To the Worlds today for the first day of Grade 1. It must be the most open championship for years – four different bands have each won one of the foregoing majors. Who’s your money on? I have my own picked out but will not be revealing it here. One thing is sure, whoever emerges on top after this two-day examination by 16 judges will have earned it. Results Saturday…

We don’t give prominence to anonymous commentary unless it has some sense or truth about it. Here’s one on the dearth of bands in our Juvenile grade. We received it this week following Alistair Aitken’s review of the Scottish Championships: ‘Until those running the best Novice A bands have the courage to accept promotion when it’s awarded, I think the Juvenile category will remain fairly sparse. ‘A few observations to…