One of Scotland's finest tenor horn players celebrated his 25th appearance at the National Finals on the weekend.

Iain Fleming first played at the Royal Albert Hall with Hammonds Sauce Works in 1979, and celebrated his silver jubilee this year with the Scottish champion, Whitburn.

Solo horn

Iain occupied the solo horn chair with Whitburn for 31 years, during which time he notched up eight Scottish Championship titles and countless solo awards.

Earlier this year he decided to move down a seat, with his son Michael taking over the role he has held with such distinction for over three decades.

Enjoyed

A victory at the Albert Hall remains elusive though, although he has certainly enjoyed his 25 attempts at winning the famous silver pot.

"It may seem strange but I can remember bits of them all,"he said. "In contesting terms performing on stage at the Royal Albert Hall is a very lonely place, made that much easier by playing great music amongst friends in a great band."

Solo winner

As a soloist, Iain has won the Scottish Solo Championship five times, the Scottish Slow Melody title twice and was twice a winner of the National Mineworkers tenor horn prize.

He has also won 'Best Horn' at the Scottish Championships on three occasions, and in 2006 was awarded 'Best Horn' at the British Solo Championships.

He has been one of the finest brass players in Britain for over three decades and everyone at Whitburn was delighted to celebrate this landmark with him at the Royal Albert HallBand President, David Kinross

Commemoration

To mark the event, Whitburn presented Iain with a commemorative quaich and a framed list of all the Nationals he has performed at (above).

Whitburn Band President, David Kinross, told 4BR: "The word 'legend' is one that certainly applies to Iain.

He has been one of the finest brass players in Britain for over three decades and everyone at Whitburn was delighted to celebrate this landmark with him at the Royal Albert Hall."