Brighouse And Rastrick Take Saddleworth Whit Friday Title
Brighouse and Rastrick in action at Dobcross.
Brighouse and Rastrick have been confirmed as this year’s overall Whit Friday winners in Saddleworth and Oldham. They add the honour to their national and Yorkshire titles, as they continue their excellent run under the command of Professor David King.
According to results collected by brass website 4 Bars Rest, Leyland finished second, with Marsden Silver just edging out Rothwell Temperance and last year’s Saddleworth champions Hepworth for third place.
A band’s best six results on the day count towards the overall prize, and Brighouse and Rastrick’s superiority was demonstrated by their five victories, at Delph, Denshaw, Dobcross, Greenfield and Grotton. They did Knight Templar as their competition piece, and you can watch a video of their performance at Dobcross by clicking on the box below.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECDOeEdYkNs&feature=player_embedded
Brighouse and Rastrick actually won four contests last year, only to be narrowly beaten to the overall Saddleworth prize by Hepworth. This time their nearest rivals proved to be Leyland, who won at Diggle with Brighouse third, and also at Lydgate.
Laura Hirst playing with Brighouse and Rastrick.
The battle for third was extremely close, with Marsden, Rothwell and Hepworth all finishing with identical scores. Rothwell won at both Scouthead and Greenacres, while Marsden were victorious at Uppermill, where Brighouse finished a lowly ninth.
As a tie-breaker, the three bands’ seventh-best finish was taken into account. Marsden just edged it with an extra fourth place, while Rothwell and Hepworth had an additional fifth position.
As for the winners in the other two Saddleworth contests, Hammonds Saltaire won at Lees and Springhead, while the Third and Fourth Section-only Friezland contest went to City of Bradford.
Milnrow took the overall honours as the best local band, with Dobcross Youth picking up the youth band award.
The 4 Bars Rest article reviewing the results can be read here. According to the website’s calculations, Brighouse and Rastrick ended up with more than £7,000 in prize money from the day.
The top results from each Saddleworth and Oldham contest can be viewed in a separate 4 Bars Rest post here.
Last year, Delph’s Laura Hirst (pictured) joined the Brighouse and Rastrick band as its first-ever woman player, and she helped them to their success on Friday.
Brighouse and Rastrick also endeared themselves to the crowd at Greenfield, by performing a hymn tune at the spot where a spectator was tragically killed last year. You can read more about that, and see a moving video of the tribute, by clicking here.
Full coverage of Whit Friday from Saddleworth News can be found here.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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