PONTEFRACT IN 1955
9th September 1955
Moving Ceremony at Pontefract
Attention!
The voice of Drum Major Andrew Noble cut the air and the navy-blue and
red-striped tunics of the bandsmen of the York and Lancaster Regiment
Band bristled to his command.
In
full ceremonial dress, the band "Beat The Retreat" in the
Castle grounds, Pontefract, on Saturday. It was the first opportunity
for the Pontefract townspeople to see the band in such a display, and
the pleasant surroundings of the Castle proved an ideal setting.
Military precision was the order of the day, and even the old Castle
itself, the most battle scarred campaigner on parade, seemed to lift its
massive ramparts, curse its broken battlements and heave itself to
attention.
Large
crowds strove to find the best vantage points. Many found seats around
the ‘square’ but the more intrepid swarmed around the grassy banks
of the ruins, and came to rest on any suitable stone. One or two daring
young souls were vigorously prevented from scaling higher points by
determined parents. Disturbances ceased however, and excitement rose
when the bandsmen, under the watchful eye of Bandmaster G. Young, began
their programme.
Drumsticks
twirled, cymbals clashed, red-faced buglers blew. The bandsmen marched,
counter-marched, and circled into fascinating arrays, but the music
never faltered. Their tiny sheets of music fluttered furiously in the
breeze, and as Drum Major Noble nonchalantly hurled his five foot mace
about his head, the crowd gasped.
The
band first played "Marching into Georgia," "Land of hope
and glory", and "The old folk at home". Then the lilting
sound of the fifes was heard in "Over the Sea to Skye" and for
the teenagers in the audience, there was a no-nonsense performance of
"Softly Softly" a popular heart-throb ditty. But with the
retreat, army officers sprang to attention and the onlookers stood
silent. As visions of past battles with ‘Tommies’ in mud filled
Flanders Field trenches, and on the treacherous Normandy beaches seemed
to arise from nowhere, it remembered battles among heraldry and pomp and
amid its ruins it remained impassive, thoughtful.
