It is going to be a busy couple of contesting weekends for Northop Silver Band as they prepare for their appearances at the British Open Championship this coming Saturday, followed a week later by their trip to take part in the First Section National Final at Cheltenham.

And as they told 4BR, although it has been a daunting task preparing two major test-pieces in such a short space of time, it has also given the Welsh contenders a renewed sense of contesting drive.

Focus

"This has been a real focus for the band," spokesperson Carwyn Evans told 4BR. "Our victory at the Welsh Regional Championships back in March was a great boost, but we then realised just what it meant.

However, we take huge pride in representing Wales so there was no way we were missing out on what will be a rare contesting challenge, especially on two very different works by the same composer.

Jan van der Roost's 'The Lost Circle' is an immense piece, but so too is 'Excalibur'. We have been enjoying working on them both and are really looking forward to performing them on two very different contest stages."

Thanks

Carwyn also took time to thank not only the commitment of the players but of the conductors who will be leading them.

"We have asked a huge amount of the players who have been simply superb, and we can't thank Erik van de Kolk, who is taking us at Symphony Hall, and Mark Peacock who leads us in Cheltenham, enough.

A very special thank you also goes to Martin Heartfield who has visited the bandroom on numerous occasions to help with the detailed preparations on both pieces. We almost got him speaking in Welsh."

We have asked a huge amount of the players who have been simply superb, and we can't thank Erik van de Kolk, who is taking us at Symphony Hall, and Mark Peacock who leads us in Cheltenham, enoughNorthop Band

Following Ashton

It is believed that the last band perform the double-header challenge of British Open and Cheltenham National Final was Ashton under Lyne in 2005 who performed 'The Night to Sing' followed by 'Pageantry' over consecutive weekends.