PM's Thoughts on the year

It's been another great year, although we have had a few of up and downs, losing eight uniformed members, but gaining ten new members - out in uniform for the first time! Early next year we have a few more eager new players itching to get out with us.

The band have played all over the South West, as well as enjoying a weekend away in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Our trip to Ashbourne was a great success and we hope to take the band away again for a weekend somewhere in 2007.

Other highlights of the year were performing at the Plymouth Navy Days, playing on board naval ships from around the world which was definitely a first for the band. We made a return to the stage playing at a charity concert at Holsworthy and always my highlight of the year, the Massed Pipes & Drums at Bideford. It scares me to death trying to organise so many men but somehow I seem to manage it!

Looking back on the year it's been a good one and the band has pulled together into one big happy family. The support Mike and I have had from all the band members has been brilliant so a big big thank you to all of you.

16th December - BYPB Christmas Party

This was the first year I didn't feel that nervous tuning up, I sort of like tuning up for the party as the pipers tune up away from all the rest of the band. so there are no distractions and there's a sort of nervous excitement between us.

The bands performance went well, the best we've played for quite a few years at the party, pipers were together, drummers were together and even the pipers and drummers were together. Even our Christmas carol set came together and I had some great compliments after our performance, so well done to the whole band, see what we can do if we work together.

The Award winners were:-
Best Piper - Jodie Inch *** Best Drummer - Jamie Loder *** Smartest Band Member - William Webber *** Commitment and Attendance - Joanna Inch *** Most Promising Newcomer - Joint winners Harriet Dare and William Webber *** Best Band Member - 1st Jodie Inch, 2nd Christopher Cole, 3rd Joanna Inch.

This year we also presented a certificate to Christopher Cole for the Most Improved Band Member and Jamie Loder also received a five year long service award.

After the bands performance and the awards are given out it's time for Mike and I to relax and let the youth members entertain us - This year's play was 'The Lion King' and wow what a great job they did. The production was written and directed by our very own wanna be West End producer and bass drummer Darren Hooper, he worked them to the bone at least 3 nights a week and it was well worth it. Another great "Team" effort.

Mike and I would like to thank the band for ALL the brill pressies and what a lot there was!

13th December - THEME NIGHT - Christmas

The last theme night of the year and it couldn't be anything else but Christmas. Sorry I haven't got a lot of pictures of this one, we were busy rehearsing for our Christmas Party performance 3 days later and our Christmas carol set just wouldn't come together. (Pictures here)

2nd December - Christmas Lights (Widegates)

First time we had done this one and we weren't sure what to expect as Widegates seemed to be a small village between Liskeard and Looe. After a horrible drive down in driving rain and strong winds we managed to find the Village Hall to tune up. We then walked along a road in the pitch dark to an housing estate where all the action was happening. The band marched into the action and squeezed into the garden of the house that was going to have it's Christmas lights switched on.

This event was turning out to be like Pyworthy's Christmas lights last year, a really grand affair for one house's Christmas lights. It was great fun though with a few old time fair ground rides, stalls, Trenode School singing carols and the Lights were switched on by an Atlantic FM DJ, WOW! It was a pity that it was really really windy and bitterly cold.

1st December - Christmas Lights (Bideford)

This is usually a quick job marching the Mayor from the Town Hall to the bottom of the High Street, switch on the Christmas lights, play a couple of tunes and back to the Town Hall, but........

This year was a much grander affair, we marched the Mayor to the High Street to be met by a huge crowd of people, the Town Band, a school choir and Father Christmas on his sleigh. We played a few tunes, the Mayor switched the lights on and then the choir sang a few carols accompanied by the Bideford Town Band. After this we then marched the Mayor around the town stopping at various shops so he could pop in, say hello and enjoy a glass of mulled wine. We ended the evening marching up the High Street to the Pannier Market.

My most memorable part of the evening was listening to the drum section warming up while we were tuning. They sounded brilliant, a good round sound, well done you noisy lot.

24th November - Tramps Night

Not many takers for this theme night, most of the kids didn't know what a tramp was, some thought they had to dress up as prostitue or a cartoon dog, so we did explain that a tramp was a homeless person and a few made the effort. Anyway the adults had great fun and we confirmed to the kids that, yes we're totally mad. Take a look for yourself, oh it's not my mother, it's really me! Piccys here

18th November - Holsworthy Carnival

It's either wet or cold at Holsworthy Carnival and this year it was cold and a little bit wet, but we didn't need to wear our capes and the few spots of rain did warm the evening up a little. The whole band seemed to be happy and working together even though it was cold and I didn't hear one person moan, which was great for a change.

We had four new people out for this one and a change of instrument for Chris, moving from Tenor Drum to Side Drum. I was very impressed with all of them, they fitted right in and seemed like they had been doing it for years. The sound of the band got better as we got around the route, this was mainly because of cold hands at the start. I was very pleased with the team work shown throughout the band, well done every single band member.

A special well done to Chris for his first appearance on Side Drum. First time out for Harriet on pipes, Immogen and Andrew on Tenor and joining our band police force Mandy Inch.

12th November -Remembrance Day Parades, Bideford and Appledore

Bideford - The band has the task of leading the Mayor and other dignitaries to the war memorial where the rest of the parade is waiting for us, then there is a short remembrance service and wreath laying. We then lead the mayor and dignitaries back along the quay to take the salute from the rest of the parade who are following up behind. Then it's off to church to pay our respects to those who have lost their lives in battle.

We played well, but I felt a little let down by some band members attitude. Thank you Darren for laying the bands wreath.

Appledore - At this one we lead the parade to the war memorial, then to church and then along the quay back to the British Legion. We played well as a nice tight unit and I had numerous comments on how smart we were and how it was an honour to march behind us.

So well done to everyone at the Appledore parade.

4th November - Dolton and Dowland Carnival

This is a nice little carnival with flaming torches that we do most years. Our first real cold carnival of the year which makes it hard to play, but the band didn't sound too bad. We got around the figure of eight route really quickly, the carnival started at seven and we were driving out the village by five past eight. We had our usual bit of fun on our march back to the cars, which started with a counter march for no reason from me and then the drummers tried to overtake the pipers which ended with the whole band marching up the road at light infantry pace. One band member couldn't manage the march back to the cars and hitched a ride in a tractor, didn't we Jude!

1st November - October's Theme Night, Halloween

Due to a band engagmement being on the last Friday in November, we had to have our theme night the Wednesday after, so you lucky people get two theme nights in one month.

