Peter Hammerton has been a member of Rayleigh Brass for almost 50 years, starting off as a musician and member of the band and working his way up through the years to become their ‘MC’ and host of so many of their popular concerts. The band wished to acknowledge Peter’s long service and held a special concert, known as ‘Peter’s Picks’ when they played a whole selection of musical favorites which had been chosen by Peter himself.
Wearing his hat as President of the Rayleigh Brass, Mark attended the concert and presented Peter with a special gift of an engraved microphone - which has been arranged by the band – and Mark supplemented this with a bottle of House of Commons Malt Whiskey as a personal gift to the popular compère.
Speaking about the happy event, Mark Francois said:
“Peter Hammerton has a wonderful talent – a gift really – of being able to entertain people and make them laugh. He has been a constant feature of so much that Rayleigh Brass has achieved and so many enjoyable concerts that they have put on for local people down the years. It was very fitting that the band wanted to put on a concert to pay tribute to Peter for everything he has done. In many ways it was quite an emotional evening but I think Peter really enjoyed himself and so did the audience, who gave him a rousing standing ovation right at the end.”