On Friday 29th May the band competed at the annual Whit Friday March contests in saddleworth.

It was a frustrating day with accidents on the motorway and near Grotton affecting the bands plans resulting in us competing at far fewer contests than we had planned.

The band also came upon the immediate aftermath ( in fact some saw it happen) of a tragic collision whereby man and his 8 year old son ( information from the BBC) were knocked over by another bands coach in Greenfield.

The man was trapped under the coach and members of the band went to his immediate aid. Michelle Beeston, our second cornet player and a staff nurse in Crewe helped maintain his airway whilst the serving Police Officers in the band tried to control the scene, summon assistance and keep the crowds away until officers from Greater Manchester Police could arrive at the scene.

Clearly the incident affected many of those who saw it including the band, most of whom work outside of the Police and emergency services and are not use to witnessing such events.

Tragically the man later died in hospital and the band would like to offer his family and friends our thoughts and condolences. At time of writing we are not aware of the condition of his son.

Given such a backdrop it almost seems innapropriate to celebrate the bands successes that day but inspite of the band being somewhat off kilter after a day of delays and incidents we still managed to achieve success.