The West of England Bandsmen’s Festival, better known as Bugle Contest, is famous throughout the brass band world. Its host village takes on a different complexion as the clay-mining community is transformed into a festival location and becomes a Mecca for bandsmen from Cornwall and beyond. It is truly a Cornish gathering but, despite the carnival atmosphere, the music produced is of the highest order and no one should doubt the contest’s importance. As one supporter succinctly put it: “Never mind the Nationals, who won Bugle?” Held in the open air, it has to be experienced first-hand to appreciate the unique atmosphere. It is the only outdoor contest remaining from the early days of brass banding, a fact that does great credit to the organisers across the years.
Bugle Brass Band and the Committee of the Working Men’s Institute agreed to co-operate for the purpose of holding a county band contest.
The first contest is to be held on the 14th September 1912
when provision will be made for horses, carriages and traps.
Monster Band Contest at Bugle
£45 in cash and specials
One and all, come!
After the dust had settled the Bodmin Guardian referred to the contest as a resounding success. It wrote, “There have been other band contests in the county before Saturday but the important festival which took place at Bugle was, by a long way, the most ambitious and triumphantly successful the Delectable Duchy has known”.
And so it has continued over the years: the march down to the contest field with expectations high, the pressure of playing a much-practised test piece, the tension as the results are announced and the march back up through the village with trophies held high. It has changed very little over the years and the crowds still gather to cheer on their favourites for there are few impartial spectators along the route.
The 1912 Class “A” test piece was Maritana and Camborne chose Sandon as their “own-choice” hymn. Adjudicator G H Mercer placed them first, eleven points ahead of Redruth in second place. The reward was £15 and a cornet. E C Wills (cornet), W J Uren (soprano), W Tregellas (baritone) and G Rosevear (trombone) were the Camborne soloists who collected four of the five special awards on offer. After the main contest there was a slow melody solo contest but it was decided that the event had lasted too long and it was excluded in future years.
Camborne was victorious again in 1913 but this time they had a magnificent trophy to take home. The Duke of Windsor, then Duke of Cornwall, had presented what has become known as The Royal Trophy – officially the H R H the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup. In 1914 war clouds were gathering and it was four years before the next contest was held – in 1919. Camborne was again in top spot but St Dennis were now hot on their heels as they took second place for both the test piece and the hymn.
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Set in an area dependent on metaliferous mining, Camborne was hit hard by the fluctuations in the price of tin and a by the consequent shortage of work. A number of key players emigrated and it was not until 1924 that Mr E J Williams felt able to take his players to Bugle to compete again. Having been top of the pile in the first three contests it must have been disappointing to be back in third place. Kingswood Evangel Band took the top spot and the Royal Trophy was carried across the Tamar for the first time. In 1925 the contest attracted ten bands in Class “A” including the mighty Carlton Main Frickley Colliery. This was A W Parker’s debut year as Camborne MD and he led them to first place for the test piece, the chorus and the hymn. It was a clean sweep, a stunning result, and it must have been with great pride that the band returned to Camborne with the Royal Trophy.
Since then, Camborne have competed on many occasions and have had many notable victories, sometimes against illustrious competition like in 1936 when they headed Hanwell Silver and the National Champions, Munn and Felton’s Works Band.
The contest has become an enduring feature of the Cornish brass band scene. It may be that you prefer its full title of the West of England Bandsmen’s Festival but most seem to like the shortened version as they ask, “Goin’ Bugle are you?”. What is certain, however, is that the name is synonymous with brass banding. Those who started the festival, and those who continue to organise it, have performed a tremendous service to Cornish banding – long may it continue.
by Tony Mansell, June 2014
by Tony Mansell, June 2014