Under the spotlight: Newmilns and Galston

Newmilns and Galston Band in action.

WITH the Band Supplies Scottish Challenge rapidly approaching, Newmilns and Galston is the latest band to go under the spotlight.

The Ayrshire band is conducted by Alan Cameron and will have high hopes when it takes to the stage in Kilmarnock's Grand Hall on November 19.

Principal players

History

Newmilns and Galston Brass Band has a claim to being the oldest surviving brass band in Scotland. The old Newmilns Burgh Band was formed in 1833 by a group of handloom weavers and had many successes over the years in regional and national competitions.

In Galston, the band started as a reed band in 1872, promoted by the Gauchalland Coal Company, but within a few years had converted to brass as the Galston Burgh Band. The current band is an amalgamation of those two bands, along with a third, the Loudoun Academy School Band which achieved great success after its founding in the 1970s.  

Competing as Newmilns and Galston Band since 1990, the band has achieved a number of successes, most recently as a first section band since 2009.

The band has competed once previously in the Scottish Challenge, when it won in 2012.