This must be our best night so far. Mike and I arrived at band practice to find all the lights out and some scary music playing in the backgroud and then discovered lots of dead and creepy beings lying around, oooooooooooo scary. We had a great evening everyone entered into the spirit of the night and there were some really really scary people, Scobby Doo didn't know which spook to run away from! Confused? Well take a look at the pictures.

27th October - Variety Concert, HATS Theatre, Holsworthy

A charity event in aid of the North Devon Hospice. We were only going to take half a band for this performance, but in the end we opened it up for everyone to come and we just about had a full band. This was a new experience for most of the band as it's been a long time since we had performed on stage under the hot lights.

The band had to do two slots to first one being the opening act and so as not to scare the audience we only took on half of the band. So we all tip-toed onto the stage behind the curtain and waited for our cue, as the compere started to announce us, the spotlights came on, the curtains went back and the band looked out to complete darkness, it was a full house but with the lights beaming down on us we couldn't see a thing. It wasn't until we finished a tune and were applauded we were absolutely sure that there was an audience.

We closed the first half with our second performance and played with the whole band this time, it was a bit of a tight squeeze on stage, we'll have to work sometime out for next time. At the interval most of us disappeared to the Kebab shop for something to eat before returning to join in the grand finale - which was all the acts that could make it to the end of the evening having a mass singalong of "Bring Me Sunshine" before they made a presentation of the proceeds of the concert. We all had a brilliant time and really enjoyed the evening and all left still singing Bring Me Sunshine.

23rd October - Well Done Big Dave

	Big Dave has passed his driving test!! You'll need a limo with a sunroof to fit you in! I bet your Mum and Dad are almost as pleased as you are (no more trips in from Bradworthy twice a week to band).
Well done I can't wait to see what you fit all 6 foot 6 inches of you into. Dave's the fourth person in the band this year to pass their driving test.

21st October - Okehampton Carnival

I have to be honest this isn't my favourite Carnival of the year and with a shortage of pipers it wasn't looking good. We arrived at our usual car park to tune up and the toilets were locked, all the lights on though!?! So we had a long walk down to the town to find a loo. Most of the people parking in the packed car park wanted to use the toilets as well as lots of carnival contestants (Grrrr West Devon Borough Council)

We were hoping to get out 14 pipers for this one and ended up with 8 and with losing 3 main pipers we were sounding quite weak. The starts sounded particularly weak and feeble, some work to be done there pipers!

With not enough blowing power the long hard slog around the top half of the carnival seemed longer than ever and it didn't help that the valve in my blow pipe had given up so I had to use my tongue to stop the air coming back up the blow pipe and inflating me instead of the pipes. Boy was I glad to see the end.

The evening ended with a good old chit chat and a nice hot mug of tea or coffee in the car park we tuned up in. Well done the pipers who were there you worked hard and thanks Rob for the refreshments after the carnival.

8th October - Ilminster Carnival with the City of Exeter Pipes and Drums

The SOS was sent out and the BYPB went to the rescue. A few of us helped out the Exeter Pipe Band at Ilminster Carnival. The Carnival was in the same style as Bridgwater Carnival, lots of lights and lots of loud music, so I thought we would be a bit lost amongst the floats, but we had a sort of quiet spot and didn't sound too bad. It was a little rough in places but it always is when you have 2 different bands playing together and you're never sure if you play the same tunes the same way, apart for a few notes it wasn't too bad. There were huge crowds most the way around the route and we played a lot.

After the carnival we had much needed refreshments and then we made our way back to Taunton for KFC and I have to say it was the worse KFC I've ever had in my life, it tasted more like it came from one of those wanna be KFC's like Ken's Fried Chicken, the food seemed like it was prepared and packaged in 10 seconds flat, we had one Chicken Burger that had 2 strands of lettuce and no mayonnaise and one with a crispy bun and hard crunchy chicken. It's a good job they don't use china plates as another bun was so rock hard it would have broken the plate in two. So KFC in Taunton, late on a Saturday night is a big no no.

7th October - SHOCK NEWS

Jodie Inch arrived at practice and announced she had passed her driving test, which was a shock for us all as none of us knew she was learning to drive or had any idea that she was remotely interested in driving. So way to go and well done Jodie, I'm sure most of us still don't believe it!

If you see a little blonde girl who looks 14 driving along looking confused and lost, don't worry that's Jodie.

30th September - Bideford Farmers Market

I spent most of the day with my fingers crossed, we were short of pipers as well as having no bass drummer, and the weather wasn't looking great either. There was heavy rain right up to our meeting time and then the sun came out, but with the strong wind there was no telling how long it would last. So I tuned the few pipers we had and then thought who was our best option for Bass Drummer for the day, I arrived thinking that Jamie our lead tip would be the best choice, but half an hour after the meeting time Jamie hadn't arrived and didn't seem to be answering his phone, so I had to think of a plan B. This was to share it between our two most experienced tenor drummers Gemma and Chris, I was a little worried with both, as Gemma lacks a little confidence and young Chris is so thin he looks like he'd blow over in the wind. Apart from a ropey start we got through it and the sun stayed out.

Well done Gemma and Chris for stepping in and I'm going to say well done to little Emma on pipes because she stood beside me when we were playing in the circle and she played really well, I was most impressed with the 6/8 set. Keep it up!

29th September - THEME NIGHT, Pirate Night

Ahoy there me landlubbers. Shiver me timbers if me hearties didn't dress up as pirates and hoist up the jolly roger at band practice, and it wasn't for the lily-livered I tell ee. I'd never seen such a bunch of gurt horrible ugly swashbucklin' sprogs in all me life. Now take a look at em matey or I'll get the young scallywags to make ee walk the plank. (You can find the booty here)

23rd September - South Molton Carnival

We arrived at our usual tuning place at Quince's Honey Farm and Jamie, our lead tip, realised he'd left his drum harness behind, oops, no worries I thought as I always carry a spare drum sling, but the problem was that the drum had no leg rest, as you don't need one with a harness, so I delved into the bottom of my drum bag spares and found some old tenor stick covers and a roll of duck tap and sort of created a leg rest. It did stop the drum from rolling around but wasn't that comfortable. It did the job and made it around the route and so did Jamies leg, just.

