Foden's Band principal cornet Mark Wilkinson stands in a field in Winsford, Cheshire, beside the National Championship Trophy, and `Victoria', a 1899 Foden traction engine.

Victory

It follows the band's victory at the Royal Albert Hall on the weekend, and the surge of worldwide interest it has created in its latest achievement.

The trophy was first presented in 1945, whilst 'Victoria', built in 1899, is the oldest surviving Foden vehicle in existence, and is owned by John Bownes in Winsford.

Foden's has now been crowned Champion Band of Great Britain on 15 occasions — twice in the last three years under MD, Russell Gray.

Media interest has come from national newspapers and regional magazines and congratulations from as far afield as New Zealand and the USA4BR

Media victory

Media interest has come from national newspapers and regional magazines and congratulations from as far afield as New Zealand and the USA.

However, although the band maintains a wonderful tradition of ensuring that local residents, many of them elderly and unable to get out to hear the band in concerts, are able to get to have their pictures taken with the trophy, with a small ensemble visiting local nursing and residential homes.

Picture: Copyright Lorne Campbell / Guzelian