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Barton Town Band Win North of England Title

On Saturday March 30th Barton Town Band made the journey up to Darlington to represent the North
Lincolnshire area in the North of England Brass Band Championships. After months of studious practice they
were rewarded with a 1st prize win, promotion to the 1st section and a place in the finals of the National Brass
Band Championships of Great Britain in September.

Last Sunday’s competition meant an early start for Barton as they had to be in Darlington by 8am to first
practice and then be at the venue for the contest start at 10am, an added complication being that the clocks
went forward so the 6am start was in reality a 5am start.

The band, having only been reformed in 2003, has had a very successful few years, first with the formation of a
youth band now standing at over 70 strong, then in 2005 the organization was awarded the prestigious British
Bandsman Band of the year for significant contributions to the brass band movement. This was followed in
March 2006 by their first entry into national brass band competition for 30 years and a win in the 4th section
competition held again at Darlington, this gained them promotion to the 3rd section, which they again won in
2007 gaining promotion to the 2nd section this being the section and competition they have been victorious in
this year.

The band again had a winning combination of Garry Oglesby who is Barton’s resident conductor and Richard
Evans Barton’s professional conductor. Richard is one of the leading brass band conductors in the world; he is
in great demand having already completed several over seas conducting jobs this year, with visits to Australia,
Canada and the US.

The Band is euphoric with this result as it is a significant step up in the bands progression to the higher
sections, accolades have already been received, “Nearly all the bands delivered creditable accounts of the
‘Prelude’ and the ‘Caprice’, but in all honesty just the one really captured the right elegance and Bach inspired
sensitivity of the middle ‘Romance’. For Peter Roberts (the adjudicator), the band that did just that was Barton
Town, conducted by Richard Evans.    Dick's Barton were the special agents in the Second Section as they
booked themselves a place at Harrogate once again”, (4 bars rest.com).

This result means promotion to the 1st section and qualification to the National Finals in Harrogate later in the
year where they will compete against all the Champion Bands of Great Britain. Over 130 bands will be
represented at this competition.

For further information about the band and their win access www.bartontownband.com

Suzanne Evison

Contest Sectetary