On the road to Cheltenham – Selkirk Silver and Shotts St Patrick’s

Representing Scotland at the Nationals in the Third Section at the weekend will be Selkirk Silver and Shotts St Patrick’s.

At Selkirk Silver, the rehearsal schedule on the test piece The Lost Village of Imber by Christopher Bond is getting busier under MD Charlie Farren in preparation for Cheltenham.

“Charlie is working us hard whilst adding his own unique humour to our rehearsals,” said band secretary Sara Jamieson. “Colin Kemp, our principal cornet player, has been doing a great job taking the band when Charlie can’t make it.

“And the support from the townspeople, community groups and businesses has been incredible.”

The band leaves Selkirk on Saturday morning and travels to Droitwich, to a hotel where members have stayed on two previous occasions. “We’ll get a rehearsal in the hotel when we arrive, then it’s an early start on Sunday for the draw at Cheltenham. We’re staying two nights then heading back home on the Monday,” added Sara.  “We’re delighted to have some supporters coming along with us.”

Selkirk’s youngest competing member is 14 years old Iris Deane – normally a trombone player who attended the NYBBS summer camp with the Reserve Band – who will be playing in the percussion section for the championships.

Ian Bradshaw is the band’s oldest member on 2nd trombone who recently received his long service award from SBBA.

Shotts St Patrick’s has been working really hard, not only in rehearsals, but also in trying to raise the funds it needs to make the trip to Cheltenham.

“We’ve also been fortunate to have such a generous and supportive community around us who have been coming out to see us at fundraiser concerts and kindly giving us donations. The band has also taken on extra jobs to swell the coffers,” explained the band’s Alana Bowman.

Multiple weekday and some weekend rehearsals have been scheduled for full band and sectional practice with MD Andy Shaw to boost confidence in how the band is playing and how it sounds. The players participated in a joint Nationals Preview Evening with Coalburn Silver Band to enable both bands to try out their test pieces in front of an audience and to receive feedback from Anne Crookston.

The band will be leaving Shotts on the bus on Saturday morning and returning on Monday evening.

Shotts St Patrick’s is fortunate in that it has a fabulous cheer squad of friends and family. “They are always a great boost for the band’s morale at contests so we’re thrilled that they will also be coming along with us to Cheltenham,” said Alana.

Shotts’ youngest member, attending the Nationals for the first time, is Lachlan aged 14 who joined the band earlier this year, helping the percussion team win the best instrumentalist award at the Scottish Championships in March with some top-notch glockenspiel playing.

The oldest member, Bill McLellan aged 86, is also a member of the percussion team who has been playing for more years than he cares to remember, proving that when it comes to making music with a band, it really doesn’t matter what age you are so long as you enjoy what you’re doing and the people you are with.

Alana summed up: “We have many members who have never attended the Nationals before and so they are looking forward to what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to visit Cheltenham and experience a contest on a much larger scale than they are used to.

“That said, we also have a lot of players for whom it isn’t their first visit.  Previously the band has attended the Nationals in 1972, 1992, 2002 and 2005 while in the Third section and also in 1982 and 1985 in the Second Section. We even have some stalwart members who have attended them all!”