Waltham St. Lawrence Silver Band

The band presented a concert on Windsor's Alexandra Gardens bandstand on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon on 18th August, under the direction of Derek Holland. The park was well populated, and the aircraft weren't too noisy, making for a very enjoyable afternoon's playing to an appreciative audience.

The programme was rich in solos: Sugar Blues from principal cornet Paul Chapman; I Know Why from Jane Lynn (flugel horn); Over the Horizon from Gerard Townsend (soprano cornet); Make You Feel my Love from Jane Pullen (tenor horn); Blaydon Races from Peter Finch (euphonium); and In the Wee Small Hours from Ian French (trombone). Along with these were other substantial pieces such as Boildieu's Caliph of Baghdad and Jacob de Haan's Oregon. Plus Twelfth Street Rag from a threesome of front-row cornets! 

A collection was made on behalf of Parkinson's UK (total to be displayed in due course)

The band provided a free outdoor concert as background music for the 14th July edition of the regular teas in the grounds of Waltham St. Lawrence parish church. It was a very pleasant afternoon, and we are told a number of people stayed on at the event to listen to the band. Passers-by and visitors to The Bell pub next door also came over to voice appreciation of the music for a Sunday afternoon.

A septet from the band attended a football match at the King George V playing ground near Loddon Hall between the Twyford Comets junior football team and a team from Twyford's twin town Cuincy, in France. The group played Match of the Day as the teams ran out, then the French and UK national anthems after the teams had been introduced. It rained, but was an enjoyable occasion none the less.

The band made a welcome return to Henley's Meadow Mills bandstand on Sunday 2nd June. A varied programme conducted by Derek Holland included solos for flugel (Jane Lynn, I Know Why) and tenor horn (Jane Pullen, All By Myself). It was a pleasantly warm day, and there was a large and appreciative audience. 

Cox Green's Village Fayre is now a regular engagement for the band, who were delighted to make their appearance on 11th May. The band played two sets under the direction of guest conductor Kelvin Ketteringham on a very warm and sunny afternoon, with the Marlow Ukulele Ensemble and the Thames Valley chorus performing in between. Local MP Theresa May stopped by, and was honoured with a photo together with Kelvin. 

The band's Spring Concert was staged at Wokingham Methodist Church in Rose Street on Saturday 20th April. There was no particular theme, apart from presenting a good selection of enjoyable music. We were joined once again by the Sing For Fun performance group, who delivered a set in each half, and also made a very good job of I'll Be There for You (theme song from Friends) jointly with the band.

Highlight of the first half was Scheherazade, Drake Rimmer's arrangement of themes from the Rimsky-Korsakov overture. Other band pieces in this half were the march Punchinello (W.Rimmer), the theme from TV's Band of Brothers, and two popular numbers, Pharrell Williams' Happy and ELO's Mr Blue Sky.

The second half included 12th Street Rag played by trio of front-row cornets Paul Chapman, Martin Coaley & Kit Leighton-Young and richly chorded pieces by Vaughan Williams (film theme for The 49th Parallel) and William Himes (Meditation: All That I Am). The programme ended with Goff Richards' pacy arrangement of Let's Face the Music and Dance. 

This concert was MD Steve Block's last with Waltham St. Lawrence Silver Band, as he will be moving out of the area, and the band rose to the challenge to put on an excellent performance to see him off. 

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The band resumed rehearsals on 10th January 2024, and held its Annual General Meeting on the 31st. The report of the co-secretaries, distributed ahead of the meeting, noted that the band had performed at 19 community events in 2023, including two indoor concerts and a number of carolling runs. Three new members had joined over the year. 

Chairman Paul Chapman voiced thanks to those who had put in special effort for the benefit of the band, particularly equipment officer Gerry Townsend, who had serviced all its instruments, and MD Steve Block, who recruited deps to fill gaps for engagements on top of ensuring the band was ready to play to a high standard. Paul welcomed our new President, Isabelle Crawley-Boevey, present at the meeting, and also thanked members for their commitment. 

Treasurer Keith Penton provided some detail on the financial report that had been distributed in advance of the meeting. Though some recurring costs had risen, income from engagements and the draw club had increased, and the net loss in 2023 was much less than the previous year. 

MD Steve Block thanked members for an excellent performance at the Autumn Concert in November. He felt that progress had been made on the key objectives he had set out the previous year - Recruitment, Publicity and Unity, particularly unity, with everyone working better together to make events go well. The three recruits on baritone and cornet were welcomed, though there were still several gaps to be filled. Steve emphasized that turning out a complete band, using guest players if required, was a necessity in order to produce the full sound a good repertoire demands and which our audience enjoys. He would not be keen to adopt a "flexi-band" approach to programming. 

Topics under Any Other Business included introducing membership fees; potential free community events to replace the defunct Seniors Party; and ways to promote band concerts and increase audience numbers.

Election of committee and officers was unusual in that there were more nominees willing to stand than positions to fill! After a vote, the 2024 committee was formed as follows:

Retiring committee member Clair Williams was thanked for her contribution spanning many years, particularly on the fund-raising front.

