2024; Haynes Village Hall, Bedfordshire

Roughly 14 points separated the 5 competitors - from 197 down to the low 180's; a very tight competition, but no two sharing the same score this year.

1st - Buckinghamshire
2nd - Berkshire
3rd - Oxfordshire
4th - Hertfordshire
5th - Northamptonshire

Afterwards, the raffle raised £100 - and some of us competitors received helpful advice from the judges;

"There were a few common faults that every competitor showed to a greater or lesser degree;-

1. when at the attention, feet should be 30 degrees apart - I saw feet together by one competitor, and at 90 degrees by another.

2. the Standard, when at the slope, should be 45 degrees to the horizontal and perpendicular to the body. You should have someone take a picture from the side and front to show you where you are.

3. if you make a mistake, don't grimace - you'll lose another point [or two, if both judges see it].

And I can give you these tips;

4. I know you wear different shoes when training - but I know these [the shoes he was wearing] feel different when I was competing; I urge you to train in the shoes you'll compete in.

5. This may seem strange, but wear a beret when training. You don't when training, but wearing one when competing is different."

Here we are (Paul Norris, 1st place, centre);

And here we are with our judges and parade marshals;

BELOW - 2023

Saturday, 18th February, 2023  - The United Reform Church, Cuttys Lane, Stevenage

Hertfordshire County hosted the SE Midland Standard Bearer's competition, with County Standard Bearers (CSB) from Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire taking part.

It was a close one - 1st & 2nd place each had a total mark of 230, so were separated as per the regulations (the highest score for the Drill On The March); and so our youngest competitor from Berkshire (2nd from the left in the picture) snatched the victory and will now compete in the National competition at Torquay on 19th May. Buckinghamshire's CSB (centre) came second, and Hertfordshire's (3rd from left) a close 3rd place, one point behind the first two.

The Bedfordshire CSB (5th from left) was 4th and Northamptonshire's (6th from left) was 5th.

Our Senior Judge is on the left of the picture; then we have CSBs Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire with our number 2 judge completing the front row.