1983 - Time for change

Alabamy Bound	God Only Knows	Can't Buy Me Love
Just The Way You Are	James Bond Theme	Classical Gas
Walk Through A Storm (You'll Never Walk Alone)	Buck Rogers Theme	Land Of Hope And Glory

At the beginning of the year numerous trips were made to an RAF hangar at Locking near Weston-super-Mare to learn the new championship routine. The pom-pom majorettes, who for so long had been a feature in the band displays, were now officially permitted to compete with the band under a new ruling laid down by the British Youth Band Association. Once again, more members joined in the New Year, and a saxophone section was introduced to the marching display to complement the clarinets.

Crawley

In March we entered the National Band Championships at the Albert Hall and won the supreme title for the third consecutive year. Out of six regional competitions entered throughout the season, the band won five titles at Crawley, Ilfracombe, Hornchurch, Eastleigh and Hove, losing only at White City, London, very early in the year in appalling weather conditions. (It really wasn't a great start to the day when the Brain family left their uniforms back in Bristol!) In July we returned to Wembley Arena for the 4th International Festival of Marching Bands and for the first time won the award for best British Band, whilst our friends from Damiate, Holland, won best Overseas Band. Once again we were asked to represent the UK in what was billed as "the evening spectacular!"

In September we made our second trip to Holland for a weekend, only this time we travelled to Middelburg and were hosted by the Juliana Middelburg Band. Like the previous year's trip to Holland, it was a long journey, travelling by bus from Bristol to Sheerness and taking the ferry crossing to Vlissingen. On the Saturday afternoon we marched through the centre of Middelburg before performing in concert at the historic square of Middelburg Abbey. The town was celebrating its 50 year jubilee and the evening was spent performing at a large international tattoo in the market place, where all participating bands put on their field displays in front of around 5,000 spectators. On Sunday afternoon we were treated to a day trip around the Isle of Walcheren before a farewell party was put on by our hosts in the evening. The band departed for the UK early on Monday morning with the local press proclaiming, "English Band Steals Show at Tattoo!"

When we arrived back in England the band were given a little time off before getting down to the serious business of preparing for the British Championships. New shoes and hats were purchased just weeks before the competition, and the then Field Commander, Martin Stewart was kitted out in a complete change of uniform. On arrival at Wembley Arena we were informed that we had been drawn to compete first in the Premier Class, and so wasted no time in warming up and tuning the instruments, before changing into uniform and making our way to the assembly point. Although never complacent, the band felt more than capable of at last producing a performance worthy of being awarded the British Championship title. The moral within the band was extremely high and from the moment the arena curtains were pulled back and we caught sight of the bright blue surface, everyone pulled out all stops to produce a near faultless display, earning us a standing ovation at the end. There were another sixteen remaining bands waiting to compete so there was a rather nervous three hour wait before mustering for the results.

Unfortunately the decision of the judges didn't go in our favour and we were eventually placed third behind Thurrock Marching Brass, the overall winners, and the newly formed Imperial Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. The result was hugely disappointing for us as we were left to wonder what it was we had to do to get this title that had eluded us for the past two years. We had once again come so close. There were only six points separating first place to third, and whilst many felt the final outcome to be somewhat controversial, we left the arena earning ourselves respect and admiration for the grace at which we took the defeat. There were many conspiracy theories surrounding the final result of this particular British Championship, but obviously for legal reasons it would be unwise to print them! We left London that day thinking "Oh well, there's always next year.......again!"

We returned to Wembley on Saturday 10th December to perform in concert at the second Champions Christmas Cavalcade and we were joined by Thurrock Marching Brass, the Imperial Knights, Havering Girls, Hadleigh Marching Militaire, Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps and others.

At the end of the year approximately twenty of the more experienced and senior members of the band formed an independent colour guard organisation to compete on the Drum Corps UK circuit. They had spent much of the winter months rehearsing for the new "Winterguard" season and this meant that from January through to April a great deal of their time would be dedicated to practise and competitions. Consequently these members were asked to choose one or the other, as it was felt it would be almost impossible to dedicate full time to both. They chose to continue with the Golden Garrison Winterguard, and unfortunately terminated their association with the band. At the time it was a devastating blow for the Bristol Unicorns because these were accomplished members of the band, and as a result of their departure the numbers appeared to have depleted. However the band's ever growing popularity and excellent publicity meant that recruitment was not a problem, and so after a change of instrumental categories for a few of the existing members, and a large intake of new joiners, we were back in business.