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The band has been extra busy in November and December, with Christmas concerts at Croston Methodist Church, Emmanuel Church Preston, Euxton Methodist Church, Hoole Village Hall and finally at our village parish chruch of St Mary’s, as well as playing carols at the White Lion in Wrightington (video here), the carol service at Bretherton Congregational Church, Carols on The Green in Eccleston, and the Light Up A Life evening at St Catherine’s Hospice, where we especially remembered two of our members who sadly passed away this year, Roy Muldoon and Richard Knock.

A big thankyou goes to all those players who’ve helped us out this year, in a busy period like Christmas every band is helping each other out, so thanks to Lou, Robert, Tina, Martin, Ken, Andy, Mark, Emily, Paul, Ben, Jennifer and Keith for helping us!

Here’s some photo highlights from Christmas 2025!

On Sunday 23rd February the band will once again be off to Blackpool for the North West Area Brass Band Championships. The top three bands in our section will get an invitation to compete in the National Finals at Cheltenham in September. Last year we came second and went to the Finals – here’s hoping to go one better this year!

Due to player relocation we have vacancies for a bass (Eb or Bb) and also for a bass trombone – if interested please contact our conductor John Wood on 07805917002.

On Saturday 14th September Eccleston Band played in the National Finals for the 6th time in their history. Although our performance did not get us a place on the podium, we had a great weekend away with many laughs and can say once again: “We were there!”

Massive thanks go to everyone on the band’s committee for their work in organising all the logistics for the weekend, to Holmeswood Coaches and their fantastic driver Vic for transport across the weekend, to our MD John Wood for all his hard work in preparing the piece over the last few weeks, and a special thanks to all our sponsors without whom the entire weekend would not have been possible!   https://ecclestonbrass.co.uk/a-big

There are now less than 2 weeks to go until the National Finals on the 14th of September!

The band is practicing hard & raring to go!

The coach & hotel are booked,and thanks to you we’ve managed to raise all the money needed for the trip.
Our grateful thanks go to all our generous supporters;
Anwyl Homes  – https://blog.anwylhomes.co.uk/blog/donation-to-eccleston-brass-band-hits-the-right-note
Mr & Mrs R Muldoon
J & A Rigbye & Sons
Mrs D Bannister

Much Hoole Village Hall
Mr & Mrs R Knock
Eccleston Parish Council
Mr & Mrs R Turley
Councillor Alan Whittaker, Lancs County Council local member grant.
Charity Concert organised & hosted by Mr & Mrs Muldoon
Everyone wwho donated via our Just Giving page.
All who donated at Eccleston Methodist Church concert earlier in the year.
So the countdown is on! Wish us luck as we try to bring the prize home & do Eccleston proud!

On Friday 24th May the band took part in “The Greatest Free Show On Earth” – the Whit Friday march competitions in Saddleworth and Tameside, winning the Friezland contest and also the 3rd Section title at Mossley.

On 25th February, the band travelled to the North West Regional Championships in Blackpool, to fight for a place in the National finals. Out of 18 very talented bands, we were thrilled to come second! This means that for a sixth time, the band will have the opportunity to put Eccleston on the map and become the country’s best 3rd Section brass band.

Our first qualification for the National Finals was in 1990, which saw us performing at the Royal Albert Hall (the original venue as seen in the film Brassed Off) under Conductor Harry Bentham. We received third place, which was our highest ever accolade. This was followed up with another qualification to the finals the following year, receiving 4th place.

We went on to qualify twice in the 2000’s, achieving a top ten place each time under Conductor Ian Bateson, and our last National Finals was in 2019 under current Conductor John Wood.

So for our sixth time, with the smell of victory from the Regional Championships lingering in the air, we are practicing away twice a week on the edge of the park, focussed on perfection, and bringing home the trophy for Eccleston!

The band head to the National Finals at the new venue of Cheltenham Racecourse on 14 September 2024.

We had a wonderful, albeit cold, night on Eccleston Green once again! Plenty of people turned up, spreading Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear. A huge thanks to the organisers for keeping everyone safe and creating a great night of celebration for the community.