Band of HM Royal Marines Plymouth
Director of Music: Capt R Long MMus BMus(Hons) PGDip LRSM LLCMRM
Bandmaster: WO1 S Tripp BMus(Hons) LRSM AMusTCL CTABRSM RM
Drum Major: CSgtBug P Gordon RM
The Royal British Legion Concert held at Exeter Cathedral in September marked the 90th anniversary of its inception and also ended the six month “drought” since the Band’s last concert performance. The programme was tailored to lift spirits with pieces such as Songs That Won the War, and featured the fantastic mezzo soprano vocalist Louise Innes who performed a selection of songs from the musical My Fair Lady, Tchaikovsky’s None But the Lonely Heart and Malcolm Sargent’s arrangement of Rule Britannia. Equally and rightfully so there were moments of reflection and remembrance with the hymn Eternal Father and the recently composed march Wooton Bassett in which certain instruments aurally depict the engine drone of the C17 aircraft as it brings back fallen service personnel for repatriation. Concerts continued throughout the autumn term seeing the Band perform at some familiar local venues, those being Plymouth Pavilions, the Roebuck Theatre in HMS Raleigh and the Globe Theatre situated in RMB Stonehouse. The Band did manage to perform outside of the county too at the Blake Theatre in Monmouth. The programmes of Music for these engagements opened each night with Mac McDermott’s fanfare Jubilate, written in celebration of the Golden Jubilee in 2002. WO1 Bandmaster Simon Tripp took the stage the conduct the solos. First up was Corporal Ellie Wilson who effortlessly performed Gabriel’s Oboe followed by Musicians Dan Page and Mark Hambly who entertained the punters with The Joyful Skeleton, a Xylophone feature accompanied by some questionable “dancing”. Ending the first half of these concerts was Peter Graham’s Windows of the World, a composition featuring many different styles and genres of music as it endeavours to transport the listener across the globe, from the rain forests of South America to the lush green pastures of Ireland. The piece also features many different soloists which included Corporal Rob Watt on French Horn, Colour Sergeant Gordon Carter on Alto Saxophone and Musician Kiri Wedlock who managed to unshackle herself from the Bassoon to play a lovely ethereal Recorder solo for the Celtic Dream movement.
The second half opened with the intimate Guitar and vocal duet Feels Like Home, a song from the film My Sister’s Keeper featuring Musician Ellie Carter and myself. Shortly after, the Big Band were unleashed on the audience to play three numbers including an arrangement of The Rolling Stones classic Satisfaction. Perhaps the most poignant part of the evening was the performance of Captain David Cole’s arrangement of The Final Countdown/Love Changes Everything. This was written in memory of the 11 members of the Band Service who lost their lives in the Deal Bombing on the 22nd of September 1989. Wine glasses are played, filled with various amounts of water to provide the transition between the two songs, resulting in an unnerving and eerie atmosphere until the opening bars of Love Changes Everything which has been cleverly arranged to include the instruments that were played by the 11 Musicians. Other gigs throughout the term included performing at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Annual Seafarers Service (minus the protesters), the Royal Marines Association weekend held at CTCRM and the Exeter Trafalgar Day service which was conducted by WO2 Bandmaster Freddie Lomas ‘guesting’ from the Lympstone Band.
Now then, it’s not everyday that a Band has a beer brewed in its honour but that’s exactly what happened when we travelled to Newcastle for the HMS Bulwark freedom of Durham parade. After an overnight stay on the vessel in question and a night out on the “toon” it was off to Durham to lead the parade through the city. Prior to the engagement the Band were put at ease by Drum Major Gordon who informed us that he had never marched such an arduous, cobbled and hilly route. After finally conquering the highways and byways of Durham without the aid of breathing apparatus we reached the cathedral and just had enough “puff” left to perform a beat retreat. The reward for our efforts was lunch in what was rumoured to be the dining hall in which they filmed the Harry Potter films and several crates of “Band Brew”, an ale that was specially manufactured for Plymouth Band; result!
Musician Jon Rushton in front of Durham Cathedral during HMS Bulwark's freedom parade
Photo: LA(Phot) Martin Carney © Crown
Plymouth Band march past on completion of their Trafalgar night display
Trafalgar Night Celebrations
October saw Plymouth Band send a brass quintet, comprising Band Colour Sergeant Rich Fenwick, Band Sergeant Colin Hudson, Band Corporal Rob Watt, Musicians Adam Gore and Sam Pearson to Bahrain. Arriving in Brize Norton a good five hours before our flight gave us plenty of time to explore the airfield’s check-in lounge. We noticed that had we ‘accidentally’ boarded the wrong plane we could have landed ourselves a trip to Vegas! Who knew you could fly there from Brize Norton?!
On arriving in Bahrain, via the United Arab Emirates, we were met by former bandies Lieutenant Brett Simpson and Lieutenant Gary Turner, now working as UKMCC N4 SO3 and UKMCC CMF SO3 Media Ops respectively. They took us to our accommodation which we were all pleasantly surprised with. The outdoor pool was unfortunately without water for the week, so we had to settle for the indoor pool with Jacuzzi and steam room. Never mind!
