Stockport Silver Band may not have qualified for the Fourth Section National Finals at the recent North West Regional Championships in Blackpool, but they still had plenty of reasons to celebrate.

2017 will see many of their current players reach milestone birthdays — with the band parts for 'Happy Birthday' already kept on the stands for forthcoming 18th, 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th celebrations.

Opportunity

"I think we're going to need to take an order out at the local bakery,"Band Chairperson Clare Byrom told 4BR.

"Many of the band reach significant birthdays this year, but with them covering every decade from 'teenage' to shall we say, 'well-established' , we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate!

We just think it shows its a fantastic representation of how brass banding should be. It's something to be enjoyed by all ages!"

150th

To save on the expense — and perhaps stop band rehearsals becoming cake eating contests instead, the band will be hosting a special joint birthday party for members in May, before turning their attention to plans for their sesquicentennial birthday in 2020 when it turns 150 years of age itself.

Those plans are already underway, with a reunion concert, CD recording and potential trip to Europe in the pipeline.

We might not be in the prizes just yet, but the fact that we're still around and were able to return to contesting is a resounding result in our book!Chairperson Clare Byrom

Amazing result

Clare added: ""It's been amazing to watch the band grow in both size and stature in recent years.

We were down to as few as five players at one point, but we have bounced back. The Area result didn't matter as we were proud to be able to take part once again.

We might not be in the prizes just yet, but the fact that we're still around and were able to return to contesting is a resounding result in our book!"