Whit a Friday Night For Shirland’s Musical Youth

The young musicians of Shirland are on a high this week, after the Junior band joined forces with the teenagers of the Training Band and won four first prizes at the 2006 Whit Friday Marches.

For Shirland, the contest was an unprecedented success, with the Youth Band winning first prizes in the youth section at Scouthead, Hurst Village, Denton and in Delph. They were also runners up in the youth contest at Droylsden.

The competition, which starts in the afternoon and goes on into the early hours of Saturday morning, requires bands to play as they march through each village and then play their chosen test piece in front of the judges. The highlight of the event was again at the Yorkshire village of Delph, where this year, a total of 75 bands played at the rate of ten an hour and where Shirland Youth won the youth title.