DOWN YOUR WAY
leading North East brass bands in concert together at the Sage Gateshead on Sunday at 2pm. A showcase of the very best in Northern Brass music, featuring Reg Vardy Band, NAS/UWT Riverside Band and Easington Colliery Band with Dr Robert Childs MD and soloist Joseph Cook. The Reg Vardy Band has cemented a formidable reputation as the premier brass band in the North of England and has won the Regional Championships more times than any other brass band in the country. The NAS/UWT Riverside Band was formed in the mining village of Pelton Fell. It has had various names over the years, but since 2008 has been sponsored by the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers. Easington Colliery Band was founded in 1915, and since the colliery closure in 1993 the band has been mainly self-supporting, with Michael Watt Productions as the band’s main sponsor in recent years. The band is still based in Easington Colliery and plays in the old wages office on the colliery site. Born into a musical family in County Durham, Joseph Cook started playing tuba at 12 with his school wind band. He was a member of the National Youth Brass Band and winner of the Harry Mortimer Solo Competition 1997. Tonight at 7.30pm in All Saints’ Church, Deneside, there will be the first mass celebrated by the newly ordained Father Mark Mawhinney. It is hoped that the Field of Remembrance, a permanent feature of over 800 bronze resin poppies each bearing the name, rank and number of Seaham Service personnel who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars and successive conflicts, will be in situ on Terrace Green, for November. Information is being gathered so family history or pictures can be added to the information already collected. For further information, or to make a donation, contact Gary Richardson or Malcolm Wilkinson or any member of the Fields of Remembrance Committee. The toddlers group meets every Tuesday from 9.30am-11am in Christ Church hall. Plenty of fun and activities. Tea, coffee and biscuits available for carers. go along to Parkside Community Centre tomorrow at 6pm where you can meet local police officers and councillors at the PACT meeting to discuss issues and concerns about your neighbourhood.