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Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 11:08 am
by Claretincraven
It’s Whit Friday tomorrow, walks in the morning and the glorious Band Contest in the afternoon.
I will be visiting Uppermill to watch and listen. A fantastic spectacle, an age old tradition that mustn’t be allowed to die.
Any other Clarets going?
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 11:10 am
by ClaretTony
An old friend of mine used to go every year - I believe it is a brilliant event.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 11:14 am
by bobinho
Sadly on holiday, or I’d love to attend. Love a brass band.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 1:36 pm
by Scampi
Played with bands in it a good number of times, though not this year. One of the absolute best days you will ever see, playing or watching. Everyone should go at least once in their lifetime.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 2:55 pm
by Dark Cloud
My best mate at Uni in Manchester hailed from Uppermill and he introduced me to the Whit Friday Band Contest back in the late 70's. We then went several times. It's a brilliant atmosphere as long as the weather is good (bit crap if it isn't!) but I quickly realised it was basically a beer swilling contest with a musical accompaniment and something of a hike thrown in if you want to move round and "tick" the various villages. Great memories!!
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:45 pm
by Scampi
If you're good enough to play for one of the handful of top bands - your Black Dykes and Brighouses - who are most likely to win all the different contests, then you take the playing pretty seriously. For everyone else, it is in large part a day-long musical pub-crawl!
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:53 pm
by Madpete
Once lived in Greenfield & then in Diggle but to my shame I never saw these contests but it was a long time ago & I was a teenager.Set off to go on a very,very wet Friday about 5 yrs ago from Leeds & never got there due to traffic accidents & other assorted shenanigans but my decision to go via ordinary roads (not the M62) was a disaster.Finally gave up at Huddersfield & went home with my tail between my legs!
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 6:51 pm
by Sunny Cornwall
Watch out for St Dennis Band. They’re coming up all the way from Cornwall to play. Very good band.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:20 pm
by dougcollins
Saw the St Dennis Band, I think I was in Polzeath, but could have been St Isaac.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:25 pm
by jdrobbo
A little story…
Back in 2002-2005, I was principal cornet for Leeds University Brass Band. We were a social group, but we were pretty decent.
Each year, we entered Whit Friday and did as many of the villages that we could, ensuring that account was had at each.
One year, we found ourselves close to Delph, late in the evening, not long before the cut off time for registering. We arrived just in time and were given the penultimate slot of the night.
We were sandwiched between Brighouse and Rastrick (3rd last on) and Black Dyke (last down the street). It was absolutely packed; we were all rather merry and the crowd gave us such good support.
It will be ten minutes that I’ll never forget. Sandwiched between two of the very best brass bands in the world, half of the band not able to read all of the notes in Knight Templar, but you know what, it was bloody good fun.
…we didn’t win! Ha
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:30 pm
by jdrobbo
One of my favourite videos from Whit Friday…
Black Dyke at Delph in 2007, playing their signature, ‘Knight Templar’
https://youtu.be/7isMjKDhhG4?si=YWv-Zq-XZiWldJ4h
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:40 pm
by jdrobbo
And whilst I’m here,
Brassed Off’s ‘March of the Cobblers’
A truly wonderful film that raised the profile of the mining struggles, brass banding and of course, Whit Friday!
https://youtu.be/5uQcDXZ9WVQ?si=3djqlsKJhOxyzi5x
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:40 pm
by Rowls
Really wish we had a club brass band who played before kick off and at half time.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 8:55 pm
by Goalkeeper
It all sounds very pro brexit and pro Reform. Signature tune of Knight Templar gives the game away me thinks.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 9:04 pm
by jdrobbo
…unless you’re Leeds University Brass Band, also playing Knight Templar. I’m surprised we didn’t nick the title!
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2025 9:04 am
by Claretincraven
Goalkeeper wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 8:55 pm
It all sounds very pro brexit and pro Reform. Signature tune of Knight Templar gives the game away me thinks.
There’s another popular piece that will no doubt be played today that will upset the woke brigade.
Honest Toil.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2025 9:19 am
by Scampi
Love that jdrobbo. One year we were on immediately in front of Black Dyke in one of the villages and as we started the walk up, our drummer made a complete balls-up of the taps, so we all stumbled off in a totally disorganised shambling mess, sniggers of Dyke who were stood waiting behind us echoing in our ears!
Have a great day Claretincraven.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2025 2:22 pm
by dougcollins
Scampi wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 9:19 am
Love that jdrobbo. One year we were on immediately in front of Black Dyke in one of the villages and as we started the walk up, our drummer made a complete balls-up of the taps, so we all stumbled off in a totally disorganised shambling mess, sniggers of Dyke who were stood waiting behind us echoing in our ears!
'Brassed Off' covered that quite brilliantly, I thought. Never played in a brass band but taken part in a good few 'Battle of the Bands'.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2025 2:26 pm
by dougcollins
Goalkeeper wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 8:55 pm
It all sounds very pro brexit and pro Reform. Signature tune of Knight Templar gives the game away me thinks.
You'll find it's exactly the opposite.
You need to do a bit more research on where a works' brass band came from.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2025 2:36 pm
by ŽižkovClaret
Great to see that the stigma associated with s*x work is finally fading, and they can hold public musical competitions on the moors.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2025 9:04 pm
by Goalkeeper
Claretincraven wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 9:04 am
There’s another popular piece that will no doubt be played today that will upset the woke brigade.
Honest Toil.
What do you think "woke" means.
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2025 10:22 am
by jdrobbo
jdrobbo wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:25 pm
A little story…
Back in 2002-2005, I was principal cornet for Leeds University Brass Band. We were a social group, but we were pretty decent.
Each year, we entered Whit Friday and did as many of the villages that we could, ensuring that account was had at each.
One year, we found ourselves close to Delph, late in the evening, not long before the cut off time for registering. We arrived just in time and were given the penultimate slot of the night.
We were sandwiched between Brighouse and Rastrick (3rd last on) and Black Dyke (last down the street). It was absolutely packed; we were all rather merry and the crowd gave us such good support.
It will be ten minutes that I’ll never forget. Sandwiched between two of the very best brass bands in the world, half of the band not able to read all of the notes in Knight Templar, but you know what, it was bloody good fun.
…we didn’t win! Ha
Brighouse and Dyke up at the top again!
Fairey in third: another awesome band.
- IMG_1992.jpeg (91.3 KiB) Viewed 421 times
Re: Saddleworth Brass Bands.
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2025 5:26 pm
by dougcollins
It's like the Premier League.