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So as 2024 comes to an end for the band, as the Christmas jobs are finally completed. We have really enjoyed the build up and hope to of spread a little Christmas cheer to you all. We have a few thank yous to give before we go off for a well deserved rest before we start back in 2025.
First of all a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us by coming to a concert or digging deep in your pockets to donate. We couldn’t do what we do without your support so it really means a lot. In addition, all of our wonderful playing members and their families. Being extremely busy throughout December, means that there are times when people have to give up a little bit of their time to play and provide festive cheer for everyone. Furthermore, our fabulous group of collectors. The band certainly couldn't do December without without them. It's not easy standing out in the cold while the band stays warm in certain venues - your dedication to assisting the band never goes unnoticed. Moreover, a big thank you goes to our good friends of the band who have helped us out over this busy Christmas Period. Your help and support when we need you especially during this very busy period is always very much appreciated. Finally, a huge thank you goes to our Principal Cornet player, and assistant conductor Michael for stepping in and getting the band through the December jobs at the helm. We hugely appreciate it. From everyone at Bearpark & Esh Colliery Band we wish you a very Happy Christmas and all the best for 2025.
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For the final time in 2024, another smaller band were out in Sainsbury's in the Arnison Centre, Durham performing for the shoppers. We would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who dug deep and put something in our collecting buckets or made a donation via our card machine. Your support is very much appreciated to help towards the running costs of the band. A big thank you goes to Jeremy as well, who offered to sit in for a blow tonight on Solo Horn.
The band performed today at a new venue today in Prince Bishop's Place which was Café at The Quarter. It was a varied programme for everyone who was doing their shopping in Durham today. A big thank you goes to our collectors who braved the cold wind whilst the band stayed warm inside, along with everyone who put something in our collecting buckets. We really appreciate your support.
During the performance, BBC Look North were out filming for their feature on shopping in Durham.
Tonight had a small band entertaining the shoppers at Sainsbury's in the Arnison Centre at Durham. The band would like to say a big thank you to everyone who dug deep and put something in our collecting buckets or made a donation via our card machine. Your support is very much appreciated to help towards the running costs of the band. The band joined forces again with the Crook & Weardale Choral Society, in the fabulous venue of St. Catherine's Church, Crook & Howden le Wear for our yearly choir concert. It was great to see so many people in the audience and hear the church filled with some beautiful music. Between the band and choir there was something for everyone. A big thank you goes to our dep for the night, Nic, who helped us out on Flugel. We really appreciate your help. Tonight saw the band played to a sell-out audience at the fabulous Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens. It was great to see the chapel full with a very appreciative audience. The programme featured a lot of our regular Christmas cheer as well as our soloists, David Thomas on Solo Euphonium & Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn. We also had a lovely surprise up our sleeves in the form of Helen Miller on cornet. She sang an absolutely beautiful version of Silent Night in Alan Beaumont's arrangement of Festive Brass. A mixture of music for everyone and a standing ovation at the end truly showed how much our audience loved our performance. A big thank you to everyone who attended and supported both the band and the college.
Today saw the band perform at Dalton Park, performing for all the shoppers doing their Christmas shopping.
Tonight has seen the band perform to a fantastic audience at Quebec Village Hall. The featured soloists were Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn and David Young on Eb Bass. A big thank you to everyone who came along and to the village hall for supporting us. This morning saw a small band perform for the residents of West Lodge Care Home in Billy Row. A selection of carols and Christmas pieces to put everyone in the festive spirit. There was certainly some fantastic singing going on. A big shout out to one of their residents Lindsey, who remembered that we also have a Lindsey in the band from when we were there a year ago. We hope you all have a fabulous Christmas. The band performed at a private job for Birtley Masonics' Christmas night, which is an event which the band has performed at for over 30 years. The featured soloists tonight were Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn and David Young on Eb Bass. Our 3rd Cornet player Helen also featured in Alan Beaumont's Festive Brass singing Silent Night. A fabulous night with an appreciated audience as always. The band braved the elements tonight performing at Beamish Museum as part of their Christmas Night Event. It was great to see so many people kicking around despite the storm. We are always humbled to hear people have enjoyed listening to us and finding Richard's post on Facebook was no exception. Thank you for your kind words, it's really appreciated.
Today has seen the band play at St. Edmund's Church in Bearpark for their Christmas Concert, and their Christmas Tree Light Switch On with Bearpark Parish Council.
