130

Saw on the news tonight that The Boys' Brigade is celebrating its 130th anniversary. That means it's over five years since I left. That's a little bit mental - in some ways, it seems like yesterday.

I was in the BB from the age of 6, became officer in charge of the Junior section in 2000, and took over the running of the whole company with my brother in 2006, before the company disbanded in 2008 - my 21st year in the BB.

We used to practise figure marching in the Junior section most weeks, which was marching routines set to music - normally a tape recording of piano or orchestral music we'd had for decades. We entered competitions every year, but never managed to win. On our last ever night - parents' night - I decided to jazz things up a bit. I found an instrumental version of Radio Gaga by Queen, and had the whole company march together with boys from 7 to 17, without rehearsing to the music beforehand. It was the best I've ever seen, almost perfect. Wish I'd tried it earlier - we might have won a trophy...