The Carnival had a different route this year and it seemed a lot better without the long hard march uphill at the start, we didn't stop much the whole way around, the few times we did stop seemed to be due to the walking group in front of us, which were slowly driving me nuts, they didn't really seemed bothered by the huge gap opening up in front of them or the pipe band marching right up their the rear end. The carnival was soon over though and it was good, with band morale high.

Well done everyone!

9th September - Bideford Carnival & Massed Bands

After months of organising the big day was here - our home Carnival and Massed Band event. Scary day for me trying to sort out all the pipe bands, but things didn't seem to go too badly and the rehearsal went relatively smoothly.

We then headed off for the start of the Carnival, where we would march around the route individually. The crowds were absolutely amazing along the quay I'd never seen such big crowds at the carnival, and I think the towns actually starting to appreciate their home pipe band. The Carnival seemed to go quite well without too many long hold ups and as we were the last band in we had a nice round of applause from the other bands when we marched into the finish.

It was now Massed Pipes and Drums time, the highlight of the whole evening. The quay seemed to be cram packed full of people eagerly awaiting the bands. We marched down the quay individually and then formed up as a massed band, it was a very very tight squeeze counter marching, mainly due to the crowds over spilling on to the road but we managed to squeeze through and form up for the finale. The massed brass band then marched down the quay towards us to form up the massed pipe and brass band for the finale. The brass bands played a short Sunset Ceremony dedicated to the Burma Star Association, which I found very moving. We then played what the crowds were waiting for "Highland Cathedral", which I must say wasn't the best tune of the whole night, our side drummers seemed to start before the Pipe Majors were ready, well they certainly surprised me, it wasn't too bad a start though, things went a little pear shaped when the bass drummers came in, but we did get it all back together after the first 8 beat hold and ended on a high.

I thought the whole evening was great fun and it was great to see some old faces from last year. A quick name check on the bands just in case you were wondering who was there - Bideford Youth Pipe Band, North Devon Pipes & Drums, City of Exeter Pipes & Drums, City of Plymouth Pipe Band, Cornwall Caledonian Pipes & Drums, Pipes & Drums of the Wessex Highlanders, City of Bristol Pipes & Drums and the Shirley Pipe Band.

If anyone has pictures of the night I'd love to see them, I could even make up a Massed band picture page for them all, if you have you can email them to me at gaylena4u@hotmail.com

A huge thank you to everyone who came along on the night and an even bigger thanks to Mike for making the night possible.

2nd September - Porlock Carnival

It had poured with rain all day and we sure we were in for a very wet night, and sure enough we arrived and tuned up in heavy misty drizzle. I found it hard to get the reeds right and moving tape on chanters wasn't good news. Finally I got us sounding OK but it wasn't good. When the Carnival started the drizzle stopped. It was the first time we had done this one and we weren't sure where the route was going to take us, all we hoped was the it didn't take us up Porlock Hill. We marched through the town and were clapped all the way. The worse thing about the Carnival was we seem to be trapped between two troupes of majorettes, it was xylophone hell with "Its a long way to Tipperary" from behind and "Brown girl in the ring" in front, so played a lot so we couldn't hear them.

28th August - North Devon Mini Run, Westward Ho! & Bude Lifeboat Day

Tuned up on a very windy sea front before making our way up to the start of the mini's. There seemed to be more crowds there this year to see the mini's off and we had a great crowd around the band while we played a few tunes. We led the 300 mini's off along the road and then pulled to one side to watch the rest drive past. Each year the mini's and drivers seem to wear more and more fancy dress and it's really something to see them go by.

It was then back to the cars and off to Bude for the Lifeboat Day. We got there and weren't needed until 4pm so we had most the afternoon for our annual barbecue beside the canal. So we all got changed and filled ourselves up with burgers and hot dogs. Then Dave and Chris arrived in a rowing boat they had hired further up the canal, then it was time to see how many band members they could fit in to it without sinking, I think they managed half the band before we had to say stop. The place they hired the boat from must have thought it a little strange when they came back with a boat load of people. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with cricket, we started off with ten tennis balls and they were soon very quickly disappearing into the canal, so someone needed to go in and field in the canal and before I knew it there was half a dozen band members in the canal.

It was soon time to change and tune up for the engagement. We started playing halfway down the wharf and marched down to the sealock, to play a few tunes, this was really hard work marching down into the strong wind, I did get a little worried it might take Darren and the bass drum off into the canal. It really was too gusty to play for long at the sealock so we headed back up towards the main area of Lifeboat Day, to play for the crowds there. We had a really good crowd around us which always picks up the band and they always play better.

After we played it was back to light up the barbecues again and some more cricket until we had lost all the balls and it was nearly dark

Thanks to Rob and Simon for cooking and the Bude Scouts for the use of their hut.

Pictures Here

27th August - Plymouth Navy Days with the City of Plymouth Pipe Band

This is a new engagement for the band and we were all looking forward to it. We left at 8am with plenty of time to get there but arrived just on time at the gates and then had a little trouble getting in as anyone with a surname starting with G seemed to be left off the pass list, so it took us about quarter of an hour to get through the gates and by the time we got out of the cars and got our instruments out we didn't have any time for tuning, which I wasn't too happy about. We did play through a few tunes with the Plymouth band, which didn't sound too bad before we headed off towards the docks.

We marched down to the main arena where we went our separate ways - Plymouth playing in the main arena and we went off to play on the German frigate FGS Hessen. We made our way onboard and played on the stern and tried to think of all the German related tunes we could and could only come up with Wooden Heart and Highland Cathedral. As usual Highland Cathedral went down a storm so we ended on a high. We then had ten minutes to make our way back up to the main arena where the Plymouth band were waiting for us, but getting off the ship wasn't so easy as getting on. They wouldn't let us off the rear where we'd got on and had to walk around the whole ship doing the tour, well walking up and down the stairways on a ship isn't easy in a kilt and trying to keep control of your pipes and even worse carrying a drum. So by the time we reached dry land and returned to the arena we were once again late. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing on more ships including a Dutch ship the HNLMS De Zeven Provincien, before the finale in the main arena with the City of Plymouth Pipe Band. We all had a brilliant day, thank you for inviting us Plymouth.

Pictures Here

26th August - Bradworthy Carnival

We all like this little parade around the village, well I'm not sure about our big Dave who lives in Bradworthy and seems to get a lot jeering all the way around the route. This year we had the added task of leading the Carnival Queens to the start of the carnival. We had to lead them from the village square to the field where all the rest of the carnival was being judged. This is doing the first half of the carnival route in reverse, which is sort of weird and roads don't look the same going the wrong way. We enjoyed it though and always look forward to the tea afterwards with all the nice cakes.

