West Of England Bandsmen's Festival Multi-Cache
Hidden : 6/3/2016
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This is a simple multi cache that takes you around the village of Bugle celebrating the West Of England Bandsmen's Festival, (Bugle Band Contest) which has been taking place for over 100 years.

Bugle Band Contest takes place in the village annually on the third Saturday of June and the cache follows the route of the march down in the morning, (with a slight detour!).  Cache site is about 10 minutes away by foot or can be driven to.  The whole cache (including the walk to the cache site) should take at least 45 minutes but most of it is on pavement and there are pedestrian crossings.

Some info on the festival:

The first festival was held at Peniel, Bugle on 14th September 1912.  The idea was originally conceived in order to raise funds to build the Workingmens Club that still sits in the heart of the village to this day.  Instrumental to the whole process were President Sir William Serjeant and FJP Richards who recalled 'going to the bank with 44 sovereigns in my pocket, each sovereign put up by committee and friends to ensure the prize money'.

The first Festival itself was a resounding success with an attendance of 6000 people crammed into the fields at Peniel to hear 10 bands from Cornwall and one from Devon compete for those gold sovereigns.  Making an immediate and successful impact, it was somewhat inevitable that the Festival would continue and with the exception of 1933 and the war years it has been held in the village in the open air ever since.

There are many aspects of the West of England Bandmen's Festival that support its claim to be unique, but one in particular is irrefutable, the fact that it is the only one in the world to award a Royal Trophy, the HRH The Prince of Wales Challenge Cup, to give it its official title.

For the first, and very successful, festival in 1912 the organisers had taken the trouble to assemble no less than twenty local dignitaries as Vice presidents, headed by Colonel Sir Williams Charles Eldon Serjeant CB as President. 

According to a report in The Cornish Guardian on 3rd January 1913 it was Sir William who was credited with the feat of persuading HRH the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall to donate a Royal Trophy to be competed for at the 1913 Festival. This seems likely as Sir William, who lived at St. Benet's Abbey in Lanivet, was a Companion of the Order of the Bath, an Order of Chivalry awarded personally by the sovereign.  In this context he would have known the Duke of Windsor, the Prince of Wales at that time.

Initially the Festival was limited to Bands from the West of England, hence its name, but in 1926 constant requests from Bands from other areas persuaded the committee to throw it open to all comers.  They were not allowed a chance to win the Royal Trophy which was restricted to West Country Bands only.

In 1966 the Festival moved from Peniel to its present home at Molinnis Park due to the need for more car parking space as popularity grew.

The Contest Today

Although the outdoor venue gives a general air of informality, players and audience treat the contest as a very serious competition.

Two "borrowed players" are permitted, providing they are from a band of the same (or lower) Grade.

Competition is run to the Five National Grades. A Youth Section is also included, but to cover local considerations this is run under their own Festival rules. The most significant departure is that they allow two senior players to take the stage.

Each class has a set test piece, the placings for which decides the Section winners. Additionally a second piece is set for the top sections, usually a Chorus, Hymn Tune or March. This is an historical hang over, and until more recent times the points awarded were aggregated to decide the class winners. They now feel the Test Piece is the major piece, but because of the nature of the audience the secondary piece has been retained to give variety.

The March to the Contest Grounds

The march to and from the contest grounds was introduced at the inaugural Festival in 1912, and has been retained as a popular feature ever since, although it is optional for the bands.

The morning march starts approximately 45 minutes before the contest itself and is but a short distance from the village centre.

The Deportment Class is now adjudicated on the march, although when initially introduced the Deportment Judge sat at a small platform alongside the main stage and the band was rather oppressively assessed from the moment of registration.

At The End of the Contest

At the close of the contest the bands return up the road to the village centre, where the Royal Trophy winners sign off the day by playing in the village square.

It was announced in 2015 that the present HRH The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cornwall, Prince Charles would become the new patron of the Festival.

(Extracts from WEBF Centenary Book and The WEBF website)

The Cache

This multicache follows the route of the march down in the morning.

Starting at the Parking Coordinates (the car park next to the Bugle Inn) turn right and head towards stage 1.  This is where the bands start their march and congregate in the road awaiting their turn.

On the telegraph pole there are 5 white circles starting DP and 3 digits . 3rd digit minus 1st digit = A

The bands march down Roche Road to the traffic lights and round the bend.  On the name road sign. How many O's plus A's = B

Cross the main road (this is the detour) and head away towards waypoint 3.

The white building you can see from here is the bandroom of Bugle Silver Band.  If you are lucky you may hear them practising!  On the lamp post - How much is the penalty?  1st number = C

Turnaround and head back to the main road and turn right.  Marching around this bend can be tricky!

Head down Fore Street to waypoint 4.  There are 2 buildings in front of you. On the right is the Old Christian School on the left is the Village Chapel. 

On the date of the school the third digit minus the fourth digit = D

When was the chapel renovated? 2nd digit divided by 4 = E

Continue down to the next building, look on the wall. Date of the 'St Austell School Board' - 1st number plus the 4th number = F

Continue down. On the large green box look for HeartSafe phone number: 012G5 332323

At the shop the band turns right and marches down Molinnis Road which is where they usually finish and then head into the field.

On the wall in the SPAR carpark there is a warning sign.  How many words are on the sign = H

Continue down Molinnis Road and as the road turns left you will see a 'private - no through road' track on the opposite side of the road - this is the pedestrian entrance to the Festival on the day.

On the drain on the road - after 'BSS' 3rd digit minus 1st digit = I

Finally continue down this road to the last waypoint.  This is the only part of the cache where there is no pavement, so care is needed.  Cross the road and walk down the small grassy track to the metal gate.  From this gate you can see the field where the Festival takes place.

Look back towards the road.  How many solar panels on the roof minus 11 = J

The cache can be found at N50 AB.CDE  W004 FG.HIJ

From here you can either walk to the cache or take the car.  If you drive please park at the bottom as you will find it hard to turn around at the top.

I hope you enjoy the walk and if you want to find out more information about the Festival follow them on Twitter @WEBF_bugle or visit the website www.buglebandcontest.co.uk.

Why don't you join them on the third Saturday of June to see for yourselves!!!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va gung ohfu!!!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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