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The
Birmingham Irish Pipes and Drums Band cheered on by fans who
turned out to join the celebrations on this very cold day |
The
Birmingham Irish Pipes and Drums had another very long but enjoyable
parade week, starting off at the Paragon Hotel at 7pm on the Friday,
and then over to St Paul’s School for their Irish night, (where
it was packed to the rafters). On Saturday it was Sandwell at 10am,
Erdington at midday and the Reel Around the Fountain in Victoria
Square at 2pm.
Then the main event was of course on the Sunday when the band were
asked to meet at 11am to get ready for the off at noon. It was bitterly
cold on parade day and it didn’t make tuning up easy, mainly
because everybody kept disappearing to try and find somewhere warm.
The experienced members were the ones that had hand warmers in their
sporrans for occasional use. The very experienced had hip flasks full
of Jamesons or Poteen to keep their innards warm. (Thanks for the little
swigs lads, much appreciated!).
The parade seemed to go very quickly with a quick pelting of snow as
we rounded St Martin’s and the Bullring. The noise as you march
down the main road with the parade on the other side, all the floats,
bands and marching groups is incredible and one of the best moments
that we enjoy as a band. Seeing many familiar faces in the throng of
thousands and giving a quick nod of acquaintance is important because
there is a fair chance that you might not see that face again until
next year’s parade.
After finishing the parade and the mass band we found that the Lord
Major had voted us as best band on the parade. This was a huge achievement
and very pleasing to us all as we had worked hard on new sets for the
parade adding a bit of bounce to our repertoire.
A huge thank you goes to the other pipe bands that were there and played
in the Mass Band. There were the Northfield Caledonian, Killeshin,
(from Co. Carlow), Wolverhampton Pipe Band, West Midlands Police and
the West Midlands Fire Service. I have never seen a prouder St Patrick
as the one leading the mass band.
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A
picturesque photo opportunity. The band pictured here with
supporters at Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow, where the band played
a roll in the town’s popular St. Patrick’s Day
Parade |
Wednesday saw 48 of us boarding a coach to go to Co. Wicklow and there
were about another 20 meeting us there. We were booked with Asset travel
and the driver Mel with his assistant Barbara joined in from the very
beginning and began having the craic.
We travelled over on the Swift from StenaLine who had given us a great
sponsorship deal for the journey and no sooner had we settled down
when the small pipes and bodhrans came out. Pat Cox entertained us
from her vast arsenal of tunes and Maurice and Mark Tomlinson merrily
hammered out a beat. We even had another passenger join in using the
spoons.
By 6pm we were all settled in at The Woodenbridge Hotel and had a
nice relaxed evening before taking part in the St Patrick’s
Day Parade in Wicklow Town. The hotel was fantastic, it is purported
to be the oldest hotel in Ireland and its welcome was great. Excellent
food, good beer/tea (for those pioneers amongst us) and warm friendly
staff, and the rooms were warm and comfortable.
It was a wet and blustery day that met us on St Patrick’s’ morning
but all turned up for the tuning up session and it was off to Wicklow
at 10am. We had been asked to play to the celebratory mass at Wicklow
Cathedral and as we formed up outside the historic Wicklow Gaol I
wondered if other things had been arranged for us!
The mass was incredible, due in parts to the wonderful choir they have.
The singing raised the hairs on the back of the neck, they were quite
literally brilliant. After a lunch at The Grand hotel provided very
kindly by Wicklow Council we were gathered up by Pipe Major Jim Clarke,
(still of the Birmingham Irish Pipes and Drums), and with his Wicklow
Pipe Band marched to the start point of the parade.
It was rammed with people of all ages in all sorts of costumes and
uniforms and floats varying from quad bikes to Viking ships. It looked
like the whole county had decided to turn up despite the weather.
We joined the parade about three-quarters of its way through and
as we entered the main street the view of so many thousands of people
and the reception we received as we played tunes such as The Garry
Owen, St Patrick’s’ Day, Sweeney’s, Dublin Jig
etc was fantastic.
At the end of the parade we joined the Wicklow band and played to
the judging stand where The Birmingham Irish Pipes and Drums were
awarded the ‘Best Cultural’ award. A long night followed
with plenty of music and the craic. But even though it might have
been a long night it was still up early for the Jim Clarke and Evelyn
guided tour of Wicklow.
I knew Wicklow was called the garden of Ireland, now I know why. Up
in the Wicklow Mountains the scenery is incredible. They were covered
in snow and some of the views into the valleys were great. Lunch at
the Hollywood Inn was superb, (apparently Hollywood in L.A is named
after this village when an emigrant who lived there left to live in
California).
Our final night was as usual one of relaxation, good food, good music,
good beverages and the usual end of tour fancy dress. I will let the
pictures say a thousand words but on behalf of the band would like
to thank everybody involved in the trip, from the organisers Maurice
and Jim to all the band supporters who came along to finally the band.
We have worked hard over the last four months getting the tunes and
I am very proud to be their Pipe Major, they all did an incredible
job.
We are looking for new members and would love to see you at our practices
which are on Tuesday evenings at SS Mary & John School in Erdington.
You can call Bill on (0121) 686 3832 or Maurice on (0121) 783 0323
and please visit our new website at www.birminghamirishpipesanddrums.co.uk
all the pictures from the last few weeks are already online and you
can visit our guestbook or send us an email. From all of us in the
band thanks for the great time over the parades and for your usual
great support and we would like to wish Iris Traigis a speedy recovery
from her recent operation.
By the way … Happy Birthday to MARK TOMLINSON … the
bands extremely talented Bodhran Player. |
