first half of
the evening's show. More details to be found on the
'Pictures' page on this web-site.
21st
March 2004 Last weekend the Band came a
commendable 4th place in the Scottish Championships.
This result has consolidated our position in the 3rd
section under the capable hands of Bob McDonald our
new conductor. Bob has made a huge improvement to the
sound of the Band and we're sure this will continue
over the coming contest season.
31st
January The band travels to Dunkeld this
month to hold a band master class where we will
get to know not only the new scottish test piece but
the new band members also.
Changes
A new conductor brings a breath of fresh air to the
band and 2004 kicks off with a hopeful outlook.
Robert McDonald is the bands new conductor and has
led a successful Tayport from third section to first
section, hopefully he can bring a new life to the
band. Plenty of hard work and a few tallented new
players mean the band is sounding good. Fingers
crossed and we will have a good year this year.
Uniforms
The band will see an image change early this year as
new uniforms are to be issued by the end of January,
giving yet another morale lift into the new year,
plans to have a master class with the new conductor
are going ahead and this will be the event at which
the uniforms will be issued.
David
Hynd A Bandsman/conductor who has been with the
band many years and has put allot of hard work into
the band will be presented with an honorary position
on the 31st January when the band travels to Dunkeld
for a Master class with the new conductor.
100 YEARS
2005 Is the bands 100th year in existence and we are
inviting ideas to mark the occasion, so if anybody
has any thoughts on what the band might do please
contact by e-mail.