It is always a pleasure of entertaining the good people of Bearpark and help them start their festive celebration. Today the band played at Beamish Museum as part of their Christmas at Beamish event. The featured soloists today were Lindsey Rowell playing In The Bleak Midwinter, David Thomas playing O Holy Night and David Young playing Frosty the Snowman. A big thank you goes to Alan Beaumont for conducting today. It was really nice to see so many people listening to the band. Tonight saw the band perform at St Paul's Church, in Hunwick. There was something for everyone in the program and also included a couple of pieces to put everyone into the Christmas Spirit. The featured soloists tonight were Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn and David Thomas on Solo Euphonium. A big thank you goes to the church for the warm welcome and excellent hospitality. Thank you to our audience who braved the cold as well. It was also great to welcome back Matt on Trombone, who helped us out tonight. Tonight has seen the band hold it's annual presentation night. This year we decided to support a local business who have been big supporters of the band for many many years. Sonia and Ian at the Royal Oak in Cornsay Colliery did an amazing job hosting us by serving a delicious all you can eat hot buffet. We finished the night with a quiz. Thank you Sonia, Ian and Caitlin for your excellent hospitality. Congratulations goes to the members who have received their service awards this year:
Alongside the service awards, we also had our special trophy awards. Our winners were:
We are honoured to have members which show amazing continuous commitment to our band like those above - thank you to you both, and also a big congratulations to all the award winners as well. It's well deserved to you all. Today, as we should every day, remembered those who volunteered, sacrificed, served, fought, and died, for our freedom. We thank you, and we salute you as we salute those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We will never forget. We will remember you. The band was honoured to lead the Sunderland Remembrance Parade and provided the music for the whole service. A big thank you goes to our borrowed players, and long standing friends, David, Iain, Ben and Bill. A special thanks to Liam on snare drum as well who responded to our post for helping us earlier on this week. We really appreciate you all. Also, thanks to our lovely and very professional coordinator Della, who was our link to the council. It was great to work with you and thank you for keeping us right. On the 11th November, our Solo Cornet player Joanna played the last post as part of the short service of Remembrance at the Bearpark pit wheel. A big thank you to her for representing the band doing a fabulous job for Bearpark Parish Council's service along with school children from Bearpark Primary School. The band performed today, as part of the 150th celebration of the opening of Sacriston Colliery Cricket Club. We shared the stage with some fabulous bands. A massive thank you to our deps Jason, Kym and James - your help is very much appreciated. We also want to say a huge thank you to The Brit Pack for the loan of their snare drum, after we had left ours behind. Today was also the first job of our new Eb bass players. We would like to welcome Cassian and hope he has a long and happy time with the band. Today saw the band return after over a decade, to the fabulous Wolsingham Show. The rain held off for us to play to a great audience. Our programme had something for everyone and we even had some children dancing. We featured two soloists today, Lindsey on Solo Horn playing An Untold Story and Nicola on Flugel playing Children of Sanchez. The show looked great with so many things to see. We were honoured to be a small part of a very successful weekend. We would like to say a massive thank you to Wayne and Joe, our deps for the day. We really appreciate your help. Instead of having our normal rehearsal tonight, we swapped our instruments for our quiz brains. Our Soprano player Sarah hosted a fabulous quiz night which had a little something for everyone. A massive thank you to her for putting it all together. The band are delighted to have been picked out as spot prize winners from Brass Bands England. Our concert at Auckland Castle was featured in their Brass Band Week, and was picked out by the chair, Mike Kilroy. A big thank you for our prize of a years free membership. We really appreciate it.
The band are absolutely delighted to announce that our Solo Cornet player Leila, has only gone and smashed her A-Level results and got into her first place university. Leila will be going to Sunderland University in September to study Primary Education. We are also very lucky she is staying local and will be venturing back for a blow as and when she can. We are extremely proud of you Leila and hope you enjoy your next exciting adventure. Today the band performed for a very large crowd in the wonderful Wharton Park in Durham. It was great to see so many people turning out on what has got to have been one of our hottest concerts to date. Our MD Will picked a fabulous programme to play which had something for everyone and featured many of the bands usual soloists as well as a duet by Michael and Valerie on solo cornet. A big thank you as always goes to our two deps, Nic and Jeremy. We really appreciate your help. Today was our last summer concert of a very busy period and we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has come along, listened and showed their appreciation. We now take a well deserved break dropping down to once a week rehearsals and a week off at the end of August. If you have any photos or videos of us performing throughout July and August we would love to see them. Today the band had the pleasure of playing to a packed out bandstand as part of the Friends of Saltburn - Supported by the 500 Club Sunday concerts. The band played a varied programme with a little something for everyone. Today's soloists featured Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn playing An Untold Story and Nicola Evans on Flugel playing Children of Sanchez. We would like to say a big thank you to today's dep, Phil on Solo Trombone. Your help was very much appreciated. We enjoy coming down to entertain the good people of Saltburn and look forward to seeing you all next year. Next Sunday is our last job of the summer season and we are finishing at Wharton Park in Durham. Come along and give us a listen. We have everything crossed for some gorgeous weather. The band played to a very appreciative audience at South Shields Amphitheatre this afternoon. A warm and sunny day meant we were able to try out our new band caps, which have been purchased for the summer season. Today's soloists were Sue York on Solo Baritone playing We have all the Time in the World, Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn playing An Untold Story & David Thomas on Solo Euphonium playing Blaydon Races. Today also saw David and Lindsey debut a brand new duet, Tell Him arranged by our solo Trombone player Matt. A big thank you as always go to our dep players, Nic, Louise, Ian, Jeremy and Kim. Your help is much appreciated. The band are nearing the end of our summer season with only two concerts left to do. We are returning to Saltburn this Sunday (4th August) 2:30pm-4pm and then Wharton Park in Durham on the 11th August 1pm-3pm. We hope to see many of you there. The band spent an enjoyable afternoon with a fabulous audience and the Friends of Saltburn - Supported by the 500 Club. We played something for everyone and featured soloists, Valerie Evans on Principal Cornet and Sue York on Solo Baritone. A big thank you to our deps Gavin on Flugel and James on Rep. Your help is very much appreciated. If you have missed us this weekend, don't panic, we will be performing at South Shields Amphitheatre next Sunday (28th July), 3:30pm and back here on the 4th August at 2:30pm. |
