The Band of HM Royal Marines Collingwood

Director of Music: Major J Burcham BMus(Hons) MMus(Perf) AMusTCL Royal Marines
Bandmaster: WO2 A Williams BMus(Hons) LRSM AMusTCL RM
Drum Major: CSgt Bug G Moxworthy RM

It’s been such a busy term for the Band of HM Royal Marines Collingwood (huzzah!) that it’s a wonder that I have found time even to write these notes. In fact right now I’m typing with one hand whilst polishing my horn with the other, as I have a Parade Band gig in twelve minutes; better type fast. Almost immediately after I finished writing the last Blue Band article, it was time for the Holland Bowl, which for a handful of hardy souls in each of the Bands means taking to the rugby pitch (and for everyone else, myself included, taking to the bar overlooking said pitch) as the Bands battle it out for arguably the biggest prize in Band Service rugby. Unfortunately we didn’t win it, but we acquitted ourselves commendably, although that may not come as a great deal of comfort to Musicians Sam Taylor and Gaz Johnsen, who both picked up nasty injuries in the pursuit of glory; Sam breaking his collar bone and Gaz doing something silly to his knee, which he gamely attempted to sleep off in his car, alas to no avail.

The Collingwood Band Fanfare Team remain in high demand and, as the Band enters its second year of existence, the repeat business is starting to come in, with the organisers at Crufts dog show practically begging us (sort of) to return for this year’s event. Resplendent in our ceremonial uniforms, with trumpets polished and banners unfurled (not that they were ‘furled’ to begin with, but it sounds better than just saying we got them out of a box) the Birmingham NEC echoed to a cacophonous mix of barking and trumpeting. Another venue where we’re particularly popular is the on-base theatre, the Millennium Hall, where we always try to give the audience something a little different for their money. This time, having completely run out of ideas ourselves, we asked the audience to tell us what to play in a special ‘by request’ concert. Sadly the locals completely abused this generosity, with a certain Mr Colin Flew asking for Clarinet Candy, which gave the whole clarinet section (including Musician Kirtsy Flew, funny that) the opportunity to dazzle the front row with their finger-waggling skills. Other pieces requested and performed were Persis and the rousing El Camino Royale, which was subtitled ‘A Latin Fantasy’; make of that what you will. Inevitably it was requested that we finished with Riverdance, complete with the ‘Fareham Flatley’ routine from our ‘Round the World’ concert last year, this time performed by Musns Rob Sarahs and Chris ‘Uncle Tubbs’ Dickinson.

When Chris had put his shirt back on, it was once again that time of year when we all pile into the Royal Albert Hall (semi-interesting fact – it was built with bricks produced in Fareham – knowledge is power) for the Mountbatten Festival of Music, with members of Collingwood Band being used in the Stage Band, the Corps of Drums, the Fanfare Team and as soloists, including Bugler John Sumner who sang Michael Bublé’s Cry Me A River, with fellow Collingradians Natalie Yates and Poppy Pawsey among the backing vocalists. After MFM we disappeared on Easter Leave – part one. You see, due to a slight administrative error, Prince William and Kate Middleton had picked a wedding day that fell slap bang in the middle of our two weeks' leave and so we were forced to return after one week to show the Army and RAF Bands how it was done. After a 4am start to travel to London, we marched out of Wellington Barracks to our allocated position in front of Big Ben, which gave us a decent view of the wedding procession, but not much else. The four hour stand that followed was rather tough on the joints, but it was fantastic to be a part of such a historic event and if nothing else, the sight of the Household Cavalry riding past followed by one riderless horse cheered us all up. On our march back to Wellington, we approached a crossroads to see an Army Band coming the other way. A game of ‘band chicken’ subsequently ensued, with the two groups continuing on their course with neither side wanting to give way. Needless to say, however, they eventually bowed to our musical might and halted, ceased playing and glared as we marched proudly past. We are Collingwood – out of our way! Refreshed from Easter Leave part two, we were joined in Collingwood by Scotland Band, with whom we were performing at the Royal Windsor Tattoo. As the main Band we opened and closed the event with the Bagad of Lann Bihoué (A French Naval pipe band) who became firm favourites with their unique sound, which really has to be heard to be believed! It was great to catch up with our friends from over the wall, with the obligatory curry and beer social kick-starting a memorable night. Having tearfully waved off Scotland Band’s coach, we decided the best way to cheer ourselves up would be with a sea safety course, which basically consists of putting on a big orange suit and then jumping into a lake. We also did a day’s fire fighting training at HMS Excellent, which for yours truly meant a day trying to stay out of the way of the Bandmaster, W02 Ivan Hutchinson, who seemed intent on spraying me with his hose at every opportunity.

Collingwood Band rehearse at HMS Collingwood

Well into marching season now, we performed for the Countess of Wessex at the Royal Bath Show and briefly featured at the HMS Collingwood open day before performing at a similar event at HMS Sultan. We also performed at the new Royal Marines Reserve base at RMR London, and played at the King’s Squad passing out parade as well as providing a Function Band for the social that followed. Most recently the Band performed a beat retreat at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil. This was followed by a dinner which was part of a fundraising event for the upkeep of some of the museum’s pieces. Due to some ‘distinguished’ guests present at the event, there were some slightly unorthodox additions to the programme of music, including Wet Wet Wet’s Love Is All Around and Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, featuring Corporal Richard Sharp on guitar.

