Today the band played to a very appreciative audience in St Emmanuel Church in Saltburn. We featured Lindsey and Catherine as our soloists today on horn and flugel. We also drew our National Finals Grand Prize Raffle during the interval. The list of winners can be found below the images of the day below. A big thank you goes to Adam, Connor, Lucy and Dave for helping out today. 

To see the images from the day and the winners of the Grand Prize Raffle Draw, then select read more below.

The band performed at Durham Castle last night as background music for the Societas Liturgica conference. Prior to that we marched them around Palace Green after their service in Durham Cathedral. 
Not his first job with the band but we would like to officially welcome Keith Barrow who has taken up our 2nd Euphonium vacancy. He has settled in well with us and hope he has a long and happy future with the band.

This weekend has seen the band perform at Beamish Museum and at Saltburn.

Today saw the band have a hot afternoon entertaining the huge crowd at South Shields Amphitheatre. We played something for everyone including some requests. We even managed to squeeze in a conducting competition with the audience, which saw Fred win a band pen for winning the competition. A big thank you goes to David, Kath and Jimmy for helping out today.

Today has seen the band participate at Durham Miners' Gala. The band performed outside of the County Hotel and by the 'Steps' where we had a wonderful reception from the public. A massive thank you goes to Mike, Steady, Beth W, Beth J, Jonny, Amy, Ed, Ben, Lucy, Dave, Yvan, Connor, Harri, Trevor, Les, Adam & Tonia for helping us out today. Your help is much appriciated. To see the images and videos from the day, select read more. 

Tonight has seen the band perform at a fundraising concert at Bearpark Club and featured Richard Butler , a close friend of the band, singing. Everyone had a great night and we raised over £300 towards our National Finals fundraising campaign. A massive thank you to everyone who came along and dug deep.

Today the band played in the Durham County Brass Band Association “Picnic in the Park” Entertainment Contest. We played a solid programme and featured Solo Horn player Lindsey Rowell as our stand up soloist playing Go the Distance. The result was not meant to be for us today but a massive well done to Spennymoor on their prizes and 1st place. Onwards and upwards to the National Finals in September.

​Section B results:-
1) Spennymoor Town (Fiona Casewell)
2) Bearpark and Esh Colliery (Phillip Tait)
Best Soloist:- Mike Fisher, Flugelhorn - Spennymoor Town
Best March:- Spennymoor Town 
Best 4th Section band :- Spennymoor Town

This week has seen two members of the Band graduating. On Wednesday (3rd July), Daniel Cooper (our Repiano Cornet player) graduated from Durham University. On Friday (5th July), Richard Evans (our 2nd Cornet player), graduated from New College Durham with a First Class Bachelors Degree with Honours in Business Computing. 

Massive congratulations to you both from all the band!

Tonight the band entertained the shoppers at Tesco's in Durham. We want to say a massive thank you to everyone who dug deep into their pockets to put a donation in our buckets. Tonight's money is going directly into our National Finals Fundraising pot.

Phillip also needed a little help tonight with his conducting. Esmee took the baton off him to conduct the band playing Happy. You did an amazing job. 

A big thank you to our deps Adam, David and Kym for helping us out. We really appreciate your help. Another thank you goes to Tesco Durham Extra Community for supporting us to get to the National Finals in September.

This weekend has been a busy one for the band, with two performances at Esh Village (22nd June) and Wharton Park (23rd June). At Esh Village Summer Fete, the band had an enjoyable time entertaining the people who turned up. It was also great to see some many people supporting this event and also buying band raffle tickets for our Grand Raffle.

It was a hot afternoon entertaining a lovely crowd at Wharton Park as part of their summer brass series. A big thank you goes to Claire Hornsby for helping us out on Euphonium.

To view the photos from the two events, please select read more.

Today the band performed in the DCBBA March & Hymn Contest held at Beamish Museum. We played Ravenswood and Gresford (arranged by Sandy Smith). Although we were the only band who entered Section B, the remarks and verbal comments from Mike Kilroy were excellent and to help the band move forward to the National Finals in September. A massive thank you to all who helped us out today to make our appearance possible. We really do appreciate our dep friends a lot.

Today has seen the band perform in the wonderful surroundings of Ushaw College. This is one of our favourite local venues and we enjoyed entertaining the audeince with one of our most demanding programmes to date. We featured many of our fabulous soloists in the band and stepped into a big band set in the second half of the programme.

A massive thank you goes to our deps Steve, Mal, Tony, Pauline and Jimmy for helping us out today. Also, a big thank you goes to Steve Robson for organising the Brass Series at Ushaw. 

The photos from the concert can be seen below.

