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We took the band to the centre of Holbeach on this Saturday morning. The sole purpose was to advertise the band and its Open Day on 8th April. We took leaflets which our supporters handed out. The weather was kind to us and we had some nice comments from the public.

8th April - Open Day

We held an Open Day on a Tuesday durin th school Easter holiday. We gave free teas, coffees and biscuits to our visitors. Band members who came had an impromptu band practice. As a result of the Open Day we have three new members of our Saturday morning learner Group.

In the afternoon, the Holbeach Victoria Training Band gave a free concert of music from their repertoire. The Training Band were joined by former Training band members who now play in the Senior Band. The band gave an excellent performance to a small but enthusiastic audience.

27th April - Holbeach Hospital 25th Anniversary

We were delighted to be invited to play at the 25th Anniversary celebrations of the Holbeach and East Elloe Hospital Trust. The Trust had given the celebrations a war-time them: nursing staff were dressed as land girls or in 40s clothing; as we were setting up a Spitfire (from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight) flew over three times. We included suitable music including 1914 March, Keep Smiling Through, Bless'Em All, Great Escape and Colonel Bogey.

3rd May - Fleet Baptist CHurch

A busy weekend for the Band started with a formal concert at the Fleet Baptist Church in Fleet Hargate near Holbeach.

This was a return visit as we had played there at the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2012. The area in front of the fixed pews is quite limited but our previous visit meant we cknew how to fit in! This year we did not have a drum kit so we took the timpani!

We had a good turnout with 26 players (icluding guests) so it was a bit tight and we had the back row cornets one side of the organ and pulpit and the basses and percussion on the other side.

The concert included a number of pieces reflecting the anniversaries of the World Wars. The Church had a theme for the week of Ladies of the Bible and asked if we could include suitable music. We played Handel's Berenice (she was wife of King Herod Aggrippa) and Delilah (Tom Jones style!).

1st Half	2nd Half
Colonel Bogey	The Great Escape
English Folk Song Suite (The March)	One Foot in the Grave (soloist George Brown)
Skyfall	May Each Day
Italian Love Song	Bless 'Em All
Berenice	Just a Closer Walk
Old Rugged Cross	Keep Smiling Through
2nd Waltz (Shostokovich)	Delilah
The Saints	Highland Cathedral
	encore: Deep Harmony

4th May - Moulton Chapel Flower Parade

Our first visit to the annual Moulton Chapel Flower Parade. We rode on the back of a good-sized trailer behind a tractor. it was a lovely sunny day and lots of people came to see the parade. Again an excellent turnout of 24 with no guests.

5th May - Holbeach Flower Festival

All Saints Church Holbeach hosted a Flower Festival and invited us to play. Another sunny day for our third day out in a row; we were delighted to have a turnout of 25 (including 1 guest).

We had a good reception from the Church and their visitors.

1st June - Ayscoughfee Gardens, Spalding

A lovely concert on a nice sunny afternoon as part of the Music in the Gardens season. Nice change - our last two years' concerts in Ayscoughfee Gardens were cancelled due to bad weather.

There was an enthuiastic audience of approx 150.

Ros Sharman and Hannah Palmer played the Flugel Horn solo 'Misty'; George Brown played the solo 'One Foot in the Grave' on Bass Trombone.

Thanks to the Spalding & South Holland Voice for their article :
Holbeach Town Band was the latest act to entertain the crowds in Ayscoughfee Gardens, Spalding, as part of its summer music programme. Scores of people came prepared with picnic blankets and deck chairs to enjoy the popular band run through its popular repertoire.

Photograph from The Voice

Sun 8 June - Fun in the Park, Donington

Another wonderful afternoon. Good turnout by the band for an enjoyable concert at the annual Fun in the Park organised by IDEA (Improving the Donington Environment for All).

The bandstand in Flinders Park is quite small but we managed to fir 26 players including percussion - but it didn't leave much room for the Musical Director.

The spitfire and hurricane from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flew over. They were due to arrive at 3.00pm during our break, but they were late. When they flew over we were coming to the end of 'One Foot in the Grave'! Rather inappropriate, but we followed it with the 1914 March and 'Bless 'Em All'.

"There was a whole host of activities on offer including games and face painting. Musical entertainment was provided by the ever-popular Holbeach Town Band."

Sat 14th June - Holbeach Food Festival

We were delighted to be invited to take part in Holbeach's first Food Festival.hosted by William Stukeley Primary School, in Spalding Road, Holbeach, and was jointly organised by school leaders and county and district councillor Nick Worth.

We had the choice to play for half an hour on a small stage, or play at the pedestrian entrance for as long was we liked! We chose the entrance nad had a lot of positive reaction from passers by who stopped to listen.

