Old Cornwall Society delegates gave a standing ovation to young Cornish brass band champions at the start of their summer festival.
Camborne Youth Band opened a day of entertainment and debate at the event, which saw members of 46 OCS branches gather at Pool Academy. Under conductor Alan Pope, their playing, which included a sparkling xylophone solo by Charlie Hodge, wowed the audience and set the tone for the day. Champions no less than seven times at the National Youth Brass Band Contest in Manchester, the players beguiled an audience of some 250, who were representing a total membership of 2,700.
Hosted by Camborne OCS, secretary Ivor Corkell introduced president David Thomas, FOCS president Duncan Paul Matthews, Camborne mayor Mike Champion and Grand Bard Maureen Fuller, who exhorted members to recall the wishes of OCS founder Robert Morton Nance to hold on to the "Cornish spirit".
Citing a number of ways to do this, Mrs Fuller included teaching Cornwall's history in schools and learning key Cornish words and phrases. The festival included visits to places of local interest and Camborne OCS arranged trips to Gwithian, Heartlands, King Edward Mine Museum, Rosewarne Duchy College, Camborne town centre and Treslothan for an insight into the life of miner poet, John Harris. The musicians and singers of Proper Job brought the day to an end with Cornish songs, dialect tales and a rousing rendition of Trelawny.