The First Concert! The Mining Village of Bowburn.

We had a great first concert in Bowburn. The band of course played well, and hundreds of the locals came to see the band of yanks. They really got into our performance. We met a woman who is an OSU graduate and has been living in Bowburn for 10 years. She was really excited when she found out we were coming and made chocolate Buckeyes for everyone who came. When I asked her what she did there, she said she was a speech therapist... she has her work cut out for her...

Of course, any OSU band trip would not be complete without a few tankards of ale! Pubs are very popular in the English cities and provide a much different scene from the crowded bars you might find on a Buckeye football Saturday. Here is Jesse buying a round of "Brewer's Droop" Lager. Most of the pubs we frequented in Durham were small 'hole in the wall' establishments. The majority of the pubs here close at 11pm but a few stay open until 2:30 for the younger crowd (drinking age is 18). The first night out we had to experience English karaoke which was more like drunk people screaming. Pubs offer a lot of lagers, hard ciders and wine. The food is also very different. There is the more popular fish and chips but the most common foods we have seen are meat pies. The English seem to love meat pies and small meat sandwiches. Wherever you find these small meat sandwiches, you will most likely find cheese and onion sandwiches and corned beef sandwiches. We like to call them gamble pies because we don't know what is really in them. We have also noticed that all of the tomatoes that we have had no matter where we get them are fantastic.



This is the Miner's Gala and festival in Durham. It is a lot like a county fair... with more beer and less livestock. The parade ended here after stopping to perform for the local dignitaries. Over 80 bands from Northeastern performed. Most were brass bands that typically play in concert settings, so they were intrigued and impressed to see a band marching in files and rows.







After the first parade, we joined many members of the other bands for a few pints at a pub. We were the only American band and they were excited and happy to have us join them. The owners also said they would give us free beer if Stew performed for everyone. Luckily he was already a few pints in, so he was at the peak of his performing abilities...

We met a member of the Royal Army's 101st Artillery Pipe Band from Scotland. He was pretty cool for a "cat squeezer"...


Every small mining village in the Northeastern territory was represented in the parade with large banners, members of their community, and their bands. Because Bowburn did not have a band of their own, we were adopted as their official band and we were happy to join them in the parade.

This is Stew with Dennis, the Chairman (Mayor) of Bowburn. He was our official escort in the parade, and was a great host!







We had the honor of opening the football season and inter-village tournament in Bowburn. We played a concert, and had a great time sharing the Buckeye spirit! They finally let Jesse put down the bass drum and flip the cymbals for a while! Here he is with Jeff and Paul at the soccer game.








This is a sample of the banners the villages carried in the parade. They are all hand painted, and blessed by the Bishop at the Durham Cathedral during the festival. They are very proud of them, and keep them on display, but very protected all year long.










The parade had many stops, which gave us the opportunity to interact with the crowd. Here is Stew having fun with one of the "Bobbys", a local police officer... he even performed with the hat on for a while, but it wasn't exactly built for backbends...








After the performance at the soccer field, we went on a tour of the lake district. The English countryside is indescribable! There were very few wooden or wire fences, as the thousands of sheep we saw were divided by stone walls that extended for many miles and have been around for hundreds of years.










HAHAHA... oh, England.. you make it too easy...



















This is the Belsfield Hotel and Resort overlooking Lake Windermere in Ambleside.












Ending our day at Lake Wendermere right before we left for Manchester. Ambleside was a great little town with many shops and pubs. The best way to describe it is to compare it to Put-In-Bay. Secluded, small, but a lot of fun to find.