25th August - THEME NIGHT, Clash Night

A bit of a strange one this, the idea was to wear clothes that didn't go together and clashed - most people got the right idea! I think Darren won the night with his kilt and stripy socks and Mike made me laugh every time I looked at him. See what you think..................pics here

24th August - Ilfracombe Carnival

Boy is this one a long hard blow. We start at the top of Ilfracombe and work our way down to the harbour. The main problems with this carnival apart from seeming to be quite long is that all the people are at the end of the route and most of our small pipers are blown out by the time we get to the end. We had sharpened up a lot by the time we reached the sea front but we were all still playing strongly apart from one or two of our smallest pipers. The crowd is always very lively along the route and we did have trouble with water pistols, silly string and coins thrown at us, come on why throw coins at a band?? It really gets to me, we had one girl hit in the face and it was lucky it didn't catch her eye.

So I'm not sure if I enjoy this one or not, bad points it's long and very slow at the end, we get things thrown and squirted at us, but then we do get a really good buzz off the crowd which makes us play and sound 10 times better.

19th August - Bude Carnival

We didn't do this one last year as we were in Scotland playing at Pipefest. It was good to be back at an old regular carnival. The weather was looking very dodgy but it stayed dry for tuning and we had some fun tuning up.

The main excitement of the day was that it was Gubby's (Michael Gubbs) birthday, one of our superb band police force. Gubby seems to have got the nick name of gorilla in the band, don't know why, pic here, see for yourself. So he had various gorilla related cards and presents including a bunch of bananas.

Bude Carnival is sort of three sections, lots of people in the first quarter, a long march around half of Bude's golf course and then back to the town and the crowds for the last quarter. We marched off and the first part of carnival sounded really good, we were playing all together and the side drummers sounded good, then the long march around the golf course where we played a few tunes which is always twice as hard work with only a few people watching. By the time we got back to the town we had lost our momentum and were struggling to keep it together, but soon started playing better when the crowds got deeper. Then the rain came on the last stretch back to the cars and the heavens opened up while loading up the cars.

13th August - Burma Star Parade, Exeter

A regular one for us, usually it's in a different place each year, but not this year as it was back to Exeter for a repeat performance. We did change a few things though as last year we struggled to fit under the trees in the church yard, so we thought it would be a good idea if we marched up to the church march into ranks of two and form a guard of honour and it work really well.

The church service was a bit long for our kids and they did start to get a little restless and were glad to get out. Outside the church we went back into our two ranks and played while people came of church.

We then jumped into the cars and were just about to make our way to the St George's Hall in the centre of Exeter, as we did last year, but we heard various people talking about walking to the refreshments and found out it wasn't at St George's Hall, but instead it was at the Heavitree Social Club. We eventually found it and had some lovely refreshments.

It's always a pleasure to play for the veterans of the Burma Star Association and today was no exception.

12th August - Twinning Parade, Bideford

We couldn't tune up in our regular place in Bideford, as the parade was starting near by in the park. So we decided to tune up where we meet when the band has to travel away for the day in the housing estate where a lot of the band members live. I think we upset one or two at 10am, well one chap in particular, judging by the expletives coming from his bedroom window, he soon gave up and decided it might be a good idea to shut his double glazed window, making it quieter, Einstein hey!

We then travelled down to the town and made our way to the park and Rob went to check up on what we had to do, we thought we had to march into the park at 11 am play a few tunes and march out at 11.15am, but plans had changed and we now had to march in after the Majorettes had done their bit, fall out, then the Samba Band would play and then we would do our bit and march out leading the parade at 11.45.

So we marched in, fell out and the majorettes went on? With the samba band on next we decided our parking tickets were going to run out, as we thought we'd be marching off at 11.15 and finished by 11.45, So we had to give all our car keys to Amanda for her to go and buy another round of parking tickets!

We marched out the park at 11.45 and with all five of our band police stopping traffic and a police car following the parade that Rob had called up, we made our way down the Quay snarling up the traffic good and proper. So we had an eventful morning but we seemed to be appreciated by the twinning group of Bideford and Landivisau.

A big thanks to our police force, we couldn't have done it without you today.

9th August - Combe Martin Carnival

I was suffering from a pulled muscle in my left shoulder and wasn't sure if was going to be able to play my pipes, we also had Darren our bass drummer away, so in the afternoon I had a quick play on my pipes and decided I'd be ok if I kept playing all the time, I was only in pain when I stopped playing, I also popped on the bass drum to see if that was any better, once I got it on it wasn't too bad, but I decided I'd be better off on pipes.

We're never sure what to do about parking here, we start one end of the village and end up about a mile and a half the otherside. Last year's idea of trying to park all the cars at the end somewhere didn't really work so we went back to the plan we've used for years.

Mike helped me tune up and we struggled with a dodgy high G but managed to sort it. Band morale seemed high and everyone was keen to play. We got underway at a very slow pace and were stuck between two ships, there seemed to be a lot of ships in the carnival, not sure if it had a nautical theme or if the film Pirates of the Caribbean had anything to do with it. Every year we have a float here with some loud repetative music and this year we had a very depressing "Way hey and up she rises" to the off beat of some samba music behind us. We had a little trouble with coins being thrown and a new one - bubble machines. Marching into a sea of bubbles seems harmless and a bit silly to moan about, but not only could they stain our uniforms a few of us had bubbles pop in our eyes and they don't taste too nice either!

We reached the end and as usual had a great reception from the crowd and then had the long wait for the drivers to return with the cars.

It was a pleasure to have James Burden and his wife Jean marching with us. James is the Lieutenant to the Chief of the Clan Lamont - our adopted clan.

Well done everyone on this one, it was a great team effort. Special thanks to Steve for standing in as bass drummer.

6th August - Bude Canal Day

Wow we had a full band out, first time for a long time. We tuned up in a nice cool secluded private driveway. I tuned up without to many problems and had a listen to the dummers warming up around a hedge, they're sounding good, keep it up.

We marched down one side of the canal to the lock and were very surprised to see James and Jean Burden, friends of the bands from Australia. We played a few tunes while the boats locked in and then marched down the other side of the canal for another two performances on the Bark House Green.

Well done everyone for trying on this hot day. It was great to see James and Jean again, hope we see them again before you head home.

