Friary Diary - Issue 127 - September 2025

Welcome to Friary Diary issue 127 - a monthly round up of news about the Friary Brass Band.

A NEW FACE AND THE RETURN OF A FAMILIAR ONE FOR FRIARY:

Friary is pleased to announce two new signings, Joe Latham on tenor horn and Nigel Winter on cornet, who returns after an absence of six years.

Nigel began playing the cornet aged eight, joining the Camberley Silver Junior Band after taking lessons from Gerallt Hughes, its conductor and a local school music teacher.  Progression into the main band followed and he played there for 14 years moving onto flugel horn in the latter years.  After a short break, he joined the Friary Meux (Guildford) Band as it was known in 1987.

Apart from a couple of years when there was a vacancy in the tenor horn section, Nigel played cornet during his 25 years with Friary, with the band progressing from the 4th section to the Championship section, his highlight being winning the 1st section National Finals in 2010. 

In 2019 he joined the Reading Spring Gardens Brass Band on flugel horn but felt he could not ignore the opportunity to re-join Friary.  ‘I’m delighted to return to the Friary Band,’ said Nigel.  ‘It’s been great to catch up with old friends and I look forward to once again being part of this group of very talented players,’ he added.

Joe started playing at the age of seven for a local junior band that his grandad used to run.  Two years later he joined the training band for Blackpool Brass, moving on to the senior band on cornet two years later, playing at various contests and the Whit Friday marches. The band took top honours at his first concert when he had progressed to principal cornet, and he was also awarded the soloist prize when he moved on to tenor horn.

A work move down to the South in 2014 saw Joe initially joining Sandhurst Silver but there was little time available for playing.  Now after a 11 year break, he was approached to join Friary Band. ‘I had never played for a top band before and was very nervous, but coming back to playing made me realise how much I missed it.’  ‘Playing with Friary has given me the motivation to play to the best of my ability,’ he concluded.

CONGRATULATIONS:

Our warmest congratulations go to our principal tenor horn player and military musician,  Morgan Marston and his bride Chloe, who tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in North Wales on 6th September.  Chloe - an opera singer, youth choir conductor and teacher – and Morgan first met while studying at the Guildhall where a chance encounter in the student union sparked their relationship.  Now happily married, they’re looking forward to a big honeymoon adventure in 2026 — and perhaps welcoming a puppy into their lives by the end of the year!  We wish them every happiness for the future.

WOKING CONCERT:

We are looking forward to Saturday 22^nd November when we return to Woking Salvation Army, where we always receive a warm welcome and a great audience.  Tickets are £10, available from the Church Office on 01483 793704 or on the door, but please note the concert is usually very well attended, so best to book in advance if you can.  For further information, please contact Major John Martin on 07727 007474.  We hope to see you there.

SUPPORTING THE BAND:

Would you like to raise money for Friary?  Do you use Amazon or shop elsewhere online?  If so we would appreciate your help.

If you sign up to EasyFundraising using the link below, Friary will receive a small donation each time you shop at one of their partner retailers.  All you have to do is access the website via EasyFundraising.  If you download the app it will remind you when you visit a participating retailer.  It really is that easy.

NB Amazon doesn’t always appear when you search for a retailer.  However if you search for ‘Amazon EasyFundraising’ you will then find a link to Amazon that will track the donation.  Any queries please ask.  

For anyone shopping at Tesco or John Lewis they also do ‘in store donations’ where you can register your payment card to your account and qualifying donations will be made automatically.  Over the last year Band members’ donations alone have raised more than £280 for Friary so it does work and it won’t cost you anything (apart from your shopping of course!). 

And as it’s only 55 days until Christmas, now is the perfect time to sign up!  Happy shopping!  Thank you.

RANKING NEWsS:

A further update by 4barsrest.com to their world rankings table on 21^st September saw Friary slip back a further three places to 51^st .  Brassstats.com updated their table on 1^st September, with a drop of two places, leaving Friary at 48^th.