Connecting during the Corona crisis – Bathgate Band

Continuing our feature on how Scottish bands are staying connected during the Coronavirus pandemic, Bathgate Band is in the spotlight:

The Bathgate Band can trace its origins to the early part of the 19th Century, receiving early patronage, in terms of members and support, from the town’s hand loom weaving community.

The first high-profile engagement was playing at Linlithgow Palace for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1842 for which the band received the princely sum of one guinea!

The band has continued to be supported over the years by the miners and foundry workers in the town of Bathgate and has led the annual John Newland’s Procession since it began in 1844. 

Bathgate Band has competed in the Scottish Championships since it started in 1895 and has had numerous notable contest achievements including 2nd section National Champions in 1989 and 1997 and 1st section runners-up in 2017; Scottish 1st section champions in 2003 and runners-up in 2017 and 2020.

The band also won the Strathclyde Charities Contest in 1992, Pontins 1st section in 1998 and the National Mineworkers 1st section in 2001.

Band members are currently home practising and we are investigating technology routes to begin rehearsing together during this difficult time.

The band rehearsal premises are in Unit 6, Houston Interchange Business Park, Livingston EH54 5DW.

A message from the members of the Bathgate Band to all our Scottish friends and colleagues is to keep safe, keep practising and keep in touch with all your friends in the great community that is banding. We know that this will pass and we can all return to our love of making music together.

• Let us know about your band. Tell us about some of your successes, when you were founded, where and when you rehearse (when things are back to normal), and how your members are coping during the Coronavirus emergency situation.

Just send a couple of photos and a short write-up to Nigel Martin at sbbapr@gmail.com