5th August - Tintagel Carnival

A new route this year, from the other end of the village and back, and we were leading. When I say we were leading we were leading with absolutely nothing in front of us, usually we have someone to follow a police car or something, but we didn't even have one man and his dog to follow. So we just kept going and followed the crowd, I did get a little worried when we had passed two signs welcoming us to Tintagel. The crowds started to get deeper so we must have been going the right way and we always get a good round of applause along the way. When we reached the other end of the village we had to wait for the rest of the carnival to pass us so we could head back, this seemed to take a long time, with big gaps between things, I'm not sure if we went too fast or not. After a tea in the church hall and a trip to the chippy we headed home in some very thick fog - it was hard to make out the road from the hedge half the time and we actually ended up driving up a farm track, due to the very very thick fog and not my navigating!

28th July - THEME NIGHT, Bright Night

The idea was to wear as bright a clothes as you could find and there were some very, very bright people at band, so bright you needed shades. Some of us looked like we would glow in the dark.

Take a look for yourself....................................Pictures

30th July - Watchet Carnival

14th July - Ashbourne Highland Gathering

We met up on a boiling hot Friday all eager to get on our way north to Derbyshire. Most the kids dived into Judes minibus, so I thought that the smart move was to get on the other one for peace and quiet and most important "leg room". So with leg room and windows at the rear of our minibus we also had ventilation unlike the other one. We had to take it steady as Judes minibus had a problem with the engine cutting out if she put her foot down. As soon as we hit the motorway, the traffic was heavy and we slowed down to a near stop through roadworks. After 2 hours it was a quick pit stop at Sedgemoor Services where we met up with Darren, who had just finished working in the area. We seemed to hit all the traffic jams and at Frankley Services we decided we weren't going to make it to Ashbourne before 8pm when the supermarket closed. So we had to have a rethink and decided to stop at Uttoxeter for a quick shop so we had something to eat in the evening and breakie in the morning.

We arrived at our accommodation in Ashbourne about 8.30 and it was straight into the kitchen to get the ovens on and shopping put away before exploring the place. After everyone was fed and watered most the kids watched TV. At midnight everyone was still up and wide awake but it was time for bed for the girls and boys. We knew it would take them a while to settle down and didn't expect much sleep the first night. At 2am we could all still hear Dave and Ryan nattering on about things I can't mention. I'm not sure when we all got to sleep but we were awake in our room at 6am, a time I didn't know there was. After some girlie chit chat we had a text message from Dave asking us to keep quiet as they were trying to sleep, I told him it was pay back time for keeping us awake all night!

Saturday - All up and all still half asleep as we headed off for the day to Gullivers Theme Park. We weren't far away from the big theme parks like Alton Towers, but we thought it would be better to try to find something smaller with a few rides that everyone could enjoy. Gullivers is aimed at children 13 and under but as everyone over that age are just big kids it was Gullivers at Matlock Bath we headed for. The theme park seemed to be set into the side of a cliff so you were either walking up or down hill all day. Most the kids went running off down the hill, while us cunning adults went up the short slope to the top and thought it would be easier to work our way downwards. Even though most of the rides were aimed at the under 13's we were going to do as many as possible. Most of the ride attendants had a smile on their faces when 8 adults from the age range of 32 to 73 were having a better time then most the kids on the ride. By lunch time we had made our way to the bottom of the cliff and found they did have a ski slope style chair lift back up to the top. So it was back up to the top for round two. We all had a great time here and would recommend the place to anyone. Before heading back to Ashbourne we had a look around Matlock Bath. Matlock Bath is like a seaside resort but without the sea. Amusement arcades, fish and chip shops and it also seemed to be a place to gather if you have a big motorbike.

When we got back to home base most the kids headed off to the dorms for sleep, but we had other ideas. We had to keep them awake so WE and them would sleep later. After we got the evenings food cooking we discovered the Dave had sneaked off and was having a kip - this just wouldn't do so he had to be woken up. Sounds easy, but getting a six foot six lad up wasn't that easy we found out. We started with tickling, it woke him up but didn't get him up, we tried to pull the hairs on his legs - same result, next idea shouting and whistling - same result, so it was off to the kitchen and found as many saucepans, lids and wooden spoons and then formed the BYPB's first samba band, a huge plastic bucket upside down made a great bass and we had great fun but still Dave stayed in bed. It was now time to turn to our last resort and as everyone knows teenage boys hate water and sure enough it worked and Dave was up.

After food it was time for Becca's Birthday party. All we needed was some music and a DJ to get things going. It was over to DJ Jude to get the party rolling. We had some great party games including musical chairs before we brought in the birthday cake with 10 burning candles and the way Becca blew them out she should be on pipes. It was then time for Mandy and Robs haunted disused train tunnel walk.

We all walked through the tunnel not knowing what to expect, most of us were waiting for someone or something to jump out at us. As we reached the middle of the tunnel we all heard a train coming and Rob told us to all jump to the side and let the train pass, which we did, gullible or what! When we reached the other end of the tunnel Mandy told us the tale of the haunted tunnel, pointing out that only half the tunnel was paved, the other was just rough stones, this was because the other side was where a great train crash happened. She told us the tunnel wasn't used anymore as the last train that went through the tunnel crashed in the middle. When we walked back through the tunnel you could see where the trains had hit the roof and the brick work had been repaired. We all walked back through the tunnel looking for the repair and all hearing the various sounds of passing trains, clunks, puffs of steam, whistles, and the slamming of train doors........................ Scary! (I'm not sure if anyone noticed the 'Soundtrack' sign at the entrance to the tunnel that referred to a sound art project and that you can hear the sound of railway life of earlier years along the 350 metre tunnel??)

Keeping everyone up so we could all have a good nights sleep didn't work and it was gone 2am before we all got to sleep.

Sunday - Ashbourne Highland Gathering, the reason we were all here. All up and left at 10am heading for the tuning area in the park before you get to the show field. The first band we came across was the University of Luton's grade 4 band, this was great for the kids as they actually knew the pipe major and were all excited to see the band. The group were all watching their respective instruments and were all very impressed. After a quick hello to P/M Tony Doherty we moved up the field to watch a few more bands and I think all our lot were gob smacked at the bands tuning up.

