In the words of the famous Bob Dylan hit, the times they are a changing, and this is most certainly the case for the Flowers Band it seems.

New MD

In the last few months the Flowers has seen the departure of it's MD Philip Harper, a change of name and a move to a new band room. All that, plus some action in the personnel department too.

With the departure of Philip Harper, the band moved quickly to secure the services of former Brighouse MD David Hirst who has since been offered the roll of MD with immediate effect.

David has been a breath of fresh air since his arrival and has revitalised the confidence in the players which was shown at this year's British OpenFlowes Band

Breath of fresh air

Lee Downie from Flowers, told 4BR: "David has been a breath of fresh air since his arrival and has revitalised the confidence in the players which was shown at this year's British Open. We welcome him to Flowers and hope he has a highly enjoyable time with the band. Our thanks must also go to Philip Harper who over the last seven year's has helped make the band what it is today."

Lee added: "With the band's name reverting back to Flowers will come a new look website which will be up and running very soon. There will be a exciting new look and feel to it which seems to match the mood of the band of late."

New signings

Meanwhile, new signings include former Parc & Dare soprano cornet Paul Eddy, who recently joined the band taking on the roll from Spencer O'Leary, who has left due to increasing demands in his own business projects.

The band are also sad to see the departure of it's long standing second cornet player Derek Cotterill who has decided to leave due to increasing work demands and trombone Gareth Robinson, who has crossed the Severn Bridge to join Welsh rivals Tredegar.

Youth developement

The band's youth band, contunes to go from strength to strength and will from now on be known as the 'Flowers Youth Band'.

MD Tom Davoren told 4BR: "The youngsters are very proud to be taking on the Flowers' mantle and are looking forward to their forthcoming engagements under their new name."