Friary Diary - Issue 129 - November 2025

Welcome to Friary Diary issue 129 - a monthly round up of news about the Friary Brass Band.

FRIARY REMEMBERS:

With several of its current and former players in HM Forces, Remembrance has  particular significance for Friary, and the Band as well as a number of individuals were heavily involved in ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, and at the Royal Albert Hall on the previous Saturday.

As usual, Friary led the Sunday parade in Guildford from Holy Trinity Church to the Castle Grounds, with Richard Straker playing the Last Post and Reveille.  Simon Persin was on duty at Guildford Rugby Club, whilst Ian Stewart played no fewer than three different instruments in separate events :  Eb bass for Friary, baritone for West Chiltington Silver Band and his usual trombone for Cobham Band.

Armistice Day saw Hannah Taken and Hannah Richards playing to mark the two minutes silence at their respective schools, and Lauren Straker playing at employers EDF Energy with a live stream to some 10,000 colleagues across various sites.  Richard was once again in Guildford, on the balcony of the Guildhall, while their daughter Ayla (aged 9) performed in front of her school.

Coldstream Guard Jack Beer was part of the annual Festival of Remembrance, appearing with Rod Stewart, and Richard’s Armistice Day performance was the soundtrack to a round-up of Remembrance events on BBC South East which can be viewed here.

Chairman David Wicks commented: ‘It’s a great honour to be part of such an important occasion, especially with the Band’s connections with the Forces:  we will remember them.’

FRIARY HELPS LAUNCH ITV CHRISTMAS COMPETITION:

Eagle-eyed viewers of ITV’s ‘This Morning’ and ‘Loose  Women’ programmes may recently have spotted Friary players performing live alongside presenter Jeff Brazier as part of the channel’s launch of their ‘Win Christmas’ competition.  Band Secretary Lauren Straker explains:  “We performed at a similar event three years ago with Gok Wan so we were thrilled to be invited back again.”  “With ‘Good Morning’ regularly attracting around 700,000 viewers daily, I think it’s safe to say it’s the largest audience we’ve ever had!’ she added.

FRIARY RETURN TO WINNING WAYS:

Friary’s trip to Bournemouth for the Wessex BBA contest last Saturday  turned out to be a sunny day at the seaside, with the Band and individual players netting a bucketful of awards for their performances of ORB (march) and A Brussels Requiem (own choice test piece).   As well as Friary winning Best March and Best Test Piece, there were awards for MD Nigel Taken for Best Musical Direction, and for brothers Richard and Chris Straker for Best Cornet and Best Euphonium respectively. 

Adjudicator John Ward summarised: ‘This was really good – super band sound and lots of precision.  Fine soloists.’

‘All in all, an excellent day at the office,’ commented Band Chairman David Wicks.  ‘It’s good to get some silverware again after something of a lean time on the contest stage,’ he added.

Congratulations also go to our close London & Southern Counties rivals Sandhurst Silver Band who also featured heavily on the podium.

CHERTSEY GOOSE FAIR:

A small group of Friary players will be playing seasonal music at the Chertsey Goose Fair this Saturday, around 12.45.  This is a new gig for us, and we’re delighted to be performing on our home patch. For more details of the whole event, please see https://www.chertseygoosefair.com/ 

HOGS BACK BREWERY CAROL CONCERT:

Sadly, the slot during which we will be performing on Sunday is now fully booked, although we are pleased that does mean that, as usual, we will have a capacity audience.

RANKING NEWS:

Some more good news! There has been no further update by 4barsrest.com to their world rankings table on 31^st October which saw Friary rise five places to 46^th.  Brassstats.com updated their table on 1^st November with Friary up one place to 47^th.  We’re going the right way!