Friends Of Foss

Becoming a Friend of Foss is an inexpensive and easy way to show your support for the band. From as little as £25 you can feature on the Friends of Foss wall along with the message of your choice.


Our first Friend of Foss is Rob Vincent.

Rob Vincent - Friend of Foss

Rob, not from our local area, was working on a contract at RAF Waddington when he noticed a vacancy for a 1st Horn player on the Foss Facebook site. Rob joined the band on a temporary basis just to keep his hand in while working away from home and ended up staying with Foss for several months.

When his contract at Waddington ended, and it was time for him to leave Foss and return home, Rob very kindly donated a years’ worth of subs to the band and also bought a 100 Club number for a year. A very generous and much appreciated donation of £168 to the band – Thank you Rob.

As part of being a Friend of Foss you get to post your own piece on the website, and here’s what Rob had to say:

Ich Bin Ein Midlander!
1980 – Picture the scene, a family with one child, moves too Melton Mowbray with high hopes. The father working as a Freight Guard on British Railways, having transferred from the Southern Region as a Passenger Guard. Unfortunately, all was not to work out.

Multiple issues with the new build house (which transpires being built on top of a mine shaft) and a freak accident on the railways, results in that family deciding the midlands was not for them and they end up heading down to the south again.

1982 – In a little village of Barford Saint Martin near Salisbury, the family grew!. Skip thirty seven years, that “southern” new addition finds themselves working in the midlands. A bit cautious after an eighteen year break in playing, chasing a career in aerospace and having only been playing again for three years, the “youngster” made contact with Foss Dyke to see if he could assist with their vacant Horn position.

The first rehearsal wasn’t great (lack of skill, rather than nerves), but I couldn’t have made that bad an impression, and for the next five months life in Lincolnshire became the old Royal Navy Matelot adage of “work hard, play hard”!
Sadly, all good things seem to come to an end and Covid-19 forced my hand into having to work from my “home” in the south.

The guidance from Alan Summers on Principal Horn and the encouragement from the rest of the band was greatly appreciated and some even did say my playing vastly improved from that first night (I think they were being too generous!). The Vincent family have always had an appreciation for the midlands and we thank once again Foss Dyke for confirming that the people within it are some of the nicest people in this country.

FROM US ALL AT FOSS DYKE BAND
Thank you…

…for taking the time to visit our website and read a little more about us, It’s been a pleasure having you here. If you would like any further info, you can [contact us here]

Give it a go, we’re a friendly bunch!