There was also close run battle between the first and last contenders in the Third Section on Saturday morning, where Dan Price's 'Darkwood' brought out the best in thirteen well match rivals.

The historical triptych portrait was eventually brought to book by West Yorkshire Police, who set the high-quality pace off the number 1 draw under MD Kevin Wadsworth that could not be beaten. Joining them in Cheltenham will be BD1, who came closest in the opinion of the judges to foiling the musical constabulary with a rousing performance under Lee Skipsey.

Firsts

Victory was a first at the Area contest for the Police band, as they returned to the National Finals for the first time since 2005, whilst surprisingly for their vastly experienced MD, it was also his inaugural taste of Yorkshire success as a conductor.

"After 59 years of contesting it's always nice to experience something new!"a delighted Kevin Wadsworth told 4BR as he joined his players in their celebrations. "I've really been enjoying myself with the band and the performance today has been down to their hard work."

Meanwhile, he also revealed the rather ingenious way in which he managed to get them to play together in the tricky opening to the test-piece.

"We had been having problems all week,"he said. "So before we went on stage I decided on the old fashioned choral approach — and got them to sing it. The first few times it was just as bad, but all of a sudden it clicked and they never looked back.

That perhaps showed they aren't quite used to the contesting environment like others, but thankfully they got the hang of it today!"

Important call

For Band Manager Craig Dixon, the victory also meant one very important telephone call had to be made — to the Chief Constable no less.

"Even though we only have one serving officer in the ranks due to work pressures, we are made up of civilian personnel and many retired officers, and the support we have from the force is superb — including the Chief Constable who is a keen supporter of the band.

Kevin has also been just the right person to drive us forward. We are proud to represent the West Yorkshire Police Force and will be bringing along the Area trophy to our next community job in Bradford."

Rousing anthem

West Yorkshire Police certainly ensured that the audience was woken from any early morning slumber as a rousing 'National Anthem' was followed by a performance that captured the dark mischievousness of the opening, the hymnal qualities of the middle section and the joyful optimism of the finale to a tee — aided by the likes of principal cornet John Hudson and Ray Payne on timpani.

That uplifting spirit was also on show with BD1 Brass, led by Lee Skipsey, who once again produced a vibrant account of themselves (led by their own cracking young stars on principal cornet and flugel horn in particular) to book a second Finals place in the last three years and provide the incentive that senior counterparts City of Bradford followed just an hour or so later when qualifying for the Albert Hall.

Rolling back the years

Just missing out in a contest of engaging musicality was a very solid Wetherby Silver as the penultimate contender, whilst the other top-six places went to well-managed accounts from Barnsley Brass, Lofthouse 2000 (with euphonium player Bob Blackburn rolling back the years to claim the 'Best Soloist' award) and Rockingham.

The judges were certainly impressed overall, with Jim Davies complimenting the way bands played to the acoustic of the hall and the amount of contrasting style shown in each movement — although he did make the point about the need to work on intonation.

"It was a very good competition,"he said. "My remarks are to the point, but that's because I was enjoying the playing on show. Everyone must work on their intonation though. It's not the conductor who can sort that out all the time."

Belter

Meanwhile, Glyn Williams was equally direct. "The piece is an absolute belter and very clear for judges to follow. The top two or three had the style spot on — especially in the cornet led 6/8 melody at letter L (at which point he graciously declined to meet the requests from the audience to sing it!)."

He added: "The top three also had very good soloists — although so did bands all the way down the results, and a number just lost their way by not settling on a comfortable tempo in that last movement."

Youth and experience

No complaints then from those that didn't feature in the prizes, although each performed with considerable merit — from the wonderful multi-tasking single percussionist with Dronfield to the five trombonists with Lofthouse 2000.

It was also good to hear the special mention of Hayden Griffiths MBE who directed Armthorpe Elmfield just a few months short of his 90th birthday alongside the presentation made to 10 year old Robert Thorpe who claimed the 'Youngest Player' award, whilst a possible sign of future times came with the sight Rob Straw of Dronfield Genquip conducting with the aid of an IPad score.

before we went on stage I decided on the old fashioned choral approach — and got them to sing it. The first few times it was just as bad, but all of a sudden it clicked and they never looked backWest Yorkshire Police MD, Kevin Wadsworth

Results:

Third Section:

Test Piece: 'Darkwood' (Dan Price)

Adjudicators: Jim Davies and Glyn Williams
1. West Yorkshire Police (Kevin Wadsworth)*
2. BD1 Brass (Lee Skipsey)*
3. Wetherby Silver (Derek Warley)
4. Barnsley Brass (William Rushworth)
5. Lofthouse 2000 (Andrew Whittaker)
6. Rockingham (Adam Whittle)
7. Dodworth Colliery M.W. (Eliot J Darwin)
8. Maltby Miners (Terry Clifford)
9. Dinnington (Lindon Bolt)
10. Oughtibridge (Gavin Somerset)
11. Dronfield Genquip (Robert Straw)
12. Barnsley Metropolitan (Alex Francis)
13. Armthorpe Elmfield (Haydn Griffiths MBE)

*Top two bands qualify bands for National Final in Cheltenham

Best Soloist: Bob Blackburn (euphonium) — Lofthouse 2000
Youngest Player:Robert Thorpe (aged 10 ) — Rockingham