City Of Coventry Corps Of Drums

Here is an account of the trip from July/August's Newsletter by Alan Palmer:

We have rounded off August with a trip to Belgium. We left HQ late Friday night (25th) for Dover and boarded the ferry at 0510 hrs, arriving in Calais at 0750 hrs (Euro Time). We then drove to Blankenberge, where we relaxed in the town area until 1400 hrs when we made for our hotel accommodation.

On arriving, rooms were allocated and everyone got refreshed and caught up with some sleep. I only managed 15 minutes before being woken up with loud knocks on my door informing me that our agent Mr Vloeburghs had arrived. (Thanks Andy Treadwell, you don't know how close you were to being transferred to the cymbal section).
At 1800 hrs we left the hotel and returned to Knokke where we enjoyed an evening on the seafront. The younger boys were given certain times and places to be and were made aware as to where I would be at any given time. It was always intended that to make sure they ate properly we would provide them with a midday and evening meal, and Steve Hill was very active in arranging what they wanted. I must say that the boys were first class in their conduct, and responding to reporting times, and their discipline in the hotel on our return for the night was totally excellent. This group of boys are always together and their response to instructions is

excellent. Many thanks Steve for all your help in making sure that the boys' needs were well looked after.
Sunday morning (27th) took us to De Haan, another seaside town, where we marched to the seafront. Midway along we stopped to play a 20 minute concert in front of a very large crowd, again very well received. On returning to the start we then had a midday meal which consisted of half a chicken, various vegetables, bread roll, cola etc, before leaving for Blankenberge. Little did we know what was to take place. The road we started on was a kilometre from where we were to the top. Having negotiated various areas of the town

we, after about 2 hours, arrived at the seafront, which was longer by far than 'Blackpool'. At the end of that we passed through the harbour area back into town before finally arriving at the market place. Mr Vloeburghs advised me that we had to go immediately to Wenduine, to which I told him, I'm not moving anywhere until my people have been refreshed and rested. I told him that I was not happy that we were booked on the basis of a two hour march and it took four hours and that I'll move when I see my members are refreshed. It was some time later that we left for Wenduine, another seaside town, where we performed a short march along the seafront, after being served with an evening meal. Having finally completed our performance commitments, we then set off to drop Mr Vloeburghs at his hotel, after which we made for Blankenberge, where we enjoyed a couple of hours relaxation before leaving for Calais.
On arrival at Calais we boarded the ferry at 0310 hrs arriving at Dover at 0345 hrs (UK Time). En Route we stopped at Toddington services, before arriving at band HQ at the designated time of 0730 to 0800 hrs.

Conclusion:
The trip was one of the best the corps has embarked on for a variety of reasons.
The conduct and willingness of the band members, to carry out the performances to our expected standards, along with the support of the older members of the corps was exemplary to say the least. The youngsters proved to be not only a credit to the corps itself, but also to their parents/guardians, who can be proud of them.
Mr Vloeburghs was with us all day Sunday and being an invalid

he had to have help on and off the coach. Thanks must go to Les, Myles, Steven, Eddie, and Mark, who without their help and concern, things would have been most difficult. The object initially was that Mr Vloeburghs (who we have been associated with for 40yrs) wanted to see the corps one more time before he retires at 84yrs, we wish him well.

Alan Palmer
Commanding Officer