Band repeats national win — 30 years on!

Celebration — national champions Delph Band celebrate their 160th birthday with conductor of 30 years Philip Goodwin

DELPH brass band has stormed to victory at a national competition — lifting the trophy exactly 30 years after members first won it.

Bagging the first prize in the 3rd section at the National Brass Championships, the local group beat off 16 other bands to clinch the title.

Bass player Phil Shaw said: “It really doesn’t get much better than this — you can’t explain the feeling.

“It’s just sheer joy and amazement — you can’t beat it.”

They may have put in a winning performance, but band members had to celebrate their win from the comfort of their club house, after a three-hour delay in the competition forced them to leave Harrogate before the results were announced.

It’s been a year to remember for the local champions after a series of landmark wins have helped them celebrate their 160th year.

Conductor Philip Goodwin is also celebrating 30 years of commitment.

He said: “I came in exactly 30 years ago, to do one thing — lead them to victory at the championships. All these years later I’m still here.

“To become the only Saddleworth band to win it twice is a massive achievement — all the groups we were up against were regional champions. It doesn’t seem that long, but the decades of effort have been worth it.

“We are a family unit and have tried to keep the village band ethos of being open to everyone.

“The players should be proud.”

The title of the band’s first CD ‘Celebration’, released this year to coincide with their birthday, now seems all the more fitting.