Collingwood Band perform at the Sultan Show

Sport - Equestrian/Dressage

Cpl Sara James has been representing RM Band Collingwood in Equestrian Sports Dressage on a regular basis this year. The training she has put in with her own horse ‘Euro Topic’ through the winter has prepared them both for the summer season’s competitions. The training is very slow and measured, and it is often best to train to the level above that at which you are competing. Sara is competing at Preliminary level but training at Novice level. She has competed at four events and brought ribbons back each time, and Sara considers this to be just rewards following all the training they have both carried out.

The first event was at Castle Farm, Nr Winchester, where Sara and Euro were placed fourth and fifth. The second event was at Sparsholt College, Winchester, where Sara and Euro improved on their previous performance and were placed first and fifth and also qualified for the championship dressage. Their performance improved even further when they were placed first and second Crofton Manor, Stubbington; an excellent win in a very strong field! The Championship dressage at Sparsholt, which they qualified for due to good results earlier in the year, brought highly pleasing results too, with a third and a fourth despite competing against some very good teams.

Sara and Euro have enjoyed a good deal of success in a sport which does not often receive coverage in magazines such as this. Sara is now hoping that she can transfer that success into show jumping events in the future too. We wish her the best of luck for the rest of the summer season, and hopefully next time we hear from her she will be building up a collection of ribbons following success in show jumping too.

Band Corporal Sara James

Comings and goings

After being a key figure in the founding the People’s Republic of Collingwood two years ago, Major Jason Burcham has bid us a fond farewell. Having done his last ‘Zorro’ impression in front of this Band he has left us for the School of Music. In his time in charge of the Band, he has provided many memorable moments and his humour and enthusiasm will be missed by everyone. Replacing him is Major Andy Thornhill, who moves in the other direction from RMSoM. Another key figure who departs having been with us from the beginning is our Drum Major Gavin ‘Moxy’ Moxworthy, who chased off after the Scotland Band bus with his wife and new-born baby girl in tow, and we welcome Stevie Blair in his place. This term we also say goodbye to Musician Katherine Harris, who has abandoned her attempts to ‘sort Danny out’ and returned to Portsmouth Band, and Sgt Sam Hairsine who begins his Bandmasters’ Course over at Higher Training. Musician Lucy Chappell also briefly joined us fresh from the School but showed so much promise that we decided it would be wrong of us to hold her back any longer and so let her go to Portsmouth. Coming in the other direction are Colour Sergeant Mick Buxton, Bugler Sarah McGovern and Musicians Kristina Hedley and ‘Crazy’ Kate Wheway. We were also joined by a Corporal everyone calls ‘Duds’. I have no idea what his real name is and there’s no-one around to ask. I’ll find out for next time. This term we were also joined by AB Kevin Yu from the New Zealand Navy Band, who is visiting Britain as part of Operation Long Look. Hopefully he enjoyed his time with us and after leaving us to spend some time with Plymouth Band, we look forward to catching up with him again now he is back in the area with Portsmouth Band.

AB Yu considers a branch change

Finally, an apology. Now whisper it quietly, but sometimes even I make mistakes and I completely forgot to mention Musician Rachael Egger leaving the Band at Christmas. This was pretty unforgivable, seeing as she’s a good personal friend and by way of an apology I will be presenting her with an engraved Corps pattern trifle dish at the next Band Service Reunion. I’m pleased to report that Rachael is well and happily living in Totton with her fiancé and four chickens.

Happy Days

Jonny King

Heroes & Warriors

The Heroes and Warriors theme had proved so popular with all who heard it that we decided to record it, kicking the Nolan sisters out of Ferneham Hall to fill it with microphones and packets of Haribo to record a CD entitled…”Heroes and Warriors” released December 2011. The recording process lasted just under a week (you can’t rush perfection) with BdCSgt Andy Deacon doing a superb job working his auto-tune magic whilst the Boss waved his magic wand and encouraged us all to ‘think quavers’. The recording includes On Her Majesty’s Service, Mons Grapius and music from the film Where Eagles Dare. We also recorded the piece Call To Arms written by Kit Turnbull, a former RM Musician, which features a beautifully played muted Trumpet solo towards the end (lots of auto-tune there Deacs!) which I’m pleased to report only took 24 and a half takes to get right. Like I said – you can’t rush it, although it turns out you can certainly speed it up a bit when Ken Jukes threatens you with a mouthpiece brush. Sorry everyone. Heroes and Warriors should hopefully be out soon, available from all decent retailers and probably a handful of bad ones too. Incidentally, Musn Carl Ware took some fantastic photos of the recording for the inlay which are well worth a look, especially the one of Musn Danny ‘Warren’ Duncum concentrating on some particularly tricky semibreves.

Last updated 14 December 2011