Hebden Bridge Band is celebrating after its success at the Yorkshire Regional Championships in Bradford last weekend.

80 year gap

The band came 2nd in the First Section at St George's Hall and will now go forward to represent Yorkshire at the National Finals in Harrogate in September. The result means that the band will also be promoted back to the Championship Section from 2011 after a gap of about 80 years!

We had a wonderful weekend and the hard work and dedication of all our players paid off. A big well done must go to all our soloists who performed wonderfully on the daySteve Gardner

Best soloist

Under the band’s new Musical Director Roy Curran, the band produced a well rounded performance of Gustav Holst's 'A Moorside Suite' which found favour with the adjudicators, whilst their principal euphonium player, Ian Plant, won the 'Best Soloist' prize.

This was a wonderful achievement for Ian who last year injured his thumb a week before the competition and was only able to help out on percussion. He was even admitted to hospital just five days before this year’s competition too, but was in tip top health come contest day.

Paid off

Band Chairman Steve Gardner told 4BR: "We had a wonderful weekend and the hard work and dedication of all our players paid off. A big well done must go to all our soloists who performed wonderfully on the day."