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The day couldn’t have got off to a worse possible start! We knew when we left the Band Hall on Saturday at 9.30pm following our final rehearsal ahead of Sunday’s Contest that it was snowing, but when the phone call arrived at 6.00am on Sunday morning informing us that the bus company we had booked with were refusing to send a bus, well, we soon discovered that the snow was much heavier than we imagined. After a myriad of frantic phone calls, Jan Murray worked wonders and managed to get us a bus from Dodds of Troon. The original plan was to leave Dalmellington at 7.15am as the Contest started in Motherwell at 10.00am. It was obvious that this wasn’t going to happen, but this Band has a fantastic weapon in it’s armoury : fighting spirit. Armed with shovels, Ian, Juby, Chris & Billy cleared a way to the Band Hall and loaded instruments into cars to somehow get to Ayr, Gail Elliot’s brother Billy in his 4x4 braved deep snow to get to Stephen & Alison and despite almost blizzard conditions, they all made it. Meanwhile, Sandy & Diane set of for Motherwell to attend the draw. Phone calls to and from SBBA from 6.45am let us know that the draw would probably be delayed for 2 hours because of the situation everyone found themselves in. Attending the draw at 11.00am, it was obvious that all of the 10 competing Bands had problems of one kind or another. Most Bands had players missing, stranded in outlying homes, Dunaskin Doon were not only minus players, but instruments and a bus, as they couldn’t get to their Band Hall. In the end we shared our bus and instruments with them. Normally at this Contest guest players are not allowed, but SBBA were most accommodating under the circumstances and allowed Bands to borrow whichever players they needed. Luckily for us, we were all present and correct and played off draw No.6. Rehearsals throughout this campaign were good. The Band could play the test piece well – “Voyage Of Discovery” by Goff Richards – and on the stage produced a performance that Colin Hardy (who was adjudicating the day before but stayed to hear Sunday’s Bands) said would have won the Yorkshire region the previous week – a Contest he adjudicated! |
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To read what the adjudicators had to say about our performance click on a name below:
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Our adjudicators, Alan Morrison and Stephen Roberts said they were unanimous in their decision, with one Band standing out from all the rest – Band No.6! Following last year’s disappointing result, the cheer that went up from the Band when we were announced as winners was probably more with relief than excitement. So we are now Scottish 1st Section Champions, off to Harrogate in September for the National Championships. Whatever happens come September, we will always look back to Sunday 12th March 2006, when Dalmellington Band dug it’s way to victory on a Voyage of Discovery. |
