The Flowers Band contesting juggernaut headed down the M6 motorway to its Gloucestershire home on Sunday morning carrying the latest heavyweight load of title winning silverware following their commanding Grand Shield victory in Blackpool.

Very clear winner

Under the direction of MD Paul Holland, they ended their six year exile from the British Open with a performance of ‘On Alderley Edge’ described by adjudicators David Read MBE and Derek Broadbent as ‘a very clear winner’.

It was the band’s third Grand Shield title since 1998, although on this form it is highly unlikely that they will contemplate a fourth any time soon, as they now set their sights on Symphony Hall, where the odds of them maintaining their remarkable run of victories in 2014 were shortened further by their latest impressive success.

That incredible run has seen them amass over £14,000 in prize money, as they pocketed a further £800 to add to the cash prizes won at Butlins, Yeovil and the West of England Regional Championship.

Meanwhile, their outstanding principal cornet player Andrew Smith overcame a nasty lip sore, which will see him undergo a minor operation next week to fix, to claim his second successive ‘Best Instrumentalist’ Award.

Hammonds return

Flowers will be joined in Birmingham by another band that ended their Open exile, as four time former champion Hammonds Saltaire, directed by Morgan Griffiths ensured their five year absence came to a close by claiming the priceless second qualification place.

The importance of that promotion was certainly seen on the face of band representative Ted Griffiths, who accepted the runner-up trophy with a smile of satisfaction every bit as wide as any that would have been seen if his band had won.

In contrast, it was a result that meant further frustration for Scotland’s European Championship representative Whitburn, who ended third.

They will now have to make a return trip to Blackpool for a fifth year, after their persuasive account under Ian Porthouse was pockmarked by just too many little unforced errors.

Too many errors

In a contest that both judge’s felt featured a number of good interpretations from MDs let down by far too many slips and mistakes, North of England Area champion Reg Vardy missed out on their opportunity to bounce straight back to Birmingham as they finished fourth.

Although they also failed to gain an Open return, Welsh European representatives Tongwynlais Temperance put recent troubles firmly behind them as they delivered a spirited performance under Jeremy Wise to end fifth.

Meanwhile, there was disappointment for one of the pre-contest favourites Rothwell Temperance, as costly early errors put pay to the Yorkshire band’s chances to eventually come sixth.

Meant to be

Although Flowers were the bookies pre-contest favourites to claim the famous Grand Shield trophy, MD Paul Holland revealed that he felt that his band also left the Opera House stage knowing they had made some uncharacteristic slips.

“I think we all came off knowing we had played well, but perhaps not at our very best today,” he said candidly.

“It’s that type of piece and that type of contest though. We have come so close here in the past, so perhaps it was meant to be.”

He added: “Once again the players have put in the hard work, made the commitment necessary and have produced the performance to get through to the British Open. It’s a great band to conduct, and we cannot wait for the chance to prove ourselves against the very best at Symphony Hall.”

Almost speechless

An almost speechless Band Manager Lee Downie added that despite the other contest successes enjoyed this year, the Grand Shield victory was perhaps the most important.

“I always want to win the Area contest first and foremost,” he said. “But the single most important target this year was to get back to the British Open. Once again Paul has done a magnificent job and we now feel we can really compete for the major prizes.”

No doubt for judges

The banding movement’s most experienced judges certainly left the audience in no doubt that Flowers had won the 94th Grand Shield title in commanding fashion.

“It was a difficult test piece today,” David Read MBE remarked, before adding on what was his last ever adjudication appearance; “On this occasion we felt a number of MDs had good ideas but were let down somewhat by the amount of slips that robbed the piece of atmosphere.

There was one quite outstanding performance today — a very clear winner. After them, the bands picked themselves out for us without too much of a problem.”

Edgy humour

Derek Broadbent agreed with a neat touch of descriptive humour: “What a fine test piece we had today. With the best band we felt we were right on Alderley Edge. However, with a few others we thought we had slipped off!

The piece comes with a very descriptive foreword scenario by the composer to help paint the picture. Not many bands did that today despite the good intentions from the conductors.

The winners were very, very good, but overall we were fractionally disappointed by the number of slips that we heard.”

That was certainly the impression left on many neutral listeners in the hall, as time and time again performances were undermined by a litany of unforced errors, sloppy mistakes and a lack of concentration: Even Flowers were not immune to blemishes, although their overall solo and ensemble quality shone through clearly by the contest’s end.

Well planned

Others were not able to overcome the errors though, with well planned accounts from Marsden, EYMS, Thoresby and Woodfalls eventually filling the top ten places, without perhaps suggesting they could have finished higher.

Newstead Brass, Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel and Jaguar Land Rover will join Co-operative Funeralcare Band North West (who withdrew before the contest) in the Senior Cup in 2015 after filling the relegation places.

Presentation

Before the Flowers players took the opportunity to celebrate on the Opera House stage with the latest trophy of a memorable season in their grasp, a presentation of a commemorative banner was made to David Read MBE in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the brass band movement, and which was met with a standing ovation in the hall.

It’s a great band to conduct, and we cannot wait for the chance to prove ourselves against the very best at Symphony HallMD, Paul Holland

Results:

Test Piece: On Alderley Edge (Prof. Peter Graham)
Adjudicators: Derek Broadbent & David Read MBE

1. Flowers (Paul Holland)*
2. Hammonds Saltaire (Morgan Griffiths)*
3. Whitburn (Ian Porthouse)
4. Reg Vardy (Stephen Roberts)
5. Tongwynlais Temperance (Jeremy Wise)
6. Rothwell Temperance (David Roberts)
7. Marsden Silver (Glyn Williams)
8. East Yorkshire Motor Services (Alan Morrison)
9. Thoresby Colliery (Brian Grant)
10. Woodfalls (Dr Nicholas Childs)
11. Northop Silver (Thomas Wyss)
12. Burry Port (Nigel Seaman
13. Aldbourne (David Johnson)
14. Pemberton Old Wigan DW (Stig Maersk)
15. Unite the Union (City of Sheffield) (David Hirst)
16. Redbridge (Alan Duguid)
17. Newstead Brass (Duncan Beckley)**
18. Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel (Mark Bentham)**
19. Jaguar Land Rover (Dave Lea)**

Withdrawn: Co-operative Funeralcare Band North West (Jef Sparkes)**

Best Instrumentalist: Andrew Smith (Cornet)- Flowers

*Promoted to British Open
**Relegated to Senior Cup