Eccles Borough Band added another trophy to the shelf recently, as they achieved a remarkable second place position at this year’s Second Section National Finals in Cheltenham. As the band have already gained promotion to the First Section, as of January 2016, this fantastic placing was an added and well-deserved bonus. As the worthy band that just managed beat us to first place was the Welsh band Ebbw Valley, this also means that we are currently the highest ranked English Second Section band.

The band played exceptionally well, in particular our Principal Cornet player Debbie Fry and our Solo Horn player Helen Moore, who were both commended on their solo performances on social media following the contest. Helen was named as ‘Star Player’ on the 4barsrest live website commentary during the afternoon. The band received praise for the ‘colour and drama’ that they brought to this emotive and action-packed piece and the fine solo work that took place around the stand, as well as praise for the fantastic direction from our MD, Mareika Gray. We walked away from the stage with a performance to be proud of and a trophy in our hands, as proof that the hard work and dedication of all concerned had, most certainly, paid off.

With the National Finals behind us, we look forward to our next contest, which is the Wychavon Entertainment Contest on Saturday 31st October and also to 2016, when we tackle Edward Gregson’s ‘Essay’ at our debut in the First Section Regional Championships . Our dedicated conductor, Mareika Gray stated that she is “incredibly happy with the result and that we now look onwards, with enthusiasm, to the challenges that the First Section will bring in the coming year.”