|
Bearpark & Esh Colliery Band would like to wish our followers a very Happy Christmas to all of our members, followers and supporters. After a busy December we have put all of our instruments away for a well deserved rest and to have some family time. We hope you have a lovely day however you are spending it.
0 Comments
The last 2 nights (22nd/2rd December) has seen the band perform at Sainsbury's at the Arnison Centre in Durham for the final two band engagements of the Christmas season. A massive thank you goes to everyone who has donated across the two nights either in our physical collecting buckets, or our virtual collecting buckets. A small band tonight, were honoured to play outside of St. Nic's Church in Durham Market Place to provide festive music prior to their carol service. Thank you goes to our helper Corinne, for helping us out tonight on Solo Cornet. A big thank you goes to everyone who put a little something into our collecting bucket as they passed by. The band has spread some Christmas cheer in Durham Market Place this morning. A big thank you goes to James, from Durham Markets for your continued support. Also, a massive thank you goes to all the shoppers who donated into our collecting buckets or virtual collecting buckets. Your support is highly apprieciated. Tonight saw the band perform at Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens, for their Christmas Carols event. A full standing ovation from our very appreciative full audience makes what we do all the more special. The stunning chapel was in full glory last night as the band filled it with festive music and with lots of audience participation. We featured two of our fantastic soloists, our Solo Horn player Lindsey Rowell played In the Bleak Mid Winter and our Solo Euphonium player David Thomas played O Holy Night. There was also a lovely vocal rendition of Silent Night in Alan Beaumont's Festive Brass by Helen Miller, our 3rd Cornet Player. A big thank you to Stephen Jack for coming along to record and take photos of our concert. Another thank you goes to David Petherick who has been a great help on Soprano Cornet over the last 7 months. You're help is greatly appreciated. Finally, we would like to thank Jonathan Ward, who is the Co-CEO and all of his staff at Ushaw for their valued and constant support of the band. The band class this venue as our home and it is always an absolute privilege to play in the chapel. There are lots planned in 2026 with them so keep an eye out on all social media platforms. Tonight saw the band join forces with the wonderful Crook & Weardale Choral Society to perform an amazing sell out concert in St. Catherine's Church, Crook & Howden le Wear. It was amazing to see such a fabulous audience with only standing room available as the concert started. The band played a mixture of Christmas music along with two joint pieces with the choir. Our featured soloist for the evening was our Solo Euphonium player, David Thomas who played Keith Wilkinson's O Holy Night. It is always a joy to join together with other musical groups to perform together and Crook and Weardale Choral Society are no exception. This concert has always been a firm favourite of the band over the last decade or so. This morning saw half the band playing for the residents at West Lodge Care Home in Billy Row. They were in fine voice and loved having the band play some festive favourites. Tonight has seen the band perform at Quebec Village Hall. The band were honoured to play to such an amazing audience with only standing room left in the hall. Thank you to each and every one of you for turning out and joining in with all of the singing. Your rendition of Alan Beaumont's 12 Days of Christmas was fantastic. The local support means a lot to us and tonight you didn't disappoint. We featured two wonderful soloists, our Principal Cornet Michael Evans played Alan Beaumont's Santa Baby, and also our Flugel player Nicola Evans played If Everyday was Like Christmas. The band would also like to say a Happy 80th birthday to George, the grandad of Leila - our 3rd Cornet player and a huge supporter of the band. We would like to say a big thank you to Ellie and all the trustees at Quebec Village Hall for organising such a great night and for all your support to us as your local band. Tonight saw the band perform again, at Beamish Museum as part of their Christmas evening events. It was lovely to see so many people visiting the museum and enjoying the festivities. Tonight saw the band perform a fabulous concert at Birtley Masonics. It has become a firm favourite of the band and tonight certainly didn't disappoint with a super audience. There was rivalry between the ladies and gentlemen in the carol