1986 - A triple conquest

Return Of The Jedi	Russian Dressing	Feelings
Finlandia

The year started with a slightly younger band after many of the older, more experienced members decided that family commitments meant they would be unable to dedicate as much time to the band. We kicked started the season with an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall for the Nat West Festival of Youth Bands on Sunday 16th February.

Six competitions were entered at the first half of the season. At Crawley the band continued to play the 1812 Overture as the closing piece to the show until it was finally replaced by Finlandia for the second contest at Hornchurch. Having gained first place in both competitions we went on to win other titles at Eastleigh, Midsomer Norton, Hove and Sandy. Out of a possible 47 trophies to be won at these contests we came home with 40.

The band had the honour of performing twice at Wembley Stadium for half-time and pre-kick off shows. Our first appearance was for a schoolboy international and then the Milk Cup Final where, rather embarrassingly we were asked to play the "Lotta Bottle" jingle! On both occasions the attendance was in excess of 70,000.

During the Easter week we were invited to take part in a BYBA music week at the Pontins Holiday Camp, Bognor Regis. Many of the band members could only stay for the weekend as it meant taking time off work, but for those of us still at school we were able to stay because of the term holidays. We entertained the guests on the camp with a concert at the weekend and paraded around the complex early on the Sunday morning, which couldn't have gone down too well with some of the guests! The rest of the week was taken up with ensemble groups, working alongside other bands who attended the music week. Individual and ensemble competitions were held during the week and we took away the percussion, wind and colour guard categories.

In the second week of October we made a return visit to Haarlem in Holland. After leaving Bristol in the early hours of Friday morning we travelled by coach to the Sheerness ferry terminal and took the boat for the seven hour crossing to Vlissingen. From here there was a ninety minute coach journey to Haarlem, approximately one hundred miles away. We arrived just after tea time and were met by our great friends from the Damiate Band who were to be our hosts for the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon we paraded through the streets of Haarlem, stopping to play through the championship display in a static formation at the town's precinct. In the evening we were invited to perform at an indoor band tattoo. Many bands throughout Holland came to take part in the event, including the Juliana Middelburg Band who had hosted us three years previously. The arena was slightly smaller than we were used to, and coupled with the fact that the roof was leaking we had to make the most of a bad situation. However the evening turned out to be a tremendous success and we felt honoured to have been a part of it.

The next day we were taken on a sightseeing tour of Amsterdam and the surrounding areas of Haarlem. The excursions took nearly all day and after returning to our hosts there was a quick change of clothes before making our way to a party organised by the Damiate Band. Our trip to Haarlem was brought to an end with the two bands coming together singing a loud rendition of 'Tulips from Amsterdam' at the end of the evening.

Early the next morning, we left for the ferry terminal and made our way back home. Although it had only been a short visit to Haarlem, the friendship between the two bands had strengthened and we looked forward to returning the favour of hosting the Damiate Band by inviting them to come over to England to take part in our very own tattoo at the Whitchurch Sports Centre in Bristol the following year.

On Saturday October 26th, a week after the Trooping of the Standard and our Colston Hall concert, we travelled once again to the Wembley Arena to take part in the British Championships. Weeks earlier a few of the members of the band decided to travel up to the Drum Corps UK finals and see what sort of competition we would be up against with the newly established, and as yet unbeaten Conquest Alliance Drum & Bugle Corps. We all agreed that they were excellent and most of us thought that they should have won the finals outright. However, the powers that be placed them joint first with the Dagenham Crusaders. This years British Championships was going to be our biggest test yet with a number of top class bands entering. We were drawn to compete straight after the Conquest Alliance. They proved to be a big hit with the crowd who gave them a standing ovation as they left the arena. Hearing the crowd and then seeing the Corps and the guard with their "huge" flags march past us as we waited in the wings, was very unnerving. We knew that it was going to take a lot more than the average show to match theirs. We were greeted with a huge reception as we marched onto the arena, quite possibly the loudest we had ever heard at Wembley. Once we'd formed up and the field commander Richard Lorriman had given his salute, the announcer had to ask for "Absolute quiet in the auditorium please!" as he was being drowned out by the crowd. They were fantastic and inspired us into producing another Championship winning performance. We were announced as British Champions for the third consecutive year as well as the BYBA League Champions, something that no other band had yet achieved.

It was at the end of this year that Clive Williamson, the assistant bandmaster and his wife Rachel, the brass instructor, left the Unicorns to branch out into another field of banding. It was a sad occasion and we knew they would be missed. For me personally I had a lot to thank Rachel for, in particular for her patience during those extra music lessons with Paul Phillips and Kevin Gavin at the St Andrews School of Motoring!