THE MICKLETON SOCIETY: The chairman welcomed members of the society to St Lawrence Church for the first meeting in 2004 and introduced Colin Bowden, former Drum Major in the Royal Marines Regimental Band to speak on Marching Along - Strike up the Band a history of both regimental bands and his personal experiences gained in over 40 years service with the Royal Marines Regimental Band.

Having joined the Marines as a 15-year-old in 1945, Colin has now been retired for eight years and devotes much of his spare time to raising money for cystic fibrosis, having given 105 talks in 2003 alone.

On a personal level, he thought playing at the 1966 World Cup Final and at the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965 would be the highlights of a career that had involved him in performances from touring on the Royal Yacht Britannia to performing at the 1949 Royal Command Performance, playing at Princess Margaret's wedding in 1960 through to the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway in Canada in the 1960s.

The next meeting of the society will again be held in St Lawrence's Church on Monday, February 2 at 7.30pm, entitled Dogs for the Disabled with Paula Bennett.