The Flowers Band travelled to London on Saturday 17th October to compete in the National Brass Band Championship finals at the famous Royal Albert Hall.

After booking their place at the finals via the West of England Regional Championships back in March, the band was determined to better it’s ninth placing of 2001. The band travelled to the capital on the Friday, where they stayed at Chelsea Football Club’s Copthorne Hotel, and very swish it was too. Upon arrival, there was time for a quick freshen up and drink before an intense rehearsal. Afterwards the band relaxed with evening drinks and a meal, before retiring to bed for an early night!

Saturday morning arrived with a seven am breakfast call, before for an eight am rehearsal. The band’s chairman Mike James made his way to the Royal Albert Hall for the draw whilst the band finalized any finishing touches to the set test piece for the day ‘The Torchbearer’ by Peter Graham. Flowers were drawn to play number 14 and after giving their all on stage, the band were awarded seventh place out of the twenty competing bands, with Black Dyke taking the title for a record twenty second time!

The real winners throughout the day though were the audience, as ‘The Torchbearer’ proved to be an instant hit, with the Royal Albert Hall remaining almost full for the majority of the day. Congratulations must also go to our friends and fellow West of England representatives on the day Camborne Town Band, who were positioned just behind Flowers in eighth place. A good day for West of England banding, lets hope we can go one better next time around.

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