Isle of Wight tour, 2024

What a weekend – our Isle of Wight tour 2024 was SO good!

It all began at 4:30pm on Friday 4 October when the coach promptly left Bournemouth and kick started our weekend of fun.

We drove to Portsmouth where we got the ferry across fairly calm waters, to Ryde. After a quick crossing and a phone call to an unsuspecting local fish and chip shop with 39 orders for food, we were all back on the coach and our Bandmaster was counting we were all present and correct. We drove to get our fish and chips and before we knew it we arrived at our hotel and were enjoying the bar into the early hours.

It turns out BDCB took over the whole hotel except one room!

Horse riding, swimming, walking and crazy golfing

On Saturday morning, some brave people tested the waters with a morning dip in the sea. The rest of us casually made our way down to breakfast before then all going our separate ways on our morning activities.

Some people set off for an idyllic horse ride along the beach and surrounding area. Another group made their way to the pirate and dinosaur-themed crazy golf. Others set their sights on a casual walk along the promenade from Shanklin to Sandown. And some people explored the area doing their own thing.

The activities made us rather peckish and so for lunch we all piled into a pub in Newport, near to where our concert was later that day. After a big lunch we had a bit of time to explore the town before making our way to Newport Minster.

Time to think about our joint evening concert

It was time to start getting our brains into concert mode. Everyone got stuck in to help set up at The Minster, arranging the seating, putting up stands and getting the stand lights ready, among many other tasks. We played through some key passages and pieces for an hour or so, and joined forces with the Medina Community Choir to rehearse together for the first time.

Band rehearsing in Newport Minster, before the concert

After a quick rehearsal we had about an hour to eat and get changed ready for the big opening at 7pm. People started filing in about 6:30pm and the chairs soon filled up The Minster. Our ‘Songs from the stage & screen and popular music across the decades’ joint concert was underway, and it was brilliant.

Our band kicked off by playing some popular pieces including Star Trek and the famous sea shanty, The Wellerman. Medina Community Choir followed by singing a selection of pieces from The Lion King. Their harmonies were beautiful and we could have listened to them sing all evening!

The choir led us into a short interval and we were soon back up on stage where they opened the second half with some very moving songs. One of the songs was called You Will Be Found from the musical Dear Evan Hansen, which was emotional and had many people welling up throughout The Minster.

The grand finale saw both BDCB and Medina Community Choir filling the church with the sounds of You Raise Me Up and a theatre favourite, Les Miserables. Everyone loved it and the audience was fantastic throughout the whole concert. They were always clapping, cheering, whooping and supporting us all after each piece.

Everyone went home buzzing that evening. And when our band got back to the hotel, we gathered in the bar once again.

Sunday – on to the Steam Railway

We had a nice lazy morning on Sunday before making our way to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

The weather was drizzly so we took over half of the cafe where we could play under shelter. We performed a fun programme of pieces including The Sound of Silence, Jersey Boys, Lawrence of Arabia, and a mix of Tom Jones classics.

After a couple of hours it was time to pack up and get all our equipment back on the coach. And of course we couldn’t leave without a train ride. Most of us jumped on the 3pm steam train and we had a lot of fun going up and down the line in old traditional carriages. There was laughter everywhere, and some cheeky grins poking out the train windows!

When the train ride finished it was time to catch the ferry home.

The best memories from our Isle of Wight tour

After a slightly choppier crossing than on the way out, we arrived safely back on the mainland. The coach drive home was quite quiet as we all mulled over the weekend and some of us snoozed.

It was a tiring weekend but we had the best time and it was really nice to chat to people who we might not usually talk to on a Thursday night at rehearsal. Bring on our tour in 2026, wherever that may be!

By Emma on flute

Check out more photos and videos on our Facebook page.

You can read all about other tours we’ve been on too – Cornwall in 2022 and Wales in 2018.