singing competition and lots of new music to enjoy. We featured two wonderful soloists, our Principal Cornet, Michael Evans played Alan Beaumont's Lonely this Christmas. Our Flugel Horn player, Nicola Evans played If Everyday was Like Christmas, which is also a new arrangement by Alan. A big thank you to our two helpers, Dave and Jeremy. This morning saw the band entertain the busy crowds, as they visited the Durham Christmas Festival in the Market Place. A big thank you goes to our collectors and to everyone who donated in either our physical collection buckets and our virtual collection buckets. Tonight has seen the band play at the wonderful Christmas evening at Beamish Museum. Due to the rather wet weather, it was unsure if we were going to be able to perform in the town bandstand. With some quick thinking between the band and the staff at the museum, we were able to get set up in the main entrance and play for everyone arriving and leaving. The band performed today at the wonderful St. Edmund's Church in Bearpark as part of Bearpark Parish Council's Christmas Events. We started our concert playing Slaidburn and Gresford to officially welcome the new Bearpark Banner into the church, it's home for the foreseeable future. We then continued the afternoon entertaining a full church with some carol singing and some new festive music. After our concert in the church, the band split so that half performed at the christmas tree in Bearpark and the other half went to the christmas tree in Ushaw Moor (at The Flass Inn) to help both villages turn on their Christmas tree lights. Today has seen the start of the 2025 Christmas Season for the band - performing at Dalton Park. The band played a variety of festive favourites to busy shoppers as they prepare for Christmas. A big thank you goes to you who dug deep in their pockets and donated to our bucket collection. Your support is greatly appreciated. Tonight has seen the band have it's AGM and Presentation of Awards. The following players below were awarded with service awards & individual awards.
Remembrance 2025 saw the band perform in certain events across the county, paying our respects in a variety of ways. On Thursday 6th November, our principal cornet player Michael Evans played the Last Post at Ushaw College's Service of Remembrance. On Sunday 9th November, the band were honoured to play at Sunderland Remembrance Parade, alongside the British Army Band Catterick. A big thank you goes to Iain, Ben and Brian for helping us out today - your help is very much appreciated. On Tuesday 11th November, our solo cornet player Joanna played the Last Post as part of the short service of Remembrance at the Pit Wheel in Bearpark. Today saw the band compete in the Durham County Brass Band Association Festival of Brass contest at East Durham College, Peterlee. The test piece chosen for the contest was Ex Terra Lucem by Jonathan Bates, and were placed in 1st Place and became champions. This was accompanied by winning the prizes for the best middle of the band, best percussion section and Highest Placed 2nd Section Band. A huge congratulations goes to Gavin, our conductor, for all of his hard work preparing us for today and for getting such a fantastic result in his first contest as conductor. A thank you goes to our helpers today:
It was also a special day for our Principal Cornet player, Michael Evans, who was awarded a certificate by Hugh Stephenson - President of the DCBBA, for 50 years service to the brass band movement. Thank you to all of the committee and volunteers for a contest ran superbly well, and our congratulations also go to Durham Miners' Association and EDMG Peterlee Band for their 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Tonight saw some of the band put their instruments out and pick up a drink to celebrate our Rep player, Dan's 30th Birthday. We started the night off with a game of bowling in Durham and then headed to Zizzi's for a lovely Italian. We finished the night with a quiz based around the year 1995, especially made for Dan by Joanna. Ushaw Proms - Where do we start then? It was an incredible night performing with the fantastic Ushaw Choir, lead by Mark Anyan in the stunning chapel at Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens along with the superb Soprano soloist, Ruth Jenkins-Robertsson. A sold out audience joined us all with flag waving, singing which gave a full on Last Night of the Proms spirited finale. Such an emotional sight to see from the stage. Our soloist for the evening was our Flugel player, Nicola Evans who gave a stunning performance of the the solo, By Trevone Bay by Paul Lovett-Cooper. A huge thank you goes to our conductor, Gavin Brown. His dedication and