This weekend has seen the band perform at Beamish Museum and at the Festival of Light in Mowbray Park, Sunderland).

Friday night (13th December) saw the band perform at Beamish Museum for the second consecutive Friday night, for their 'Christmas at Beamish Museum' nights. The band played on the bandstand in the town and even had a solo from one of the museum staff. A thank you goes to Nicola who came to have a blow with us.

Saturday night (14th December) saw the band perform in Mowbray Park, Sunderland for the Festival of Light. It might have been cold and wet, but the general public seemed to enjoy it.

Sunday sees the band have a rest day before the final week of jobs in December and of 2019. 

Tonight, the band performed in a joint festive concert with the wonderful Crook and Weardale Choral Society in Stanley Crook Parish Church. This has become a Christmas tradition with the band and we always enjoy working with the choir. 

We would like to dedicate tonight's performance to the late Roger Kelly, who was a great friend to the band and a big instigator in starting a wonderful relationship between the band and the choir. His sense of humour and bad jokes were sorely missed tonight. 

A big thank you goes to all of our deps tonight: Jim, Adam, Mike, Tonia and Mal. Also a massive thank you goes to the church for its hospitality and fantastic buffet. 

The band has had quite a busy weekend spreading the Christmas cheer around the North East. Friday night (6th December) saw the band performing at Beamish Museum, as part of their 'Christmas at Beamish Museum nights'. Saturday (7th December) saw the band playing at the Langley Park Christmas Light Switch On during the afternoon, and then entertaining a very appreciative audience at Birtley Masonics.

It is safe to say that all our band members enjoyed a well earned day off on Sunday to spend with family or spending the day Christmas shopping.

This weekend has seen the band have had a busy weekend to finish November and start December. On Saturday (30th November), the band braved the cold morning and entertained the wonderful shoppers who were visiting Durham Christmas Festival. A big thank you to Durham Markets for having us and to everyone who helped put a little something in our buckets
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On Sunday morning (1st December), the band performed for Pittington Primary School's Christmas Fayre. ​​

Today saw the band perform at a soggy Dalton Park with rain coming and going throughout the day. A big thank you goes to everybody who put something into our collecting buckets to help support the band.

Today has seen the band start the 2019 Christmas Season, performing in the town's bandstand in a damp Beamish Museum. If you would like to hear the band over the Christmas Period then please check the band's calendar on the website. Click here to go to the calendar to see where the band performs over the Christmas period.

Tonight saw the band hold its Annual General Meeting. At the end of the meeting, there were many awards presented to the band members. These awards were:

• Helen Griffiths was awarded her 5 Years Service
• Lindsey Rowell was awarded Bandsperson of the Year
  • This was awarded to Lindsey in recognition for all the hard word she does for the good of the band which includes finding deps, helping the secretary, managing our Facebook page, and recently making the band fully compliant for the BandSafe award as part of the child performance licence. 
• The David Waterworth Trophy for Player of the Year, as nominated by David & Phillip was awarded to our 2nd Trombone player Jill Johnson
  • This was awarded to Jill in recognition of her dedicated and commitment to the band over the last year despite having occasions of ill health and being on her own in the section.
• The Alan Beaumont Most Improved Player Trophy, as nominated by Alan & Phillip was jointed awarded to Garry Mitchell & Charlotte Tait
  • ​This was awarded to Garry & Charlotte in recognition of them both working very hard to master particular techniques and have been very successful, especially leading up to the National Finals.
• The Most Improved Section Trophy was awarded to the Back Row Cornets (Repiano, 2nd and 3rd Cornets)
  • This was awarded to the Back Row Cornets by our conductor, Phillip, based on the work the players have done towards preparing for the Area Contest back in March.
• Marion, our secretary, was presented with a gift to say a big thank you for all the work she does on a daily basis to ensure the band runs smoothly. This thank you is also extended to her work organising our trip to the National Finals this year. The band appreciate all the hard work she does and to that they appointed her Secretary for a further year.

Congratulations goes to all of the award winners

It was an honour to lead part of the parade alongside the Royal Signals (Northern) Band today at Sunderland. The band have supported this parade for over 10 years now and it is always a privilege to be a part of one of the largest parades outside of London. A big thank you goes to Steady for joining us today. 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
​We will remember them.

Tonight saw the Esh Winning Banner Group organise a concert which showcased the band and all of the achievements and silverware which the band has achieved and won this year. A big thank you goes to the Esh Winning Banner Group and Councillor Jean Chaplow for their continued support throughout the year. Another thank you goes to Michael Fairless for helping us out tonight on Horn. 

The band are delighted to announce the birth of our newest little member, Thomas Arthur Rowell. Solo horn player Lindsey and Dave on Percussion welcomed their son on the 23rd September weighing just 4lb 7oz. Mother and baby are doing really well. Coming a month early we were lucky he let Lindsey and Dave compete at the National Finals before his imminent arrival after. Congratulations from all the band and we look forward to meeting him soon.

This weekend saw the band compete in the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain in the 3rd Section at Cheltenham, this being the third time this decade (the other years being 2015 and 2016). After an early start with the first pickup at 7:00am, the band got down to the hotel at 3:00pm and got straight into the final rehearsal. 

After a chilled Saturday afternoon of using the spa/swimming pool and a lovely evening meal, we headed to Cheltenham Racecourse and found out we were drawn 10th. After giving it our all, the band are pleased to be the 10th best 3rd Section band in the country and very proud to have represented the North East. We even got mentioned as having a real viking in the band (well done Iain, our bass trombone player - you made the big screen).

Well done to the winners Uppermill, and also to the other representative of the North of England, Trimdon Brass who were placed just below us in 11th place. 

A massive thank you goes to all of our followers who have supported us this weekend and everyone who has donated financially to raise money to get us to the National Finals, we really appreciate it. Now it's time to resume playing normal music for our next concerts and embarking on the 2nd section in January. 

To view the photos from the weekend, press read more.

Today the band played at the Sunderland Riverside Festival in a pop up bandstand with a great view of the river.

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.