Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Bring on the Marching Bands!

My friend Holloway Jane came over on Friday (and no, before you ask, she just lives in Holloway, she's not an inmate on day release) Actually, she doesn't call herself Holloway Jane, it's just a way to differentiate between her and my other friend Jane, who doesn't live in Holloway. Anyway, we had a lovely day - we had a walk along the river to Ware - with Jane making the inevitable "Where? Ware?" comment that all visitors to the area seem obliged to make (Oh, how we laughed!) Anyway, we had a very nice lunch in The Vine, which I seem to remember used to be a grotty pub but is now a very nice Gastro pub/restaurant, where I had possibly the best Chicken Caesar salad I've ever had (and I am a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to a Chicken Caesar). Then we went in ALL the charity shops and picked up some bargains, including this little bunny that Jane couldn't leave behind. And of course, by the time we finally got to the other end of the High Street, we had to stop for coffee and cake.Then on Saturday I worked at Art Van Go so that Viv could go off to a wedding - Jenny, one of the girls at the shop got married to Simon at Ashwell (where Simon is the vicar) - hopefully, more of that later on AVG's blog - if Viv sends me the photos!
On Sunday, it being Father's Day, my sister and brother in law came down with my Mum and Dad, and we all went to the Haileybury College Military Tattoo, which was in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund. First were the Royal British Legion Youth Band, Brentwood who were excellent - the youngest was only eight years old. Seems to me it's a real achievement to play an instrument, never mind reading music whilst marching up and down at the same time, AND in front of an audience. The sky looked a bit ominous, but it passed over and it was a lovely sunny afternoon and evening.Next was the Harpenden Pipe Band. I don't know if you can see it, but if you zoom in, the guy at the back, with the drum, obviously missed his cue, or was caught short, or maybe forgot his drum, because the rest of them had marched out and he came running along behind a few minutes later. You can see the two soldiers by the door to the right having a good laugh!

Then it was the turn of the Band of the Blues and Royals who looked immaculate, and played a really varied selection of tunes. Then all the bands came on together, joined by the standard bearers.
It was a great afternoon, enjoyed by about 600, and given that it was such a lovely day I'm surprised there weren't even more.
Not my usual kind of music, I know, but I'll be addressing that shortly!

1 comment:

  1. We used to frequently drive through Ware when we were children to the same chorus of "Where" every single time... it brought it all back!

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