The band have been entertaining the crowds in Durham Market Place today but we didn't manage to dodge the rain. Big thank you to all the general public who dug deep and filled our buckets which goes towards the day to day running of the band. Also a massive thank you to Walker and Sons for supporting the band with reduced price tea and coffee's. We really appreciate it.

Today's job also saw the first job for our newest member, Jonathan, who has joined us on Principal Euphonium. We hope you have a long and happy time with us all.

The band hosted its first fundraising night for the National Finals last night and what a great night it was. Lots of bets were placed and a staggering £305.80 was raised to go into the pot. A massive thank you to everyone who came a long to support the band and to Waterhouses Village Hall for letting us host our race night there.

We managed to dodge the rain while playing in Prince Bishops Shopping Centre this morning. A big thank you to all the general public who dug deep and put money into our buckets and a massive thanks must go to the The Picnic Basket for offering free cups of tea and coffee to the band. Also, a thank you goes to our deps Paul, Chris and Harriet who helped us out today. Your help is very much appreciated.

Today the band has competed in the North of England Brass Band Championships in the 3rd Section & have become champions and has a place now at the National Finals at Cheltenham in September. Nicola Evans picked up the shield for Best Soprano Cornet and also the percussion section won the Best Percussion trophy. 

It has been a fabulous team effort from all the band which if we have worked the numbers out properly, the band are promoted back to the 2nd section (to be confirmed by the Area Committee). 

The band had a very productive day preparing for the North of England Area next week. The band will be competing in the 3rd Section and taking on First Suite in Eb. We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our latest signings Fabio Sousa who joins us on 1st Trombone, and Lynne Thomson who joins us on 2nd horn ahead of next weekend. 
A big thank you also goes to Graeme Tindall and Adam Reed who have been working with the band in the last couple of weeks and took sectionals today, along with our conductor Phillip for his ongoing time and committment to the band and also Pittington Primary for the use of the school to host our workshop.

The band participated in the Durham County Brass Band Association Festival of Brass contest today at East Durham College, Peterlee today. We participated in Section B and managed to come in 1st Place Overall. Our Principal Cornet player, Michael Evans picked up the best Cornet trophy and Iain McNeil picked up the trophy for the best Bass Trombone. The first image below is of our chairman, Lindsey Rowell receiving our 1st Place trophy from the adjudicator, Mr Alan Fernie. Congratulations goes to Kippax who came 2nd and Jayess Newbiggin who came 3rd.

We had three new players join us to fill our ranks in preparation for today. Lucy Bramwell Dunn returns to the band after 10 years to help out on the Baritone section. Connor Martin joins us on 1st Trombone and Diane Cooper joins the band 2nd Cornet. 

A big thank you must go to Graeme Tindale for helping with our rehearsals and preparation when Phillip was stuck at work and of course Phillip for his dedication and enthusiasm in making the band sound better and for also getting his first win and trophy as a musical director.

To see the images from the day, click read more below.

The third and final weeks' worth of Christmas jobs has seen the band play at four jobs. The first job was alongside the Crook & Weardale Choral Society on Tuesday evening (18th December). The audience were wowed by a mix of tradition and up tempo music from both the band and the choir. The band also featured our Solo Horn player Lindsey playing Alan Fernie's arrangement of In The Bleak Midwinter. The band's programme finished with a new piece called Christmas Finale. would like to say a big thank you to Steve, Fiona, Jimmy, Adam and Becky for helping us out tonight. We really do appreciate your help and support.

On Thursday and Friday (20th & 21st December) the band played outside of Sainsbury's at The Arnison Centre. The band would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who dug deep in their pockets to put something in our collection buckets. 

Saturday saw the final band job of the Christmas season and of 2018 

Click read more to see the photos and videos from this week's jobs. They run in chronological order from the week's jobs.

The second weeks worth of Christmas jobs has seen the band play at two jobs. The first job was at Quebec Village Hall on Friday (14th December). It was great to see so many people turn out to hear the band and enjoy their mince pies and mulled wine. Thanks must also go to David & Jimmy for helping us out, your help is very much appreciated.

On Saturday (15th December) the band played at The Dairy Barn, North Bitchburn. As much as it was very windy and awfully cold, the band played inside of a gazebo and enjoyed the afternoon. 

Click read more to see the photos and videos from this week's jobs. They run in chronological order from the week's jobs.

The first full week of December has seen the band play at two jobs. The first job was at a very busy Beamish Museum on Friday (7th December)

On Saturday (8th December), the band played at Langley Park's Christmas Fair at the Miners Institute Hall.

Click read more to see the photos and videos from these two