By Jenny Mackintosh

Last updated 09:15, Saturday, 10 May 2008

Residents or businesses within earshot of Gilwilly Industrial Estate in Penrith may have been puzzled to hear the sound of a rousing brass band march on a Monday evening in recent weeks.

An interesting and unusual form of noise pollution, and we hope you enjoyed it!

The perpetrators were members of Penrith Town Band, and we were practising our playing and marching ahead of our trip to the Whit Friday band contests on May 16.

The contests, which take place in around 20 Lancashire Pennine villages, featured in the film Brassed Off.

The event, which began in the late 1800s, attracts over 100 bands each year.

Although there is a prize fund of more than £32,000, this is generally not the main attraction for most participants who enter for their own enjoyment and that of the appreciative audiences.

Maybe you feel that brass bands are outdated and only for pensioners?

The North of England, particularly, has a long tradition of brass band music and some of the best bands in the world come from this part of the country.

Brass bands are still very popular and many have thriving youth sections, and plenty of youngsters in the main bands.

Most brass bands (ourselves included) offer tuition and loan instruments to anyone interested in learning – whatever age you may be – and it’s usually free.

The music includes both traditional and classical, but it is also exciting for youngsters to play things they recognise too – such as the Scooby Doo theme and Angels which are part of our repertoire at the moment.

Despite remaining true to tradition we have moved with the times, yet your local brass band remains an organisation where you can be assured of a welcome, whatever your age or circumstances, from some of the nicest people around.

Penrith Town Band meets on a Monday evening at the Conservative Club in Penrith from 7.30pm.