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The Tour - Thursday 24th May |
The East Yorkshire Motor Services Brass Band started off it's first European Tour of the twenty-first century, at its Popple Street Headquarters, Hull, just after 5pm. The first breaking news of the day was that this was no longer going to be a European Tour, as the ferry was now sailing direct to the Netherlands, and not as the Beer connoisseurs had hoped, to Belgium first. This proved to be a short lived down-spot, as many of the Belgian Trappist Beers were actually available in the Netherlands! However, back to Popple Street. The coach was loaded, and it was time to move off to the dock, and say goodbye to those members of the band that were joining the tour late. Due to work committments, Alison Grantham, Kathy Newiss, Erin McVittie, and John & Julia Mathews, were flying out on Saturday and so missed the ferry trip. For the record, the Band line up for this tour was:-
| Musical Director | Jim Davies |
| Principal Cornet | Steve Rudhall |
| Solo Cornet | Tony Newiss |
| Solo Cornet | Stewart Kennedy |
| Solo Cornet | Vicki Kennedy |
| Soprano Cornet | Geoff Hawley* |
| Repiano Cornet | Kirsty Fox |
| 2nd Cornet | Julia Mathews |
| 2nd Cornet | Thomas Kennedy* |
| 3rd Cornet | Simon Blow |
| Flugel Horn | Kathy Newiss |
| Solo Horn | Alison Grantham |
| 1st Horn | Alice Rudhall |
| 2nd Horn | Peter Wilson |
| 1st Baritone | John Mathews |
| 2nd Baritone | Erin McVittie |
| Solo Euphonium | Neil Johnson |
| 2nd Euphonium | Andrew Kennedy* |
| Solo Trombone | Mark Unsworth |
| 2nd Trombone | Jez Kearney |
| Bass Trombone | Paul Walker* |
| Solo EEb Bass | David Fox |
| EEb Bass | Gareth Hughes |
| BBb Bass | Tim Atkinson |
| BBb Bass | Peter Arden |
| Percussion | Shaun Davey |
| Percussion | James Hendry |
* = borrowed players for the tour.
Borrowed Bass Trombonist for the tour Paul Walker proving that he is not shy in front of the camera.
Yes Paul, we get the picture (no pun intended...........honest).
Joshua, Emily, and Liam proving that banana does make a mess of clean shirts.
If you can't fight wear a big hat! (It also covers grey hair pretty well!).
Obviously there should have been some consultation over whose turn it was to wear the blue shirt.
After clearing customs, boarding, booking in, and sorting out who was having the top bunk, it was time to enjoy the facilities on board the P & O flagship ferry The Pride of Rotterdam.
Paul and Neil enjoy their empty glasses. It was one of Paul's more significant birthdays during this crossing. Fortunately the cameras missed all of the dressing up.
Obviously Steve had problems making himself understood at the bar. That's always the difficulty when a New Zealander tries to talk to a Malaysian seaman in Dutch with a Hull accent. Next time, instead of asking for a supergrande bier, just ask for a paant.
(For those of you reading outside the city boundaries a paant = a pint).
Meanwhile, above decks we could have been sailing across the Mediterranean Sea rather than the North Sea.
Does the camera lie? Possibly, the Band in a bar and not a beer to be seen!
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On a particularly rough crossing we were fortunate to have the steady hand of Captain Mainwaring on the wheel. Fortunately, he could see no ships.
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Once things calmed down a little Captain M, handed control of the ship to Roger, the cabin buoy.
Having seen Roger's attempts at steering the ship, it looks like Mark thought it was time to start rowing across.
Men In Black - The sequel.
Asleep no - just concentrating hard on Thomas's attempts to flip more than one beer mat.
Given the state of the captain and his apprentice, it was wise just to have a little nightcap, and though whilst strictly speaking this was now Friday, it was before bedtime so still counts as Thursday.
And leaving the ship in capable hands we retired for the night. And a word of advice for future overnight sailors, if you are on the top bunk, use the ladder. Isn't that right Shaun?!
© 2007 RMU/EYMS Brass Band