After a relaxing first day enjoying the accommodation’s facilities we were ready for our first engagement on day two. We visited the UK contingent at the US base, which has arguably better facilities than my home town, and performed in the large food court before enjoying some of the wide selection of food available.
Taco Wednesday in Bahrain
Later that day, we travelled to Bahrain Rugby club to play for their steak night. Before our two 40 minute sets, we enjoyed a beautifully barbeque cooked steak with a choice of blue cheese, mushroom or garlic sauce. That went down rather well with a pint or two. A great evening was had by all.
There were two more gigs on day three. We first headed for Bahrain School to entertain the kids. We started by playing during their lunch as the different classes were coming in and out of the main hall. It was great to see so much enthusiasm shown by many of the younger children. One young lad even came up to us and shouted out ”You guys rock so hard”, which then became the quote of the week. We stayed for a while after lunch to perform for the music students. Having already played for an hour and a half in total we were running a little low on school appropriate repertoire, so the arrival of a second and then third group of music students gave us a little shock. Being the professionals we are we battled through and everything worked out perfectly in the end. Question time with the kids followed. We were probed with a number of difficult questions, none stranger than one boy’s question of “What’s your favourite colour?” answered directly by Rich Fenwick with simply ”Green”. A very successful and rewarding afternoon was had by everyone involved.
That evening we travelled to the ‘Sherlock Holmes’, a British style pub. Our gig here was somewhat delayed due to a power failure to the entire street. We were sat in the dark for quite a while with pint in hand wondering whether we would ever get to play. Thankfully the power returned and, approximately an hour later than planned, we were able to play for all the locals who seemed to enjoy something a bit different.
Following the gig we decided to sample the local nightlife, during which Rob ‘Rodders’ Watt befriended a local band and managed to secure himself a load of free champagne. A few hours later, after most had returned home, Rob returned negative footwear. I think you’ll have to ask him what happened in the hours between.
The Trafalgar night dinner was up next. It was held at the very posh Gulf Hotel and saw us doing what we do best. After accompanying the diners we were treated to a fantastic beef Wellington which rivalled the rugby club’s steak. The final stages of the dinner saw everyone encouraged to join in with a series of sea shanties, expertly led, much to his surprise, by Lieutenant Brett Simpson. If he was shocked and appalled he didn’t show it; always the consummate professional.
Day five took us to the Dilmun Club. We were there to entertain the local Ex-Pat community by the pool and they thoroughly enjoyed our music, and we managed to share a few drinks with them whilst chatting about life in Bahrain.
Our final gig was at the British Embassy, where we were greeted by the Deputy Ambassador. We rigged up in a beautiful setting and performed for all the guests. We also stayed a while to chat to the bigwigs, of course angling for a return trip. We were taken to dinner by the Embassy’s Defence Attaché and treated ourselves to a few drinks after.
The Brass Qunitet Al Fresco at the British Embassy
Our trip drew to a close with a relaxing morning, before our long flight home which stopped in three different countries on the way.
Thanks must go to Gary and Brett for pulling all the relevant strings to get us out there. We all had a fantastic week.
Back in Blighty
Closer to home the traditional Beating Retreat display was held outside the Wardroom in HMS Raleigh, comprising the marches The Standard of St George, Sailing and, of course, Trafalgar.
Director of Music Captain Rich Long seized the opportunity this year, whilst the Band was augmented by ranks from Lympstone, to create an unforgettable finale. The Band transformed to twice its original size for the highlight of the evening, a performance of Albert Elms’ descriptive composition The Battle of Trafalgar.
Accompanied by a narration courtesy of Musician Darren Walton, the piece featured old time Drummers who led the Band into the finale position through atmospheric smoke. The intensity of the performance grew as pyrotechnics and controlled explosions, courtesy of the Band Service Stage Manager Musician Karl Westlake (thanks Karl – great job!), paired with the music, re-enacted the many ships firing off their cannons and of course that fatal musket shot that shattered Nelson’s spine. Solo sunset was played by Bugler Jordan Wilson, bringing the display to a close, followed by rapturous applause from the audience.
The celebrations continued several days later with the 347th birthday of the Corps. The Captain, Commander, Bishop and Royal Marines Commandos who are currently posted at HMS Raleigh were all invited to the band room to raise a glass of port and toast the Royal Marines. Bugler Wilson swapped his Bugle for a sword as he, being the youngest member of the Band, cut the cake as well as providing the Corps citation which makes for an interesting listen when spoken in a broad Bolton accent.
Leavers/Joiners
After 22 years of service percussionist Sergeant Martin “Sid” Andrew left the Band Service in mid October to forge a new career in instrumental teaching in the Devon and Cornwall areas. From all of us here at Plymouth Band we wish him all the very best for the future. Corporal Charlotte Stus has left the warm bosom of HMS Raleigh as she has been required to swap her ceremonial uniform for a camouflage one and assist the Royal Marine Training Team as they nurture the new entry troop through 15 weeks of military training that began in September. Enjoy, Charlotte and don’t forget your warmers kit.
