Under the baton of Michael Fowles, Foden’s took their eleventh Whit Friday crown in twelve years on Friday evening in a manner that showed the 2012 'Double Champions' are in no mood to relinquish their hold on any of the contest silverware that is currently in their possession.

President Fowles

Performing their familiar Whit Friday choice of, 'The President', the Sandbach outfit performed at all eleven Tameside venues, gaining victories at Audenshaw, Broadoak Hotel, Carrbrook, Droylsden, Hurst Cross, Stalybridge, Stalybridge Celtic and Upper Mossley to give them a guaranteed £4,500 in prize money.

With runner- up spots at Denton,Heyrod, and at Tame Valley in Dukinfield, it meant that the band featured in the podium prizes at every contest they competed in.

Seven grand

With the overall Tameside first prize of £2,500 added to fine individual prize winning performances, Foden's banked £7,600 within the borough, with confirmation still to be received on any additional prize money from their appearance at Audenshaw.

Consistency

Foden's Mark Wilkinson was more than happy how the night had gone when speaking to 4BR, and cited the importance of consistency as the key to their success.

"We are very pleased to have retained the Tameside Whit Friday crown. The band has always worked extremely hard in our preparation for the contests — from getting the best routes to venues to spending over four hours rehearsing in the week prior to the event."

Mark also paid tribute to the band team ethic led by Mike Fowles.

"May has been a very busy month for us, but Whit Friday was very much a team effort led by Mike, who pushes us hard to maintain the playing standards we want to continue to achieve."

Rothwell runner-up

A resurgent Rothwell Temperance gained second place overall.

Led by David Roberts, they played 'The Wizard' in gaining a victory at Heyrod and three second places at The Broadoak Hotel, Hurst Cross and Upper Mossley.

A third at Stalybridge Celtic and a fourth at Stalybridge, gave them a guaranteed prize pot of £2,000, which was further boosted by £900 in Saddleworth with a runner-up finish at Delph and fourth place in Uppermill.

Dukinfield amendment

Following an enquiry over the weekend, Tame Valley in Dukinfield discovered that some errors had been made with the publication of their results.

Foden's finished runners up instead of Blackpool Brass with EYMS third in the Open Section with Mossley and Marple being declared Highest Placed bands in the 2nd and 3rd Sections respectively in place of Blackpool Brass and Darwen Brass.

Tame Valley's Brian Hill told 4BR he was "very apologetic to the bands for the oversight".

Local pride

There was joy for local favourite Ashton-under-Lyne, who finished third overall after they competed at ten of the venues under guest conductor, Ian Brownbill.

Traditionally, Ashton has performed 'The Wizard' around the circuit, but this year they had a change of heart as Secretary Gary Roylance told 4BR.

"Ashton is very fortunate on Whit Friday to be sponsored by a good friend of the band, Chris Hay of Total Rope Solutions.

His favourite march is 'Mephistopheles', and this year we obliged and played it for him – and it worked rather well! It was a fine team effort, led brilliantly by Ian Brownbill."

Significance

Ashton also guaranteed themselves the first prize in the Local Championships which had extra significance for runners up Mossley, third placed Stalybridge Old and Denton Brass in fourth.

The rules state that should a band finish in both the Open and Local Championships, then the Open contest takes precedence. This meant that Mossley picked up £750, with Stalybridge Old receiving £600 and Denton Brass, £400.

Barney

During the evening, Blue Peter's Barney Harwood was fulfilling the challenge of learning to play the trombone and play at a contest in just two weeks.

Due to the media interest, Northop Youth only performed at Carrbrook and Upper Mossley contests, with the presenter being cheered into the contest arenas to the chants of 'Barney, Barney, Barney'.

You will be able to see how he got on this Thursday evening, 30th May on CBBC at 6.00pm.

A retrospective of Whit Friday will appear later this week.

The band has always worked extremely hard in our preparation for the contests — from getting the best routes to venues to spending over four hours rehearsing in the week prior to the eventMark Wilkinson

Official Results:
Tameside Open Championship:

1. Foden's — £2,500
2. Rothwell Temperance — £1,000
3. Ashton-under-Lyne — £750
4. EYMS
5. Northop Silver
6. Pemberton Old DW

Local Championship:

