Getting cold in Egham.

Christmas was going so well - about three weeks ago we were ahead of ourselves and everything was planned out; the shopping, some nice Christmassy days out too.

Then I got really ill and we lost two weeks overnight.

Now Christmas is next weekend, I've just had Chemo and not really feeling too great and there's no time to do anything.

Except on Saturday morning we found time to go into Egham to have a coffee and listen to some Christmas music....amongst the trolleys outside Tesco's;

It's The Egham Band again and very pleasant it was too, even if it was a bit cold and miserable out on the street. 

They played all the traditional favourites and after quite a while listening we went for a coffee.

Unfortunately, I got really cold without realising it and spent the rest of the day trying to get back to normal.

But it was worth it.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Egham Band at Christmas.

So, Saturday night in the rain, we headed off for Egham and a night with 'The Egham Band' playing Christmas music.

We actually went very, very early because last year we nearly didn't get in; this year we found the church locked and dark....puzzling!

In fact they'd moved to a bigger place and, with a bit of luck, we found it. This time we were the first in!

This is Gareth Green the musical director;

The band is a huge achievement, striking a difficult balance between fun and completion standards which makes it a joy to hear them play . In addition to the band there is also a growing youth band who have their own slot in the concert.

There were lots of Christmas favourites but perhaps not as many as last year. It was more serious although that certainly paid off when they played 'Gloria In Excelsis Deo', with the cornets high up in the balcony.

But I'm not religious and for me the smaltzy, fun and sometimes tacky Christmas music is what I like best.

The band will be playing on Egham High Street on 17th December at 1030 am and we may pop down to take another look.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Magna Carta Day 2016 at Egham.

We went to Egham Magna Carta day which I haven't been able to get to for a few years.

Egham band were in fine form on the opening parade;

And then gave us a rousing performance to open up the music;

This is actually the new Junior band with a few performers from the highly professional seniors helping out;

The Junior band was formed out of the training band and they are now in the process of forming a new training band for beginners.

The highlight of Egham fair for me has always been the music, which in the past was very varied and exciting. It meant that the event was something special.

Even though this year there were three sound stages, the choice of music was fairy dull.

Don't get me wrong - I like a brass band and it's definitely part of the English summer;

And under their conductor they are a very professional outfit;

I also enjoyed The Juma Steel Band who did their best to bring some sunshine to a dull day;

We looked at the stalls and ate cake and eventually got heavily rained on too!

But the local area has a wealth of talent, most of whom are desperate for a chance to perform. Instead we seemed to get a lot of mock country and western music - safe and boring.

Dripping wet, we ended up drifting home.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Egham band at Christmas.

 We had a very special Christmas night out with The Egham Band;

 

 

 

It was a real treat starting with 'Deck the halls and ending with 'We wish you a Merry Christmas'.

 

In the meantime the church on the high street was so packed that the start had to be delayed to try and fit some extra chairs in.

The Egham band is a real success story, a thriving brass band with a training band of youngsters who had their own section of the concert to themselves.

This is Gareth J. Green conductor and musical director;

He provided a very amusing commentary between numbers and conducted with some real panache as you can see in this picture;

We got a mixture of old fashioned Christmas Carols, some quite sparky arrangements from America, some numbers that were of real competition standard and a mixture of 'White Christmas', 'Jingle bells', 'Sleigh Ride' and 'The Christmas Song'.

What more could anyone want at Christmas?

I like a wide range of music but once in a while I do need to hear a Brass band in full flight.

There was an added irony; I marched on more than a few occasions behind Colliery Bands.....this week the last Coal Mine closes down - the Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire.

Apart from a few scattered open cast mines that is the end of a proud industry. Now, despite extensive underground reserves nearly all our coal has to be imported.

Back in the 1980's Arthur Scargill leader of the National Union of Miners was ridiculed and attacked in the press when he predicted that the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher planned to close all but 12 mines by 1993.

Now they are all gone and all that's left is a tradition of Brass Band music in areas that once had industry like Staines and Egham which were once centres for the engineering industry, unlikely as it might now seem.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com