Easingwold Contest - I'm not sure how but this night sums up brass banding perfectly. The band simultaneously came 10th out of 17, came last, came 2nd and won. In doing so they beat several bands from much further up the food chain, although the band can't dress themselves and can't march around a square, which is why the results don't make sense.

The band played a really solid performance of Ravenswood, none of the rushing and panic that undermined previous performances, and if it wasn't for the fact that most of the bands at the contest were from the upper echelons of the brass banding world, we would have made a bit more of a splash than about half-way up. I enjoyed it so much, I paused at the end instead of just conducting the last 3 beats. Cheeky!

It's a real credit to the band to perform a hard contest march like Ravenswood to such a standard, and it was all our own band too - there were some bands at the contest (mentioning no names, but the reference is in the title...) for whom it was spot the registered player.

I went out on a high - that, pear cider and the wonderful tikka massala in a tray from the Indians round the corner, even Lisa going with me to a contest, a treat, made it more special.

So, sigh, that's the end of that. My reasons for leaving are my own - I hope the band get the right person in the middle to take them further and higher. And I make no apologises if my successor finds the bar is already set high - Backworth ain't any ordinary 4th section band.

What am I going to do? Well I shall take a break over the next few weeks and take stock. Having loved it at Backworth it will take something pretty special to get my juices flowing once more. I doubt I'll go back to playing, I packed in last year and haven't missed a note of it. I enjoy conducting and believe I have lots to offer to the right band.