preparation for this concert has been second to none. His very first major concert with the band and it's safe to say he absolutely nailed it. Our extended thanks goes to first of all, our helpers for tonight - Peter, Daniel, David, Michael, Colin and Tracey. Your help was very much appreciated. In addition, a thank you goes to Mark and everyone in Ushaw Choir for being amazing people to work with over the last couple of months. You all sounded superb. Finally, a big thank you goes to Mark Nixon and all of his team at Ushaw College. Five months in the planinng, alongside our secretary Marion and we manabged to pull off such an amazing event. Thank you for the support you give us - the band always think of Ushaw as our "home" venue, and it is always a pleasure to perform here. This weekend has seen the band perform at the Bishop Auckland Horticultural Show - held in the grounds on Auckland Castle, organised by The Auckland Project. On Saturday, it was nice to see many people enjoying the event and listening to the band despite the cold weather. The soloists featured were Nicola on Flugel Horn and David on Euphonium. A big thank you goes to Michael for helping us out on Solo Cornet today. On Sunday, the weather improved a ton - the warm sun and blue sky made it a lovely day to come and enjoy the event. The soloists featured were Lindsey on Solo Horn, Dan on Solo Trombone, David on Euphonium and Michael on Principal Cornet. A big thank you goes to David, a long standing friend to the band, who helped us out on Repiano Cornet today - your help is really appreciated. A big thank you goes to The Auckland Project for having us perform across the weekend. Following the practice this morning, some of the band got together at the Royal Oak in Cornsay Colliery for a Sunday Lunch social to welcome Gavin to the Band.  The band has had an enjoyable afternoon today performing at Wolsingham Show with a superb audience. The heavens opened right as we were starting to finish the concert, so we were pretty lucky in this regard. The soloists featured today were Nicola Evans on Flugel, Lindsey on Solo Horn & Dan on 1st Trombone. A big thank you goes to David for helping us out on Bb Bass today - your help is much appreciated. The band performed today, to a huge audience at South Shields Amphitheatre - despite battling with the wind. A varied programme, along with featuring many soloists across the programme - those being:
This morning saw the band perform for all of the residents at Langley Park Care Home as part of the Durham Brass Festival's Sounds on Sunday initiative. It was wonderful to see so many of the residents coming out in the sun to listen to us, and thank you for making the band feel so welcome. Following Langley Park, the band made the journey down to Saltburn-by-the-Sea for the 2nd time this year. Unfortunately the rain got the better of the concert outside - but meant that it was moved to the lovely Emmanuel Church with a fantastic audience. It was the first official concert for our new Conductor, Gavin Brown, and he did a great job picking the programme and leading the band. The concert also featured two new solos. Lindsey Rowell (Solo Horn) performed Over the Rainbow, and David Thomas (Euphonium) performed Be My Love. A big thank you goes to Beth, our helper for today on Solo Cornet and also a big thank you goes to the Saltburn 500 Club for their continued support. The band have had yet another fantastic, albeit, hot Durham Miners Gala today. There was such a great atmosphere and great to hear lots of good bands. We were able to get through Durham before the sun and the temperature really took hold which was a relief for the band - but coming back out was a different story. The drinks at the end were definitely needed. It was an honour to lead all of our banners today but a big thanks to Esh Winning Banner Group for organising everything with the band and also to West Rainton and Durham University UCU banners for joining us too. It was very special to see all the hard work that Bearpark Banner Group have done today towards finally get their banner in the parade and for us to take it into it's first Miners Gala was an honour in itself. Great job to everyone involved and we hope to share many Miners Gala's to come with you all in the future. We would like to say a massive thank you to all our friends who came to help us out today and a special thanks to the players from Darwen Brass that joined our ranks today. Also, to Yvan and Christian who joined us all the way from Switzerland. We are grateful for all the friendships that are building each year everyone comes together. Thanks guys, we really do appreciate it. Here are a few highlights of the band's day below. |