1. Ashton-under-Lyne
2. Mossley — £750
3. Stalybridge Old — £600
4. Denton Brass — £400

Contest Venues

Audenshaw:
38 Bands
Adjudicator: Paul Holland

1. Foden's — £700
2. Pemberton Old DW — £350
3. Northop Silver — £250
4. Ashton-under-Lyne
5. Elland Silver
6. EYMS

Highest Placed 2nd Section:
1. Elland Silver — £150
2. Mossley — £100

Highest Placed 3rd Section:
1. Marple — £150
2. Darwen Brass — £100

Highest Placed 4th Section:
1. Bradley Brass — £150
2. Holywell — £100

Highest Placed Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne — £150

Highest Placed Junior:
1. Enderby Youth — £100
2. Macclesfield Youth — £75

Broadoak Hotel:
37 Bands
Adjudicator: Duncan Beckley

1. Foden's — £500
2. Rothwell Temperance — £250
3. Ashton-under-Lyne — £150
4. Mossley — £120

Highest 2nd Section:
1. Middleton — £80

Highest 3rd Section:
1. Stalybridge Old — £80

Highest 4th Section:
1. Bradley Brass — £70
2. Holywell — £40

Highest Local:
1. Tintwistle — £70
2. Marple — £50

Highest Placed Junior:
1. Wardle High — £50
2. Macclesfield Youth — £30

Deportment: Coleshill — £50
Junior Deportment: Wardle High — £30

First Band to Play: Boarshurst — £20

Carrbrook:
38 Bands
Adjudicator: John Davies

1. Foden's — £600
2. Pemberton Old
3. Ashton-under-Lyne
4. EYMS
5. Elland Silver
6. Rothwell Temperance

Highest 2nd Section:
1. Elland Silver

Highest 3rd Section:
1. Boarshurst

Highest 4th Section:
1. Greenfield

Highest Local: Ashton-under-Lyne

Highest Youth:
1. Enderby Youth
2. Northop Youth

Deportment: Cheshire Constabularly/Coleshill

Denton:
37 Bands
Adjudicator: Mike Lyons

1. EYMS — £250
2. Foden's — £150
3. Poulton-Le-Fylde — £100

Highest 1st Section:
1. Silk Brass — £100

Highest 2nd Section:
1. Elland Silver — £80

Highest 3rd Section:
1. Boarshurst Silver — £80
2. Blackpool Brass — £30

Highest 4th Section:
1. Whaley Bridge — £50
2. Denton Brass — £30

Highest Placed Junior:
1. Wardle High Youth — £60
2. Wirral Schools — £25

Cornet: EYMS — £40
Trombone Section: Foden's — £90
Junior Cornet: Wardle High Youth — £50

Best Local:
1. Marple — £80

Best 4th Section Basses: Banovallum Brass (Horncastle) — £30

Deportment: Coleshill Town — £15
Prize Draw: Boarshurst Silver — £25
First Band to Play: Vernon Building Society Poynton — £15

Droylsdon:
35 Bands
Adjudicator: Ryan Breen

1. Foden's — £500
2. Ashton-under-Lyne — £250
3. Northop Silver — £150
4. Vernon Building Society Poynton — £100

Highest 2nd Section:
1. Elland Silver — £175
2. Mossley — £100

Highest 3rd Section:
1. Stalybridge Old — £175
2. Blackpool Brass — £100

Highest 4th Section:
1. Stockport Silver — £175
2. Lismarkan — £100

Highest Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne — £100
2. Mossley — £50

Youth:
1. Enderby Youth — £175
2. Macclesfield Youth — £100

First to Play: Audenshaw School — £25

Deportment: Holywell — £25

Dukinfield:
40 Bands
Adjudicator: Dave Chapman

1. VBS Poynton — £400
2. Foden's — £200
3. EYMS — £100

Highest Placed 1st Section:
1. VBS Poynton

Highest Placed 2nd Section:
1. Mossley — £100

Highest Placed 3rd Section:
2. Marple — £50

Highest Placed 4th Section:
1. Valley Brass — £50

Highest Placed Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne — £200
2. Marple — £150
3. Stalybridge Old — £100

Youth:
1. Wirral Schools — £100
2. Enderby Youth — £50

Heyrod:
42 Bands
Adjudicator: Andrew McLaughlin

1. Rothwell Temperance — £600
2. Foden's — £250
3. Ashton-under-Lyne — £200

Highest Placed 1st Section:
1. Meltham & Meltham Mills — £100

Highest Placed 2nd Section:
1. Mossley — £100

Highest Placed 3rd Section:
1. Hawke Green (Marple) — £50

Highest Placed 4th Section:
1. Greenfield — £50

Highest Placed Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne — £100

Highest Placed Youth:
1. Wirral Schools — £100

First Band to Play: Meltham & Meltham Mills — £20
Best Cornet: Ashton-under-Lyne — £50

Deportment: Coleshill Town — £50
Junior Deportment: Macclesfield Youth — £25

Hurst Cross:
41 Bands
Adjudicator: Gareth Pritchard

1. Foden's — £300
2. Rothwell Temperance — £150
3. Ashton-under-Lyne — £100
4. EYMS
5. Pemberton Old DW
6. Vernon Building Society Poynton

Highest 1st Section:
1. Vernon Building Society Poynton — £100
2. Poulton-le-Fylde — £50

Highest 2nd Section:
1. Elland Silver — £100

Highest 3rd Section:
1. Blackpool Brass — £100

Highest 4th Section:
1. Greenfield — £100
2. Lismarka Mesnali — £50

Highest Placed Youth:
1. Macclesfield Youth — £50
2. Enderby Yout — £25

Highest Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne — £50

First Band to Play: Wotton Silver — £25
Last Band to play: Pemberton Old DW — £25

Deportment: Macclesfield Youth — £50

Stalybridge:
39 Bands
Adjudicator: Paul White

1. Foden's — £1,000
2. Northop Silver — £200
3. Pemberton Old DW — £100
4. Rothwell Temperance
5. Ashton-under-Lyne
6. EYMS

Highest Placed 2nd Section:
1. Mossley — £100

Highest Placed 3rd Section:
1. Marple — £100

Highest Placed 4th Section:
1. Valley Brass — £75

Highest Placed Youth:
1. Enderby Youth — £100

Highest Placed Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne — £200
2. Mossley — £100
3. Stalybridge Old — £75

Cornet:
Euphonium:

Stalybridge Celtic:
36 Bands
Adjudicator: C. Evans

1. Foden's — £400
2. EYMS
3. Rothwell Temperance
4. Ashton-under-Lyne
5. Stalybridge
6. Poulton- Flyde

Highest Placed Local:

1. Ashton-under-Lyne
2. Stalybridge Old

The other placings will be confirmed when we receive them

Upper Mossley:
36 Bands
Adjudicator: M. Tweedle

1. Foden's — £500
2. Rothwell Temperance
3. Northop Silver

Highest Placed 2nd Section

1. Mossley

Highest Placed 3rd Section:
1. Stalybridge Old

Highest Placed 4th Section

1. Valley Brass

Highest Placed Local:
1. Ashton-under-Lyne
2. Mossley

Highest Placed Youth:
1. Wardle High School

Cornet: Pangbourne