USA Trip
The band has completed its first trip outside of Western Europe. In June and July we visited the state of Massachusetts in the United States. During our trip, we performed at the Braintree Independence Day parade and the oldest 4th July parade in Bristol, Rhode Islane. In between these we took part in many tourist activities, had a spontaneous Street Party in Marshfield and attending the famous 3rd July celebrations on White Horse Beach, Plymouth. Some photos have made it onto our Facebook page, and details of this are in the Links page.
St Patrick's Party
20th March is the date for one of the major Social functions within the band, our annual St Patrick's Party. More details of this can be found on the St Patrick's Party Page.
The Tower of London
On Sunday 7th February, the band performed the first major job of the year, the annual Church Parade of the London Branch of the Royal Military Police Association. This was held at HM Tower of London. We were pleased to also host 3 members of the Springe Band, as well as a member of their local Shooting Club and a couple of guests, to join us for this parade. It was on this parade in 2008 that the friendship between the 2 bands were started by a chance sighting by Tina, the Conductor of the band, and she was very pleased to be able to take part in this year's parade. Following the Church Service, the band did a small performance in the Yeoman Warder's Club. Some pictures of the band are on the Photos Page.
Pipe Tunes
The updated 2010 Tunes list is now online Here. We are going to be uploading pdf files of all of this music for download to learn. Also, we have set up a page Here which has all of the music in MP3 format to download to help you learn it.
Big Brother
One of our pipers, Andy, performed recently on the show Big Brother's Little Brother. The show is a roundup of news from the show Big Brother and the link was a task within the show to learn to play the bagpipes. Some images from the show will be on the website soon.
Germany
The band has just returned from another successful trip to Germany. This time, we were the guests of the local shooting club, who were holding their annual shooting festival. These festivals are a regular occurance around Germany and most town have their fair share of local bands performing. Springe, Lower Saxony, were very proud to have the Green Hackle band all the way from London just for their festival! The weekend started off with a brief garden party at the home of the principal conductor, Tina, before heading off to another garden party, this time at the home of the retiring Shooting Queen. This was followed by a march to the festival hall where food and drink were consumed. Saturday began with a reception by the town mayor in the town museum, accompanied by plenty of drink, and he welcomed us and allowed us to sign the Town Register, a great honour that not even the local band has been granted yet. In the afternoon the band performed a flawless concert in the Festival place, clips of which can be found on YouTube. The evening was spent at the home of one of the band. An early night was planned for all as the next parade started at 4am!! This was the parade to wake up the shooting parties from their homes. I'm not sure how many people liked the two bands marching down the street in the early hours of the morning, but we made it out intact! We spent the rest of the day marching through the town before meeting up in the town centre for the carnival through the town! As if we hadn't done enough, we then headed back to the Festival for an evening reception, at which we were asked yet again to play. The weekend, despite the rain, was fantastic and the friendships we made in Germany last year were further cemented. The Springe band will be sending a small contingent out to London in September this year as we will present a brand new Bass Drum to their band. It is hoped that in 2010 we can host the Springe band yet again.
Spring
The band has had a good start to the year with a variety of jobs during the Spring including our first Country Show at Kelmarsh Hall. The band held its St Patrick's Party in London with a good turn out from band and guests alike. The event raised over £150 for band funds.
HM Tower of London
The band has yet again performed at our annual Church Parade for the Royal Military Police Association. Despite a slight chill in the air the sun was out as 10 pipers and a full drum corps marched through the historic Royal Palace and Fortress. After the march the band beat the retreat outside the Yeoman Warder's club before retiring to the club for some refreshments.
Christmas
The band has had a busy Autumn. The highlight of this season was our concert with the Germany band in October. Photographs of this will be on out photos page. The band also paraded for the Great Dunmow Carnival and the Little Easton Country Show. We had our usual fill of Harvest Festivals with the Pearly Kings and Queens performing for them at both the Guildhall in the City of London and at Covent Garden in the City of Westminster. The band slowly wound down for the Christmas close with a wedding in Essex and had a well earned break ready for the New Year.
Germany
On the 3rd weekend in May, the band travelled over to Springe in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany, to perform in a concert with the Spiellmanns und Hornerkorps Springe. The weekend was an astounding success with some members of the band staying with German families and everybody having a weekend full of fun. The weekend started with a rehearsel in the woods near the Deister hills which was followed by enough food to feed a small country! On Saturday we started off the day with a reception by the Mayor of Springe who presented all of the band with Springe town pins. After a tour of the town we headed to the Marketplace to perform as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of a national disabled charity. The evening saw yet another party in the woods, this time on the other side of the hills, which included many musical displays and some very interesting songs! After a small farewell party we all headed to Hameln (Hamlin) to view the Pied Piper story before heading back to England. Both bands thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we all look forward to welcoming the Germans over here in London in October
Royal British Legion
The band has been accepted as a Royal British Legion Affiliated Band. It is hoped that this connection will help all parties concerned and help to keep the band going for many years to come.
St Patrick's
The evening was a great success, with the Georgian Singers proving they really did have a very wide and varied repatoire! We will begin planning next year's party and we look forward to seeing every one there again.
ITV/Aralon Filming
In between our usual engagements, the band have been busy filming with Aralon TV, a large production company, for a new show for ITV. The show is a hidden camera show, and was actually a pilot for a new series hosted by Harry Hill. The band's performances were brilliant and we have been told that it is likely to be broadcast during the summer of 2008.
Remembrance Weekend
The band performed at various engagements over Remembrance Weekend. The main event was helping the City of Rochester Pipe Band at the War Widow's Association's Service of Remembrance, in the presence of TRH the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, at the Cenotaph on Whitehall. On Armistance Day the band spread out over the South East to perform at a range of events, including the Civic Ceremony at Lambeth Town Hall. The band were well received everywhere and have already secured bookings for next year!
The Pearly King's & Queen's Covent Garden Harvest Festival
The Band  performed for the Pearly King's & Queen's at their annual Harvest Festival in Covent Garden. As well as piping the congregation into church, the band performed an impromtu set out in the piazza, much to the amazement of the passing tourists. The weather was kind to us, the event well attended and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the day
The Costermonger's Harvest Festival
The band once again performed at the Costermonger's Harvest Festival at the Guildhall in the City of London. Despite it raining all week the sun shone and the crowds gathered yet again to watch the band beat the retreat in the Guildhall Yard, followed by a march to St Mary le Bow Church on Cheapside. Following the harvest service we all moved to a pub in Smithfield for a buffet and ceillidh.