The Band comprised Holbeach Victoria Training Band, supported by members of the senior band. Although a number of key players were absent the band still played to a good standard and the younger players did exceptionally well.

Sun 22nd June - People's Parade

We were pleased to be asked to play at the first People's Parade in Spalding. We provided musical entertainment at the start of the parade at the Sir John Gleed School in Spalding.

Our Musical Director was on holiday so Bass Trombone player George Brown took the baton.

Sat 28th June - Armed Forces Day

A return visit to the Armed Forces Day celebrations organised by the Langtoft The Deepings and District branch of the Royal British Legion. We were due to play for half an hour in the arena and provide the music for their drum head service, including the music for each of the armed services and youth organisation to march into the arena.

The arena was a football field with no shelter from the rain! So we could not play our first set. Fortunately the rain eased off in time for the drum head service. We played The British Legion March for entry of the standards and British Legion members; then the Middy for the navy representative (only one!); then Colonel Bogey for the Army and Army Cadets; this was followed by 'I vow to thee my Country' for the entry of the drums and construction of the altar. We also played for the hymn St Ann - all 9 verses.

Sun 29th June - Whaplode Church Deanery celebrations

The Elloe East Deanery held a celebration service and invited us to play for an hour before the service. The weather was, again, a bit drizzly but they provided us with a wonderful marquee. as the weather deteriorated we were able to invite the audience inside the marquee with us. A very enjoyable concert.

Sat 12th July Holbeach St Marks

We were delighted to return to Holbeach St Marks Village Hall for a concert organised by the local branch of the Royal British Legion.

We played normal concert pieces in the first half, then, after a lovely buffet supper, we played war-time music in the second half. We provided a song sheets for the enthusiastic audience to sing along to 'Bless 'Em All', '1914 March', 'I Vow to Thee My Country' and 'Keep Smiling Through'.

Solos were played by our 11-year old flugel horn player, Hannah, who played 'Misty' and by our bass trombone player, George, who played 'One Foot in the Grave'.

1st Half	2nd Half
English Folk Song Suite (The March)	Colonel Bogey
2nd Waltz (Shostokovich)	Bless 'Em All
Misty (soloist Hannah Palmer)	May Each Day
Skyfall	Old Rugged Cross
The Saints	1914
One Foot in the Grave (soloist George Brown)	Jupiter's Theme (I Vow to Thee My Country)
One Moment in Time	Keep Smiling Through
Italian Love Song	encore: Highland Cathedral

Sat 26th July - Chosen Charity, Holbeach

We were delighted to be presented with a cheque for £1,000 from the Chosen Charity Shop in Holbeach towards our fundraising for a new bandroom. By way of thanks, members of the senior band were joined by members from the Training Band to play a short concert outside the shop on Saturday afternoon, 26th July.

During the concert we were presented with the cheque. And we had a guest conductor from the Chosen Charity.

Sun 28th September - Anglia Motel

A lovely afternoon at the Anglia Motel playing at the veterens weekend. It was a warm sunny afternoon and we played in shirt-sleeves. There were lots of craft stalls with military vehicles.

Sat 18th October - Autumn Concert

We had an excellent Autumn Concert at All Saints Church, Holbeach.

We started with a performance by the Holbeach Victoria Training Band who played three pieces 'Plodding Along', 'Flintstones theme' and 'Supercalifragilisticexpialdocious'. Many of the Training Band also play in the Senior Band,

The senior band played a mixture of nostalgic music and popular songs. We played two selections of wartime music, to reflect the war-time anniverareis, and provided the audience with song-sheets. We also included some new additions to our repertoire - 'Baggy Trousers', 'Grand March - Fame and Glory', ' I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' and 'Game of Thrones'.

We had two soloists - 11 year old Hannah played 'Misty' very beautifully on the flugel horn; Bass tombonist Chris Brown played a virtuoso performance of 'One Foot in the Grave'.

Programme:

Training Band pieces

English Folk Song Suite III
Bless 'Em All
Italian Love Song
Misty
Old Rugged Cross
Baggy Trousers

Fame and Glory
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Game of Thrones
One Foot in the Grave
Aces High
Keep Smiling Through
Delilah
Highland Cathedral

encore - Deep Harmony

Sun 9 November - Remembrance

Our regular visit to Holbeach St Marks for the Remembrance Service.

We start at the War Memorial on the roadside near the Church. The band plays incidental music before the laying of the wreaths. Then our principal cornet player, Adam Reece, played Last Post and Reveille.

We then go into church and playthe hymns for the service. At the end, there is another short service at the internal war memorial and Last Post and Reveille is played again, this time by solo cornet, Kevin King.