There were a couple of practices in the weeks leading up to the tour to familiarise everyone with what would be happening during the five days we were away, and despite still being in England it was a long way to travel! Also there was the fact that we had to leave very early in the morning to arrive at midday - 7:30am to be exact! Three coaches were leaving from three different locations, to meet up on route and then travel to the location of our first performance, which was at Camelot Theme Park. After the performance we were given the opportunity to go around the park, on the rides and watching the jousting show they had! It was certainly better than the last theme park I’d been to…
From there we travelled to Kirkham, where we would be based for the tour, which is also the location of the North West District’s training centre. Not everyone was able to fit into the sports hall and accommodation building there, so some of us ended up in two local Church halls that had been hired out!
On Sunday, one of the main events to take place was a parade service in Liverpool. It was a Battalion Parade for the Liverpool Battalion, with our band leading the parade through the streets of Liverpool, before the service itself at Liverpool Cathedral. After the service there was another parade, followed by lunch at the headquarters of the 10th Liverpool Company, in a hall just opposite Anfield Stadium, home of Liverpool FC (we had also seen Everton’s ground on the way to the start of the parade). Unfortunately proceedings were delayed slightly when one of the three coaches parked outside was broken into by some locals, but luckily not too much was taken. It also lead to the quite funny sight (and perhaps not that advisable in retrospect!) sight of four boys, one each in a Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea shirt standing around having a conversation outside Liverpool’s ground!
Despite that, once everything was sorted out we headed back to Kirkham for the end of the second day. The Monday only had one performance in the evening, so the rest of the day was devoted to different activities, including the choice of many of the boys, that being football! After playing for hours at the centre, the performance was at Blackpool sea front, before being taken on a tour of the lights by the sea in the coaches.
Tuesday was scene of another trip to Blackpool; this time for a visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach where we spent most of the day, going around all the different rides (including getting comprehensively soaked on the water rides!). When that part of the day was over, we travelled to the nearby town of Southport for a parade there, and Liverpool Battalion’s Beating Retreat ceremony outside the town hall. Once we were back at Kirkham, there was a sort of talent competition/karaoke session, which ran after the devotions that we’d had every day.
Wednesday was the last day of the tour, and was just for us to pack up and go home. Overall the tour was very good, with good performances from the band and a lot of fun times. Apparently, us going there had encouraged more than one Company that saw us to start up a band again, which can only be good news!
Written by Tom Boorman