Whit Friday 2010

It's become a bit of a tradition for me now... every year me and Spuddle will take the yearly trip to the Oldham and Saddleworth areas (right on the Yorkshire border) for the annual Whit Friday Marches. For the uninitiated, this is often referred to as "The Greatest Free Show on Earth". As far as nights out go, it's certainly very different.

So what happens among those beautiful rolling hills and pleasant scenery? Well, the whole area reverberates to the sound of Brass Bands as they compete in various contests around all the little villages.

I could explain it all, but you can find out much much more about the whole caboodle by visiting the Oldham and Saddleworth Whit Friday Brass Band Contests Website, run by Bob Hindley.

Anyway, below are my photos and videos from the 2010 Whit Friday Marches.

Lees-Springhead Contest
Boobs & Brass, a band raising money for Breast Cancer awareness, playing their contest march on stage.

Lees-Springhead Contest
Just in case you didn't believe there's actually a band called Boobs & Brass, here's their board, which is carried in front of the band for the crowds to see. Obviously this raises the odd eyebrow, smile and/or pint.

Lees-Springhead Contest
Next up are Delph Band, who were looking very smart in their uniforms, as was the board carrier. These guys volunteer for the evening, so a lot of respect must go to them for giving up their spare time for this.

Lees-Springhead Contest
And here are Delph Band as they march up the road towards the contest area. Their uniforms remind me a little bit of Brighouse & Rastrick band.

Lees-Springhead Contest
Delph Band's Solo Trombone player leads the band up the street.

Friezland Contest
Not sure which band this is, but they're about to take to the stage to perform their contest march.

Friezland Contest
The contest area at Friezland, including the AWESOME barbecue. Seriously, it can be worth going just for this!

Friezland Contest
Not sure which band this is, but that's a Flugal Horn she's playing there.

Friezland Contest
Whilst many brass bands come and take the whole thing seriously, a few bands come for a good time and good music alone. This year, students from the Royal Northern College of Music came as Disney Brass.

Friezland Contest
Woody the Cowboy chats to the Fairy God-Mother's Ugly Step-Sister. I'm not being unkind here, that's what it said on his shirt.

Friezland Contest
Trying to recognise all the Disney Characters takes a bit of work... Pretty sure that's Mickey Mouse adjusting his nose, though.

Friezland Contest
Woody and FGMUSS listen as their cohorts perform on stage.

Friezland Contest - Video
Here's a compilation video of Disney Brass in action at Friezland. Great Soprano playing! I apologise for the shaky video, some people just insisting on nudging me constantly, which was rather annoying.

Overlooking Uppermill Contest
It was a lovely evening this year, as this picture shows. From this vantage point, near the golf course, we could hear the sound of bands playing, if only I could zoom in...

Overlooking Uppermill Contest
Ah, there we go.

Overlooking Uppermill Contest
Actually, I can do even better than that... Although you can't see the band, I believe they're just off to the right, these are the spectators. Unfortunately, the route I take means I don't get to go to Uppermill, but that's ok, the view from here is fantastic, and besides, I'll be at Dobcross soon.

Overlooking Uppermill Contest
Never mind, have another view of the area. I'd love to live here.

Dobcross Contest
This is one of my favourite contest locations. The march down is down a narrow steep hill, and you descend upon a "roundabout" of sorts, which acts as a fantastic little contest stage.

Dobcross Contest
Whilst the venue looks like you're practically sat in someone's back garden, the crowds are generally good... except for this chap who just happens to look like everyone's going to die in a fiery hell.

Dobcross Contest
And here's a closeup of the stage. Sheltered under a tree, so it's better when the weather's wet (thankfully quite a rare event), but always a good crowd here.

Dobcross Contest
This is the road the bands march down, that's Eccleston Band, from my neck of the woods in Lancashire, for which a few of my ex-bandmates played on this evening.

Dobcross Contest
Eccleston Band take the stage, playing Bramwyn, one of my favourite contest marches. The conductor there is Ian Bateson, a man I've played under several times. This was a pretty good performance, if memory serves!

Delph Contest
The traditional finishing point, and the street's looking busy...

Delph Contest
I spent a little time chatting to Pinocchio from the aforementioned Disney Brass. He said he'd had a terrible night and he'd never come again. His nose then poked me in the eye.