Waltham St Lawrence Silver Band starts 2024 with a new honorary President, Isabelle Crawley-Boevey, who agreed last year to take over the post from Wendy Craig. Wendy originally undertook to be our President for a five-year term starting at the end of 2014, but she's a hard act to follow! 

Isabelle has been a resident of the parish of Waltham St Lawrence for more than three decades and has been a supporter of the Silver Band throughout that time. 

Her Derbyshire roots mean she is no stranger to brass band music, having watched her grandfather conduct three colliery bands. That family link was continued when one of her daughters took up the trombone and spent some years playing first the tenor and then the bass trombone with the WSL Silver Band.

Twenty years later Isabelle is delighted to be able to support the band in the capacity of President and looks forward to offering her advice and patronage as they continue to evolve and seek to fulfil their aims to attract new players and audiences alike.

The band made its regular appearance at the Old Windsor Christmas Fayre on Sunday 10th December, playing a mix of carols and longer pieces such as Sleigh Ride and It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas to entertain the crowds. Fortunately a few bandspeople were at the gazebo early, as they had to grab hold of it before it took off in the stiff breeze!

The band's carolling season got off to a good start with its appearance at the Hurst Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on Sunday 3rd December. The event was well attended as usual, despite the day's heavy rain haveing ceased only shortly before it began. 

Later in the week, two carol-playing groups proceeded along The Street and Halls Lane in Waltham St Lawrence on Wednesday 6th, with plenty of householders coming out to encourage them.

The band's Autumn Concert, on the theme of "Music from the Movies", was staged at Wokingham Baptist Church on Saturday 18th November. As well as this being a new venue for the band, we also had new guest performers from the Sing for Fun choir, who contributed a set in the middle of each half. You can now watch several of the pieces on our video channel. 

The band's programme kicked off with Rossini's The Thieving Magpie [from A Clockwork Orange], followed by Colonel Bogey [The Bridge on the River Kwai]. A horn solo arrangement of All By Myself [from Bridget Jones's Diary] was performed by Jane Pullen. The first half closed with Darrol Barry's compilation of Great Western Themes. 

The second half commenced with a set of "African" film themes: Born Free, Out of Africa and The Lion King. Following the last two programme items, Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring and Star Trek: Into Darkness, the band played the John Williams marches Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Imperial March from Star Wars as an encore.

The music was accompanied by an overhead visual display compiled by MD Steve Block, using captions, film posters and clips and also horn player Debbie Morton's photos from her recent trip to Africa.

Highlights of the choir's pieces included Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King; A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman; A Thousand Years from The Twilight Saga; and Once Upon a December from Anastasia, which proved very popular.

The standard of both playing and singing was very good, and the acoustics of the church were very suitable, according to feedback from all present. The audience, though not quite as large as might be hoped, clealy enjoyed the whole of the evening.

A small band attended the Waltham St Lawrence parish church's Harvest Festival service on 1st October. As well as providing accompaniment for the hymns, they played Satie's Gymnopedie no 1 before the service began, and Matt Kingston's arrangement of Go Down Moses on its conclusion.

The band played two sets on a breezy Sunday morning at the Royal East Berks Agricultural Association's annual ploughing competition and show. It was held this year near Pinkney's Green, Maidenhead. With rain possible, a double-bubble of event shelters was in use, giving a better chance of everyone keeping dry, but some problems with visibility. The show was well attended, and the band received numerous compliments on its playing.

Waltham Band made its second "Sunny Saturdays" appearance this year in Woodley town centre's shopping precinct on Bank Holiday Saturday, playing this time on the stage at the end. Somehow the message had not got through that chairs would be needed for the event! The band are very grateful to the nearby Thames Hospice and Sue Ryder charity shops, who promptly lent several from their stock, and to the Chequers pub, which provided the rest. Strangely enough, a lot of players knew just where they should obtain refreshments at the end of the gig!

As usual at this venue, there were a number of people staying on a while to listen, and quite a few spontaneous compliments from members of the public as band members were coming and going. 

The band presented a Sunday afternoon concert on the lovely bandstand in Windsor's Alexandra Gardens on Sunday 13th August. Though a little cloudy, it was a warm day, and the wind direction must have been good, as there were relatively few noisy jets flying over. With a little help from our friends, almost all the stands were covered, and the sound was excellent.

The programme opened with a classic march, On the Quarter Deck by Kenneth J Alford, and included another of his great marches, Army of the Nile, in the second set. Highlights of the day were the Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakme, played by soprano cornet Gerry Townsend and repiano cornet Frankii Wiseman (see also below), and the opener for the second set, St Louis Blues, with virtuoso drum solos by guest percussionist Paul Craggs. Played out in public for the first time were MD Steve Block's favourite, ELO's 1970's hit Mr Blue Sky, arranged by Chrisopher Wormald; and Gavin Somerset's Albion Treasures, an unusual amalgam of several favourite British melodies.

Alexandra Gardens was full of people, as usual; many stopped to listen and were generous with their applause. The band had been given permission make a collection for charity, and this raised £114 for the Royal Berks Hospital Charity, specifically for the cardiology unit, in memory of Frankii Wiseman's father, who worked for British Airways for many years, hence the choice of the Flower Duet, well known as the classic BA advert theme.