The Pacemakers Drum and Bugle Corps
| Location | St Mary Cray, Kent |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1952 |
| Director | Ray Westbrook |
| Uniform | See uniform section |
The Pacemakers Drum and Bugle Corps is a Boys' and Girls' Brigade marching band in St Mary Cray (Kent) that currently competes in DCUK (Drum Corps United Kingdom).
History
(from The Pacemakers Official Website, see below)
The Band was originally formed in the early 1950s as the 13th Chislehurst and District Boys' Brigade Band, playing Bb bugles.
On 17 April 1952, band instructor Ron Eden agreed to commence bugle lessons for the Company members. By 2 July of that year, a drum class had also been started.
On 8 February 1953 the Company band made its first appearance at the monthly Church parade. 13 December saw the band lead the Boys' Brigade Battalion Church parade.
By the late 1950s and early 1960s the band had grown in numbers and standard, taking part in many local and London District BB Competitions. It was in 1965 that the name of The 13th Bromley Boys Brigade first appeared, when the Greater London Boroughs changed their names and the old Chislehurst District became the new Bromley Battalion.
Saturday 11 May 1968 saw the combined bands of both The 13th Bromley Boys Brigade and the 1st St Mary Cray Girls' Brigade play together for the first time at the BB London District Display at the Royal Albert Hall. The following year(1969) they were also asked to play again at the Girls' Brigade Annual Rally.
During the summer of 1971 the band entered its very first non-BB competition: "The Kent Band Championships" in Maidstone. This required a completely different concept of drill and music than the corps was used to. To everyone's surprise, however, the band won that first contest.
1975 saw the band take part in the Lord Mayor's Show in the City of London.
In 1977 the band participated in the Queen's Silver Jubilee display in Windsor Great Park and the Queen's Parade in Central London.
Between 1976 and 1980 the band was a regular competitor at the Boys' Brigade National Band Championships, winning the Webb Ivory Trophy for the best Bb band five years in a row.
In the '80s, some major changes were put in place. The traditional Bb bugles were switched for American 'G' valve bugles.
In 1980 the Pacemakers became one of the founding members of DCUK (Drum Corps UK) and to the present date are the only one of the original corps still performing. The first ever DCUK Finals saw the Pacemakers take 6th place.
During this period, the band also became members of BYBA (British Youth Band Association) and still continue that membership at the present date.
In 1990 the Pacemakers returned for the Royal Family's benefit once again, playing a fanfare for HRH, the Queen Mother at the re-opening of the Imperial War Museum in London.
Since 2000 the band has seen an increase in playing members and improving performances. This was demonstrated in promotion to BYBA Division 2, winning the Division 3 finalsand the Boys' Brigade National Championships for the third time, in 2003.
Every year since 2004 the band have performed for the Chelsea pensioners at the Royal Chelsea Hospital, as part of the BB London District Display.
By 2005 the Pacemakers had returned to the BB national Band Championships in Stoke-on-Trent and were competing in Division 2 of BYBA.
In 2007 the Pacemakers undertook some major fund raising, enabling it to refurbish the pit line and purchase a brand new brass line, in Bb once again.
2009 saw the corps compete not only in BYBA but also DCUK. This marked a significant decision for the band as it had not competed on the DCUK circuit for a number of years.
The 2010 season saw The Pacemakers make another significant decision by re-establishing its visual guard section. This section enabled the band to better compete with other similar marching bands across the country.
2011 has seen the corps take a step forward, by taking a step back. Performing a new rendition of the widely popular, with both band and spectators, Jewish Trilogy in their show 'Back to Classics'. This season saw the corps be very successful, they even managed to obtain the BYBA Division Two League Champions Title, and narrowly missed the BYBA Finals winning place.
In 2015 The Pacemakers came first in A Class at the DCUK Championship
Sections
This listing is of 2015
Horn Line
The current horn line consists of 13 members including 5 sopranos, 3 mellophones, 3 baritones, and 1 contrabass.
Battery Percussion
The current drum line consists of 2 snare drums, 1 tenor drum and 2 bass drums.
Pit Percussion
The current pit Line consists of 2 Electronic Keyboards, 2 Xylophones, 1 Marimba 1 Timpani.
Colour Guard
The colour guard currently has 7 girls dancing with various flags and other guard equipment.
Shows
2007 - Moulin Rouge
2008 - Bohemia
2009 - Queen Phenomenon
2010 - Take That - Back for Good
2011 - Back to Classics
2012 - Superheroes
2013 - Spanish Suite
2014 - Music of the Night
2015 - Pirates of the Caribbean
2016 - Back to School
2015 Tour
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 6 June | Boys' and Girls' Brigade National Championships | Stoke |
| Saturday 6 July | Drum Corp UK | Woking, Surrey |
| Sunday 6 September | Drum Corp UK | Thurrock, Essex |
| Saturday 19 September | Drum Corp UK - British Championship | Widnes, Cheshire |
The Uniform
The current uniform consists of black shoes and socks followed by black trousers. The jacket/tunic is white, with black wavy stripes. The percussion and horn line wear gauntlets on the arms of their tunics.
The headgear consists of black stetson hats with purple plumes.
The Uniform
Social Media
You can find The Pacemakers on various social media sites:
See also
- British Youth Band Association
- Drum Corps Europe
- Marching band
- Drum Corps United Kingdom
- Drum Corps International