Lyme Regis Town Band

Would you like to join Lyme Regis Town Band but can’t play an instrument?  How about coming on board as our Secretary?  We have a busy annual schedule and are looking for a willing volunteer to carry out a variety of admin tasks, thus ensuring the smooth running of the band. If you are interested please contact Gilly Warr on 01297 442719, or email gkwarr46@gmail.com.  Or you could pop into our weekly practice at the Woodmead Halls any Tuesday evening from 7.30 pm for a chat.

Last night it was the birthday of James, one of our trainees. The band gave him a birthday card and we played Happy Birthday but James turned the tables and presented the band with two dozen – yes, two dozen – chocolate doughnuts – with sprinkles! Bless him and his Mum! We managed to resist the temptation till we took a five minute break and by the time we finished they’d all gone. Very many thanks to James and his Mum

This week we held our Thursday rehearsal in the meeting room at the local Fire Station. Previously we’ve been rehearsing at the Community Hall in Charmouth but it’s nice to be back in our home base of Lyme Regis.

Many thanks to Fire Chief, Virgil Turner, for arranging access for us and also to Councillor Cheryl Reynolds and Lyme Regis Town Council for assisting with parking permissions.

The first piece we practised was – you guessed it – Blaze Away!

Good news. Not only did our new trainee trombone player come to practice this week for the first time but we’ve also gained another young player. So we’ve now got a group of six youngsters, all boys, with two sets of brothers. They are being tutored by David Tozer, assisted by fellow cornet players Kathy Smith and Catherine Lancaster. The boys are all blowing well and two of them stayed on after their lesson to join the main band for a hymn.

How lucky are we to find six youngsters keen to learn to play a brass instrument! Most importantly all the boys have supportive parents and we are hoping that together we can give them the support and encouragement they need to progress into the main band before too long.

At this time of year, like all bands, we are keeping busy trying out new pieces of music for our summer season…We’ve now more or less finalised our engagement list for the forthcoming year and it looks like we’ve got a busy time ahead…In addition to our usual engagements we are thinking about taking part in Brassfest in July but we’re waiting to see the piece of music selected…There is also a chance that we may be involved in Lyme’s spectacular Candles on the Cobb which this year is being organised by Lyme Regis Rotary Club. This is a major event, taking place on Sunday, 26th August, and which attracts huge crowds. It’s still in the planning stage but hopefully we will be taking part in some way…Finally, we were thrilled this week when another potential learner visited us at our Tuesday rehearsal. The young man plays the trombone and is thinking about joining our little group of trainees which would be great as we would then have five youngsters under tuition…All we need now are a few more adult players…

Great news! At our first practice last week we welcomed two new young trainees who have now joined James and Josh. David Tozer, our trainees’ tutor, assisted by our solo cornet, Kathy, will do all he can to encourage the trainees and support them in their learning. We have high hopes for them all and look forward to seeing them progress to the main band in due course.

Congratulations, incidentally, to David himself, who became engaged to his partner Rachel just before Christmas. David is a popular member of the band and a talented cornet player.

On a sadder note we recently said goodbye to one of our cornet players, Harry, who has now left us due to pressure of school work and exams. Harry and his older sister, Nicola, joined us several years ago as youngsters. Nicola is now at university and it won’t be long before Harry is on his way too. They were both valued members of the band and we wish them well with their studies.

The band AGM was held on Thursday chaired by our President Owen Lovell. As part of the meeting Robert Crabbe was awarded the Bandmaster’s Award for the player who has made the most progress and Kathy Smith received the Musical Director’s Award for the person who has ‘gone the extra mile’.

Yet more carols on our home turf – Broad Street, Lyme Regis on Christmas Eve. Not forgetting thanks to our collectors!

These photos from our recent Christmas concert (see below) come courtesy of Stuart Broom, View News.

Yesterday afternoon we held our Christmas Concert Jingle Bell Rock! at the Woodmead Halls in Lyme Regis and we were delighted to welcome over one hundred people who enjoyed a varied programme of seasonal music.

Our concert was compered by popular local resident Nigel Ball and featured solos by our solo cornet Kathy Smith (far left)who played A Winter’s Tale and solo cornet David Tozer (above) who performed Santa Baby.

It was the first time on stage for our two young trainees James and Josh, who played a medley of Christmas numbers led by their tutor, David, and accompanied by several members of the band. The boys were rewarded for their commitment and hard work throughout the year when they were presented with The Chairman’s Award by our Chairman, Paul Snowball.

Youth was very much to the fore during the afternoon as our guest artists were Klara and Josie Smith, Cody Wootton and Sophie Rattenbury (left), who performed two lively dance routines following which Josie played two piano solos.

During the concert the Gordon Broom Memorial Award, presented to the player deemed by fellow band members to have made an outstanding contribution to the band, was presented to Kathy Smith by Mr Stuart Broom.

The afternoon concluded with carol singing. A good time was had by all and everyone went home happy and full of Christmas cheer!