For several years now, this contest has either not been held or has been a very loss-making venture, because, unlike the solo and trio piping, it involves the expense of not just one, but two, RSPBA adjudicators. This year, for the first time, the adjudicators' expenses at this contest have been covered by sponsorship from Catering Engineers (NW) Ltd & Chester Party Hire. Our gratitude goes out to them because without their help we could not have staged this event.
 
We had also made it an Open Contest in the hope of attracting bands from other branches. As it turned out, no outside band entered. Instead we received the best response for many years from our own bands - 17 teams from 7 bands. This means that it really was worthwhile going ahead with this contest. The future looks bright.
  
Looking back over this indoor season, it has been the most successful for many years. In their present form, these three contests, (Solo Piping, Trio Piping and Minibands), are now involving more bands and more players within those bands than we have seen for many years. For some time now the general health of several bands within the branch, and in particular their lack of drummers, has been a real cause for concern. Five or six years ago this branch was nearly bankrupt and very little was happening within the branch during the winter season and it really was touch and go at that time whether or not the branch was going to survive. Things have gradually improved over the last few years and the signs now are that we really are on the way back up again. The Solo Piping competition has been attracting about 50-60 entries for the last five years and has evolved into a well balanced and challenging event for pipers of all levels. The Trio Piping is now providing a good incentive for pipers in all bands at this time of the year, and also provides a good opportunity for pipers in bands which are still having difficulty building a viable drum corps. This year we have at last been able to stage a decent Miniband contest with all our more active bands being able to put out a team or two. Last year our top two bands were not being able to compete because of lack of personnel. The last 12 months has seen three new bands registering and entering competition for the first time, GMCFS back on the road with a new drum corps and Chorley still surviving with a fine pipe corps and the possibility of a new drum corps coming together this year.
 
This year we had a new trophy, (for the 1st prize in Grade 3), which is dedicated to the memory of Fred Meadowcroft, our Branch Chairman who died in January, and which also acknowledges our gratitude to the sponsors of this event.