We moved on into the show field and after a quick team talk we all moved down to the competing area to the Luton & District band compete. Then we made our separate ways around the gathering. A lot of the kids headed of for the various rides and just taking in what was going on around them. Mike and I always like to watch the chieftains parade come not only just to see which bands leading them but we also like to see the strongmen coming in, they always make me laugh with their various states of highland dress and I'm sure one was wearing a picnic blanket as a kilt. When they arrived we were amazed to see the parade was being led by our friends from the Shirley Pipe Band. We all met up at lunch time to make sure everyone was still alive and kicking, the heat and sun was getting to most of us and lots of hats seemed to appear and a large amount of pink ones, for the girls and the boys! After agreeing 5pm was the next meeting up time, most people went off to watch the highland games and Frank went back to the Tug-of-war. Mike and I spent most the afternoon between watching the bands, events in the main arena and making sure everyone was having a good time. I was a little disappointed that we only caught the end of the drum major competition but was glad to see Brian Wilson who is one of the worlds top drum majors competing. We all watched the drum majors throwing their maces over the banner and would have all loved to have a go.

It was soon 5pm and we'd lost a few during the afternoon, a few had gone back to the accommodation with Rob and Mandy suffering from a bit of heat stroke and Frank couldn't leave the tug-of-war as it was getting exciting. When we had mustered up all that was left we headed up to the main arena to watch the massed band. I think the whole band would have loved to be taking part in this. I left Mike to get the results and I led the rest of the band down to the town to watch the bands and the drum majors throwing their maces.

At the end of the day I think everyone had had a great day and most of them wanting to be drum majors. After throwing a meal together for a fussy bunch of kids, the evening was spent watching TV, playing cards, pool and table tennis.

Monday was pack up day and we headed homewards. We arrived home about 5.30 all very hot and glad to be home.

I have to say a big thank you to Mike for arranging the weekend, Jude and Rob for driving the minibuses, Lorraine and Amanda for being charge of catering, Gubby, Steve and Frank for washing up, Mandy for room control and the great haunted tunnel tale and all the kids for behaving yourselves most the time.

7th July - Pat's Surprise Birthday Party

Fergie, the band Chieftain, asked Mike and I if we could come along to the Kathleen & May after band practice and play Happy Birthday to Pat for her surprise 60th birthday party. In the end we agreed it would be nicer if 4 or 5 of us came along and played a few tunes as well. Later we thought that we would surprise both Pat and Fergie and turn up with the whole band, so after phoning or texting everyone in the band explaining what we would like to do they were all delighted to do something for Pat and Fergie.

Driving to practice I said to Mike wouldn't it be nice if the whole band played Happy Birthday to Pat and not just one person, so that was it, we spent most of the practice teaching and playing Happy Birthday, which must have been really strange to our learner piper Harriet as it was her birthday too.

So after practice we all drove over to the Kathleen & May, parking in the next door car park. Mike phoned Fergie to let him know that we'd got a few people together and we were ready to march in when he was ready. We lined up outside and marched onto the wharf to a very surprised Pat and Fergie. We all had a great time squeezing everyone onto the deck to play a few tunes before heading below to join in the rest of the party.

2nd July - Tall Ship, Falmouth

After an exhausting day yesterday a few of us headed down to Falmouth to help out the Cornwall Caledonian Pipes & Drums. Another blazing hot day and we were glad they were playing in short sleeved shirts which meant we didn't have to wear our jackets or waistcoats. After a quick tune up, it's so much easier when you have all strong chaps blowing with strong reeds, than lots of weak blowers with reeds that are always on the verge of squeaking - I'm starting to rant so back to the subject! After tuning we played a few tunes in Event Square and had a few spots of rain before we started to get thunder and lightning.

A quick break and it was off to the Russian Tall Ship Mir. We marched up to the ship played a few tunes before boarding for what seemed a photo shoot for the Cornwall band. Lots of excited Russian crew members desperate and very proud to have their picture taken wearing a glengarry and hold some pipes with a piper. Pipe Major Dave King went one step further and swapped hats (pic). Our first tune on the ship we had a stowaway in the band and they were playing Bass Drum, so the start was a bit dodgy but we soon got it all together and I don't think Sue, their bass drummer, needs worry about her job.

We had a look around the ship and played a few more tunes before heading back to Event Square to finish the day.

I would like to say thanks to Tony Crawley for inviting us back to his place for a much needed beer. It was a long weekend but good fun.

Playing on the dockside beside Mir	Mike in the middle of things as usual	BYPB Export

1st July - Busy Busy Day - or 'A Fete Worse than Death'

A few of us started the day collecting in Bideford, we had a collectors license for the day so we thought we would make use of it, we played for less than an hour and collected £82.18, quite impressive for 2 pipers, a side, a tenor and a dodgy pipe major on bass!

It was then off to tune up the rest of the band to play for the Farmers Market on Bideford Quay. The band marched up through the market and played a few tunes, embarrassing Dave by playing happy birthday for his 18th birthday day. We also collected here and raised over £50 , so thank you Bideford for supporting us. If we're going to make it to America next year we need all the help we can get.

Then we made our way up to Grenville College to play for the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Fete. We parked in some much needed shade under the trees and chilled for a while before it was time for our first performance. We were appreciated by the people there and once again wished Dave a happy 18th birthday. We then had an hour before our next performance here, so after refreshments we headed for the prize every time tombola and what made it even more exciting, the prizes were all wrapped up. My first prize - I so sure it was a big bag of sweets and on opening it was a little disappointed to find a packet of Birds instant custard, but not too disillusioned I had another two goes! Second prize - could of been a small round tin of sweets but turned out to be a round box of old grannies talc, so on to the third prize - small, soft and didn't seem like anything was inside, turned out to be the elusive packet of sweets! Pat and Fergie then bought all the kids a go, they then had fun swapping prizes.

After a second performance here it was then off to the Littleham Fete.

The main problem with playing at Littleham was that the England v Portugal World Cup match started at 4pm and we were due to play at 4.30pm. So we marched on and did what we had already done 3 times today and once again played happy birthday to Dave before marching off and heading home to catch the second half of the match.

Thanks to all the band for trying hard, it was a long hot day but I was proud of your effort and I'm sure the people that saw us were very impressed by you.

Oh did I mention that it was Dave Crossleys 18th Birthday today! Happy Birthday Dave and look after those new pipes that you got from your Mum and Dad.

25th June - Holsworthy Vintage Rally

This is an old regular on the bands calendar. It's usually a mad rush around day as we have to rush back to Bideford to perform at the Bideford Music Day, but sadly there was no music day this year, let's hope it makes a return next year.

