Well known conductor Duncan Beckley certainly showed that the true spirit of banding friendship and co-operation is alive and well after receiving an emergency SOS call from his friend Geoff Hawley.

Geoff had been admitted to hospital on the eve of the recent Leicestershire Open contest in Loughborough, where he was due to take Matlock Band in the Third Section.

Next morning

Thinking of the band before himself, he got a message to his friend late on Friday evening, who was at the time conducting Horbury Victoria in a concert, to see if he could take them at the contest — the next morning.

Without hesitation Duncan got in touch with the band and made the trip from his home in Wakefield just after dawn on Saturday to for a specially arranged 7.15am rehearsal on their own-choice test piece 'Rhapsody in Brass' — and to find that the band had been drawn number 1 to boot!

Excellent performance

Not deterred Matlock produced an excellent performance to come fourth, and as Duncan told 4BR, despite the daunting circumstances, it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable of contest experiences of his long career.

"The same thing happened to me earlier this year when I was in hospital and Phil Goodwin of Black Dyke stepped in to take Horbury off the number 1 draw at the Yorkshire Area contest. The message off Geoff was short and to the point — so I had no hesitation to help out."

The band was brilliant — and deserve immense credit for what they were able to achieveDuncan Beckley.

Brilliant band

He added: "The band was brilliant — and deserve immense credit for what they were able to achieve.

Luckily I knew the piece well, but even with a short rehearsal, to perform off the number 1 draw was one heck of a challenge for them. Oddly, it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable contest experiences of my life — and with the news of Geoff on the mend it turned out to be a great day."