Musician Erica Clothier (Clarinet/Violin) has graced us with her presence after a year away, working extremely hard… on her tan (to no avail) whilst posted with the NATO Forces Band in Naples, Italy. Joining us straight from training are Musicians Mark “Sparky” Hambly on Percussion and Liam O’Neill on French Horn. A warm welcome to you both.
Lympstone to Poole
Team Plymouth Band took part in this year’s Lympstone to Poole race; 88 miles of ups and downs over 2 days, split into 4 legs of 22 miles, climbing in excess of 6600 feet. Having plotted our course on several 1:50000 maps and with four sets of route cards between us we had a fair idea of what to expect...how wrong we were. With all training complete, which mostly involved progressively longer road runs with increasing quantities of weight around the Rame Peninsula and the Rosyth area for those on the Edinburgh Tattoo.
Musicians Page, Scullion, Wedlock and myself with our soon to prove excellent support crew consisting of Musician Charlie Irons and Colour Sergeant Marty Aldrich RM, arrived at CTCRM and attended the first-class race brief including the 3D computer imagery of the route. The following morning, after an early breakfast of as much as myself and Dan could eat, we waved Iain and Kiri on their way for leg 1 and headed off to keep them going and hydrated all the way to Axmouth where, four hours later, Dan and I began what was to become the hardest yet most rewarding PT session of ours lives. We set off from Axmouth with a challenging 5 mile winding section through a jungle-like nature reserve with very little chance to get into a good rhythm due to protruding roots, slippery steps, big puddles and fallen trees. When we emerged, the fantastic mid September weather only complemented the views as we ran down to Charmouth and up and over Golden Cap (the highest point on the South coast) which more than made up for the exertion involved in getting there. It was then just a roller coaster of up and down hills for what seemed an eternity through Seatown, Eype, West Bay and finishing off after 20 miles with a 2 mile run on the shingle all the way to West Bexington and our massages, showers and dinner. Our 1940s scout style tents looked a bit out of place next to the mini Eden project set up by Colour Sergeant Marty Aldrich and the Millets exhibition that was the RMSoM camp. On the plus side we could get camp beds in ours and they couldn’t. Day 2 started with a memorial service conducted by RM Poole’s Padre, who managed to embarrass Dan with a message from his mother-in-law. We knew that we would have to dig deep today not least because the 2 legs were not run as a relay but in parallel so Dan and I wouldn’t be able to give Kiri and Iain all the support they might need, (however for the 2nd day in a row Commando Helicopter Force kindly provided the aerial entertainment in a Sea King) and our support crew wouldn’t be able to get to myself or Dan for at least 10 miles. We heard after about one and a half hours of running that they had finished safely and, despite having taken a small tumble down the hill after Lulworth Cove and falling off a bridge just before Bovington, (top tip: look where your going not at the map, a mistake I won’t make twice) we knew not finishing wasn’t an option. As we passed the half way point of day 2, Dan and I were so busy deciding whether a Mojito or an ice cold Bulmers was the drink of choice at the end, we managed to become directionally challenged and run the wrong way for one and a half miles plus one mile to get back on track. We finally saw our excellent support team aided by Iain and Kiri, after 12 or so miles, and having refilled our camelbaks and being force-fed several bananas, Jaffa cakes, bottles of Lucozade and some ‘Moralibo’ sweets, we were all set to get the final stages of our leg completed. When we finally started the last road section to Hamworthy barracks, local residents were shouting encouragement as we ran past.
Musns Scullion & Wedlock digging deep during the Lympstone to Poole Race
So 18 hours, 88 miles, a pair of bleeding nipples, 1 sprained ankle, 20 gallons of Lucozade, 4 dozen bananas, 2 bags of Dan’s trail mix (or rabbit food), several boxes of Jaffa cakes, umpteen mars bars, snickers and 2 boiled sweets (warning: choking hazard whilst running) we all stood at the finish line feeling very pleased with ourselves. A massive thanks must go to our support crew of Musician Charlie ‘Navs’ Irons and Colour Sergeant Marty ‘Drives’ Aldrich, who were never far away with a friendly face and a much needed ice lolly in the warmer stages of the race.
And Finally…
Promotions have been awarded to Drum Major Flash Gordon (Warrant Officer 2), Corporal Rob Watt (Sergeant), Bugler Chris Mace (Corporal Bugler) and Musician Iain “Rainbow” Scullion (Corporal).
Congratulations to Corporal Mel Bocking and her partner Dave on the birth of their baby boy Ethan, and last but by no means least a massive thank you must go to ranks from Lympstone Band. We have given them a home away from home here in HMS Raleigh whilst one half of the Band continued to fulfil operational commitments in Afghanistan. In return they have supplied manpower at some high profile engagements whilst chosen ranks from Plymouth Band performed on the Royal Edinburgh MilitaryTattoo. BZ to you all, many thanks and good to hear you’re all back safely on home shores.
Corporal Andy Platt
Last updated 03 April 2011