We had a big problem at this engagement and that was that we had two performances to do in the afternoon and England were playing Equador in the 2nd round of the World Cup. So as soon as we arrived at the show ground we set up a gazebo, backed a car up to it and set up a TV, then tuned up for our first performance.

Our 1st time on went well and there seemed twice as many people watching than previous years, as usual Charles Cornish gave a great commentary during our performance. We marched out of the arena and all the way back to our gazebo where a 13th Birthday cake was waiting for Will Webber.

Now this is where the problem is - the England Match started at 4pm and we were due to play at 4.30pm. So while the drummers sat in the gazebo watching the match I tuned the pipers in a semi circle around the gazebo, so we weren't missing the match.

For our second time on, we had to lead a procession of old military vehicles into and around the arena, I wasn't too sure where we had to go in the arena I just knew I had to go around the outside and end up in the middle. Three quarters of the way around I took a quick glance to see the vehicles behind us and we only seemed to have one thing following us, and then that peeled off and left us all alone. I wheeled around and counter marched so we were back in front of the jeep that was following us and then continued to play while the rest of the vehicles came in one by one including a tank. We marched off with them all following this time and then peeled off back to the gazebo for the second half of the match.

Thanks Jude for supplying the power for the TV.

24th June - Liskeard Carnival

We nearly had a full band for this one, only one side drummer away. Everything seemed to go smoothly, I did get a little fed up with the float we were following as it kept stopping and then would accelerate to catch up leaving us behind and looking like we were holding up the carnival and couldn't keep up.

At the end of the carnival we joined in with the City of Plymouth Pipe Band who were ahead of us in the parade to march down the main street, and at 8 abreast it was a tight squeeze in places.

23rd June - THEME NIGHT - Inside Out Night

This was quite an odd theme night really, most people looked normal from a distance, except those wearing jeans who had funny white flapping pockets on the out side. Thinking about it there was one person who didn't look normal from a distance and that was Rob who had bra and thong on the outside of his inside out clothes. It did get me a little worried that Rob wore the bra and thong normally under his clothes, but then I think it must come from his army days as I've notice most chaps that have been in the forces will dress up in womens clothes at the drop of a hat.

Anyway click here for the pictures and see for yourself.

June 18th - Ilfracombe Victorian Celebration

Well where do I start, apart from fact that most of the adults were aching all over from playing football, softball and having a go on the bouncy castle at young Will's pre birthday party the day before, all was going smoothy until we arrived at Ilfracombe and Stacey asked me if I had her pipes, which I had taken home for repair. You guessed it I had forgotten them and had no spare set. We decided against rushing back to get them as travelling 50 in an hour through twisty roads was pushing it. So a rethink was in order and I decided that as I forget them, then I should be the one not to play. I shuffled around a few sets of pipes so people had something to play and started tuning.

The band fell in ready to play and I felt like the little boy left at the side of a football match itching to get in there to play. Mike saw me looking rather lonely and found a job for me - he had a chat with Rob and I was now Drum Major for the day using Rob's swagger stick as a make shift mace. I felt I looked silly but at least I was doing something.

In the end I really enjoyed leading the band and had a chance to listen to the band for once. I could pick up on a few things that need improving mainly our starts that were a bit ropey. So something good came out of this and you do learn from your mistakes.

1st June - Opening of Bideford Quay

At late notice we managed to get together a band. Another engagement that we were missing key players, including our bass drummer. So we had to lose a main piper (Steve) to play bass drum leaving us short on power on the pipes again. It was beautiful morning with the tide in, blue skies and the sun glinting on the water.

We marched down through the farmers market squeezing pass the stalls to the main building, where Lord Burnett of Whitchurch was to officially open the quay enhancement by unrevealing a plaque. We played for about 20 minutes while the new fountains were going and the MS Oldenburg loaded her passengers and set sail for Lundy Island. We finished our performance with our ever popular Highland Cathedral and turned to wait for the unveiling. After a while the official opening was done and we made our way back up through the market being photographed and filmed by just about everyone.

One of the cameramen filming us was from Westcountry TV and we made it onto the news! So we can now say "as seen on TV" (hehe).

Thank you to all the band members that turned out at short notice.

29th May - Potwalloping, Westward Ho!

We met and tuned up in Bideford where it's a lot easier to park. We were short of a few key pipers so all the pipers needed to put the effort in this time. It was one of those day when the pipes just wouldn't come in right and whatever I did either made it worse or something else stopped working, but I sort of got there in the end and headed off to Westward Ho!

Our performance wasn't our best, as we had mostly young pipers who found that looking around at the crowd was more interesting than concentrating on their playing. As usual the drummers did a great job and it must have been hard work for Darren on Bass Drum in a very strong sea breeze. The only tune we did play well was Highland Cathedral.

On the whole we did a good job with the players we had and we now know what players and areas of the band we need to work on.

Well done Vikki for stepping into the shoes of lead tip for the day.

26th May - Theme Night - Black / Gothic Night

What a morbid scary lot we looked. Everyone turned up wearing something black or goth make up, even the boys joinen in with the make up.

We fell in at the start of the night looking like we had all just been to a funeral and Mike commitited that it would be funny if someone came along to visit the band tonight and long and behold half way though the night the Mayor turned up! It's a good job we know him well or he would have thought we might have been turning the band into some sort of cult.

Great effort everyone, can't wait until the next one. Pictures Here

25th May - WELL DONE LAURA!

Laura Gubb is the latest to Pass her driving test. At least you can down drive around listening to your music instead of just sitting in the drive and making your battery flat :o) Well done Laura!

Who's going to be the next to pass??????

21st May - Mayors Parade - Bideford

All I can really say is "What a wet one"! It did ease off for the parade which was a help. This year we all went into the church ceremony to support this years Mayor, our piper Jodie Inchs father and we also have 9 other members of the Inch family in the band. If been to a few church sermons with the band and I have to say that Rev Clive Okill the Mayors Vicar this year was the most interesting sermon I heard for a long time, they usually lose me half way through and I start looking around and wondering when he going to finish, but he kept gripped right to the end and he even kept most of the kids interested too. So well done vicar and well done Tony on becoming Mayor.

20th May - Lord Mayors Parade - Plymouth

Mike and I as well as a few of the older band members once again travelled down to Plymouth to join in with the City of Plymouth Pipe Band for the Lord Mayors Parade. This year we were also join by the City of Exeter Pipes and Drums.

