2007 – Autumn News Roundup

Swale Music Festival Concert
Sittingbourne – Friday 29th June 2007

This concert was a first for the band and represented a big step into the unknown – a new venue and a new area. The evening weather had improved from a poor start in the day leading to expectations of a reasonable turnout from the prospective audience. In the end, around 200 people turned up at Sittingbourne Community College to listen to the band on top form.

The opening piece – James Curnow’s Fanfare and Flourishes had the audience hooked. All six of the evenings soloists preformed well with an exceptional performance of My Old Kentucky Home from David Newsom on euphonium and our MD Ian Lanceley , was also on fire with a series of stories and jokes that had many of the audience chuckling and belly laughing throughout the evening.

All in all this was a very enjoyable concert that saw the band really playing to the top of their game!

Sponsored Walk
Sunday the 16th September

Cranbrook & BAE Bands got together for a sponsored “bike, canoe or walk” along the river Medway recently. The journey started early on Sunday morning at Tonbridge castle and was due to take us through local villages and towns until we reached Maidstone town centre, some 14 miles away.

On a bright sunny day, it was certainly a story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” as the bikers who were expected to finish first were beaten to the lunch stop, the Anchor Pub in Yalding, by a small group of intrepid walkers.

A road accident that occurred shortly before our arrival and had caused the police to close the road and footpath which meant that the walkers this had to turn back while the bikers took a small diversion and the canoeists continued unaffected. As the stop was just over half way, the walkers had a couple of extra miles to cover to get back to Tonbridge.

A total of 16.27 Miles for the walkers and over 30,000 steps were needed to cover the distance. Despite some blisters and mild chaffing, most walkers from Cranbrook finished the walk around 5:00pm. Funds raised from the event will go towards the tour fund for our next foreign excursion.


More picturs of the event can be found in the band’s Flickr service.

Thomas Peacock Concert Report
Rye – Sunday 29th September 2007

The end of a busy month for the band (3 concerts and a sponsored walk) came with a concert in aid of Age Concern at the Thomas Peacock Community College in Rye. The band played to a full house and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the variety of music that they were presented with. The cornet quartet Cornets a Go-Go was the first solo item and because principle cornet player Sharon was away on business, MD Ian Lanceley stepped in to play one of the cornet parts.

Birdland, Chorale and Rock Out and The Muppet’s theme were all featured as new (or nearly new) items in the programme and the band even got to hear some new jokes from Ian – some of the band were even seen to laugh!

The Folkestone Contest is looming large on the horizon now and the band is hoping for success with Goff Richards’ The Aeronauts – watch this space for more news.

(Editors note : Anyone who has heard one of Ian’s jokes may have experienced dizzyness, nausea and other more general feelings of ill health. The band regret all incidents caused by listening to such material and will shortly be launching an appeal for better jokes.)

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