Waltham St. Lawrence Silver Band

The band made its return to Twyford's Loddon Hall for its 2024 Autumn Concert on 17th November, with special guests the Calcot Junior School choir. Taking the baton was acting MD Derek Holland, who also coaches the school choir. S full audience clearly enjoyed the whole show.

Video of several numbers is available on the band's YouTube channel.

A programme rich in solo performances covered classics in several genres: jazz (Gershwin's I Got Rhythm, What a Wonderful World as a flugel solo with Jane Lynn, Stardust as a trombone solo with Ian French and Stranger on the Shore as a cornet solo with Paul Chapman); pop, including Peter Kleine Shaars' ABBA medley Mamma Mia and Lennon & McCartney's Hey Jude  as a horn section feature; and Julius Fucik's Entry of the Gladiators, the opener for the second half, represented classical classics. Two Andrew Lloyd Webber songs were Memory as a soprano cornet solo with Gerry Townsend, and Any Dream Will Do as a joint number with the choir. Also included was the euphonium solo Grandfather's Clock in a dazzling performance by Peter Finch, and brass band originals Prismatic Light by Alan Fernie and Neverland by Christopher Bond.

The choir gave an impressive peformance across a set on their own in each half, and together with the band for the two final numbers Thank You for the Music and Any Dream Will Do. They also joined in as the band played Taylor Swift's Love Story! Everybody was very impressed by their confident capability.

The band continued its traditional contribution to three Remembrance Sunday parades on 10th November. Playing The Royal Legion march, it led the parade from church to war memorial in Waltham St. Lawrence in time for the national 2-minute silence, with the Last Post played by Paul Chapman. Then it was a dash to Bray for a shorter march from the church to the war memorial, followed by another ceremony in Holyport. Because of roadworks near Holyport, the ceremony could not be held by the green; the War Memorial Hall made itself available as an alternative venue, with the band on the stage providing accompaniment for the hymn, Last Post and national anthem.

A small band attended the Waltham St Lawrence parish church's Harvest Festival service on 6th October. As well as providing accompaniment for the hymns, they played Satie's Gymnopedie no 1 before the service began, and Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary on its conclusion.

Rain had been forecast for 22nd September at the Royal East Berks Agricultural Association's annual ploughing match and show, and rain it did, if not as heavily as might have been feared. Thanks to the efforts of a determined advance party, sufficient cover was in place for the band under a pair of event shelters to keep the elements at bay. The rain eased as the engagement progressed.

Under the direction of Derek Holland, the band presented a packed programme in the course of an hour and a half, including several solo pieces: Evergeen (Jane Lynn, flugel horn); Make You Feel My Love (Jane Pullen, tenor horn); and St Louis Blues, featuring Paul Craggs on drums. The playlist included new items in our repertoire - Taylor Swift's  Love Story and a Coldplay medley - as well as old favourites.

Despite the weather, quite a few people stopped to listen for quite a while, and it was an enjoyable morning's playing for the band. 

A nine-strong group of players from Waltham band took to the Maidenhead Waterways Fun Day performance platform on the High Street on 14th September as the final act. They presented a 45-minute set featuring a broad range of styles, from Colonel Bogey to Amarillo via Pavane and Go Down Moses. 

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 on behalf of Parkinson's UK raised £167 for the charity.

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. 

View videos

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.