We thought it was going to be as wet as last year as it had been raining all week and rained most of the way travelling down, but after tuning up the drizzled stop and it was decided it was decided we didn't need our capes, which I wasn't to sure about as we had an early start with our band the next day and didn't fancy putting on a wet uniform. The rain held off but I think the weather did put off the crown as it wasn't as thick as in previous years.

It's always fun playing with other bands, as you're never sure of the tune sets and you tend to miss the first few notes and then join in and then spend the rest of the tune trying to work out what the tunes called. All great fun and a great way to learn how other people do it.

Thanks to the City of Plymouth for their great hospitality, we all had a great day.

18th May - Mayors Election Ceremony

This was a first for Bideford. The new elected Mayor started off his year in office in style by being piped in by his daughter Jodie Inch. Mike and I were at the ceremony and she sounded great and by the applause she got everyone else appreciated it too. It was a great honour for her and band to take part in such a prestigious event.

6th May - Torrington Carnival

The day started with blue skies and bright sunshine, in the afternoon there was light drizzle to heavy downpours, but the sunshine returned for the evening. As with previous years we tuned up and then waited for the Massed Brass Band to march down to the start of the Carnival. The police escort they had was going to return to lead us down. After waiting we decided to go it alone as we have our own police force to deal with any trouble along the way. We just made to it the start of the Carnival in time, well we had to pull up short, as the procession was coming towards us, so we sort of just made it. Next year I think we'll march down before the Massed Brass Band or try to march down two minutes behind them.

The Carnival went well and we played well too, with only one piper away we looked pretty good as well. After the Carnival we had a quick sort out of pipes and then played a few tunes in the Square after the brass band. We sounded good here, the sound bounces back off the buildings and there was a great crowd that showed their appreciation. The drummers also took pride of place on a temporary stand to show off their skills. (Picture)

Mandy Andrew was presented with a five year long service certificate by the band Chieftain Robert "Fergie" Ferguson.
First Carnival for Ryan Glover on Tenor Drum.

29th April - Football Match, Bideford v Bitton

This was a special match for Bideford, not for who they were playing, but because they were to be presented with the Western League Cup. We were just to do the usual, play before the match and at half time. Playing before the match went well, to march on we had planned to do our usual 15 - 20 minutes and then march off.

At half time we only did 10 minutes of our allotted 15 minutes, as we marched to the main stand to play Highland Cathedral as requested, the players started to come out onto the pitch. So we got to the sideline, played the first two parts and abandoned play. The ref kicked off the first half at least five minutes early and kicked off the second half early as well, so either he had a hot date or doesn't like the pipes, looking at him I think it had to be the latter.

Match score was Bideford 2 - Bitton 0

23rd April - St Georges Parade, Dunster

Mike and I met the band at Dunster and they arrived in style, well some sort of style. Darren the Bass Drummer had dressed his car for the occasion, St George’s flags and ribbons attached to every available space on his car.

While we tuned up, the drum corps went off under the trees to make some noise as it was drizzling, and a very impressive noise they made. It was the first time out for 4 of the 8 drummers and they've really pulled it together over the winter months. Well done Jamie and Darren for bring them into shape.

Well enough praise for the drummers and onto the pipers. It was a bit of a shaky start to the season and we still need work on concentration as well as playing together, but on the whole it sounded good.

The sun came out for the parade and once again there was an impressive turn out of Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, Rainbows etc etc. There was also a very good crowd to watch the parade go by. While the troupes were in church we hijacked a little walled garden next to the church and set up camp for refreshments, thank you to Rob and his team for supplying us with tea, coffee and squash. The band is now becoming a family affair, we had all 6 members of the Andrew family and 10 members of the Inch family (10 inches wow, now that’s something to be proud of).

On the whole the parade went well and we didn't sound too bad for the first time out especially with 6 new players.

First time out for - Pipers Emma Inch and Terri Andrew. Tenor Drummers Jodie Atherton, Becca Inch and William Webber and Side Drummer Richard Cole.

14th April - Good Friday Easter Hunt

We're not able to have our practice hall on Good Friday, so we usually organise to do something else with the band. Last year we had an engagement and in past years we've done treasure hunts in Victoria Park. This year we decided to do a hunt along the Tarka Trail. The band was split into teams of four and had to find answers to questions from signs and posts along the way. To make it a little more fun Mike and I added a few extras along the way, hiding Bunny signs to find and we even had an Easter Chick handing out eggs - Well the chick was a big scary chicken hiding in a little clearing. They only got an egg after giving him an answer to a question. Thanks Rob for volunteering to be the Easter Chick Everyone had a great time, even though it was just about dark when we finshed.

12th April - Easter Bonnet Night

It was time to get out the scissors, glue, cereal boxes, loo rolls and sticky back tape to make an Easter Bonnet. There were some great hats. Have a look for yourself Pictures

7th April - Fat Slimming Club

Congratulations to Simon for being the first to lose a stone.

25th March - Odd Shoe Night

Our second theme night and it's odd shoe night. Nice and easy and nearly everyone joined in. I was sporting a cowboy boot and a flip flop naming it "Cow Flop". Mike had a Chicken foot, yes a chicken foot and a trainer and called it "Chicken Run". I could go on and on about everyone's great odd shoes, check out the pictures and see for yourself.

Next Month's theme is going to be "Easter Bonnets" so get working on those Easter hats.

10th March - Congratulations!!!!

Well done Jamie Loder on passing your driving test! You can now drive that car you bought a year ago. So if you see a little red car with big alloy's and a sound system to put any night club to shame, that's our Jamie ;o)

3rd February - 3 Year Certificates

Erin Andrew, Dave Crossley and Jo Inch are the latest members to make it three years in the band, well done you three.

13th January - Pink Night

It's Friday the 13th and it's pink night, you can't be unlucky in pink. This was my idea for everyone to wear pink for the night, on the Wednesday before we had decided we needed something to make people smile and have a little fun. So I came up with this bright idea of having a "Pink Night" where members had to come to band wearing pink, as much or as little as they liked, and so started "Theme Night".

6th January - Fat Slimming Club Starts

After we all gained a few pounds over Christmas, Mandy Inch decided to start up a fat, no sorry, a slimming club. This was open to all adults in the band who wanted to lose a few pounds. The rules are we pay 50p each week to be weighed and have to pay 20p for every pound we put on. So we're losing weight and making money for the band at the same time.