Dave Parris & Gavin Wilders joint Corps Directors, Dave Parris Show Co-ordinator, John Marsh Musical Arranger, John Smith Guard Instructor.

92 was the corps' first competitive season under the title of the 'Black Knights'. They played a selection of music by Glen Miller and were undefeated all season within Contest class in BYBA, winning all captions at finals.

Gavin Wilders became Cadet Corps co-ordinator alongside Gary Wooldridge.Dave Parris carried on his role within the main corps. John Marsh Musical Arranger, John Smith Guard Instructor. Jason Cox Percussion caption head . Simon Barrett Brass instruction.

In 95 BK's first Cadet Programme was established. The Cadet Corps did not compete this year, as the project was launched quite late in the season, but did perform a few exhibitions. The season was used to teach the members the basic skills of Drum Corps, a plan which proved priceless to the future of the Black Knights.

The Senior Corps played 'Knights in Lights II', following the success of the previous years show. With the corps improving all the time, they saw their first year as DCUK finalists gaining a respectable 5th place, and 2nd place in BYBA, only 4 points behind multi time champions 37th Kingswood.

Also, this year saw the corps enter the Winterguard circuit achieving 6th place at the WGUK finals.

Dave Parris stood down as Corps Director and was replaced by Simon Barrett. Lee Gordon was drafted in to replace Jason Cox in teaching the percussion. Lee also enlisted the help of Paul Baker, formally involved in the corps' predecessors The Kingsmen, to help write the percussion charts.

At the end of '95 many staff / instructors and members left to pursue other interests and concentrate on educational commitments. Despite attracting members from nearby bands, Staplehurst and Gillingham, the corps shrunk to half the size of '95 and was left with only 4 staff members.

With a large number of the corps having to travel to attend rehearsal, this proved to be one of the most challenging years for the Senior Corps. As a result of the depleted income from subscriptions the corps could only compete in one circuit. It was decided that that the corps would only compete on the DCUK circuit.

The show was based on Porgy and Bess, with the music derived from various sources, including the original arrangements by Girshwin, various Jazz versions, and the Star of Indiana performance from 1988.

The corps ended up with 7th place at DCUK finals. Although the Senior Corps were struggling the Cadets continued to grow and started competing in the Cadet Class of DCUK, coming away with 4th place.

Dave Parris returned as Visual Caption Head. The Guard were taken on by long standing member Donna Aldous and returning member Liza Bentley who both marched to boost numbers. Julie Clarke also returned to help teach the guard. Andy Fluff Field and Mark Brewster returned as visual techs.

Former members Phil Ramsay and Steve Clarke also returned to teach the percussion. 1996 - 1997 was no doubt a struggle, and as a result 2 more staff members left, these being John Smith and Lee Gordon. Many members who had to travel left also, leaving the corps with 6 brass players, 1 guard member, 2 pit, 3 battery percussion and 2 staff members.

A decision was made on a cold Sunday afternoon in February 1997 that Black Knights had seen its day and it was now time to fold its tent. The end of an era.

The following Tuesday a meeting was held. It was one of the best attended in the corps history. Many alumni members and parents of old members, who had not been involved for a number of years attended, and pledged to keep the corps running. Some offered to fill staff roles, others offered to help with equipment, fundraising and other behind the scenes jobs which are essential for every corps to run.

These people had special memories of the Black Knights, and had a strength of feeling for the corps that meant that they would not let it die. Everyone pooled together and used their contacts to get more people enlisted. Members were used from the Cadets, old members returned (some taking on staff roles), and new members turned up. In total Black Knights marched 14 rookies.

The staff, instructors and members who returned that year (along with others) are responsible for the corps being alive today. The process of rebuilding the corps took time, and as a result a program for 1997 was thrown together at a late stage, and made up of arrangements from bygone years.

The program was set in March. In June the corps entered the first competition of the year in DCUK. This was a classless competition, designed for people to gauge, with advisement from DCUK officials, which class to enter. Black Knights scored 35, the lowest score they have ever received at the first show. However, the staff and the DCUK officials knew the corps had potential, and decided that Open Class would be the best option.

The low score did not deter the members or staff however, as they all knew that just having the chance to compete was a massive achievement in itself. The corps kept their heads down, and worked hard, and slowly but surely worked their way up the scoreboard. Midway through the season, the corps picked up another experienced staff member, Dougie Caldwell. Dougie brought with him an experience of top flight competition from his prior involvement in Southern Knights, as well as his vast knowledge of the Judging system, which enabled the corps to focus on certain areas of the show.

BK continued to improve, jumping over Cadence to take fifth place at DCUK finals, and scoring 50 points higher than their first score of the season. The work ethic demonstrated by the Senior Corps obviously rubbed off on the Cadet unit. They worked harder than ever, with many members actually competing in both the Cadet and the Senior Corps.

This hard work paid off, as Black Knights Cadets were crowned 1997 Cadet Class Champions. 1997 was a tough year for BK, but it proved how strong, resilient and positive BK members can be. Everyone involved with BK that year emerged from it not just as better members but as better people who had successfully proved just how much commitment can do.

The corps had obviously turned heads in 97, as they attracted new, but experienced members from corps that had folded. One such member, who would do a 180 mile round trip three times a week to be a part of BK, was Steve Muzio. He would later go on to contribute a great deal to the corps as a staff member. Also, through their links with Mayflower Winterguard (where many members performed through the winter) they acquired the services of Amanda Castel, along with additional guard members.

Black Knights presented their program Martin Guerre with fresh ideas, and as always a great deal of enthusiasm. Martin Guerre was an entirely original production, but one which they were sure would entertain and be appreciated. The original music was created by the writers of 'Les Miserable' and 'Miss Saigon'.

Black Knights entered the first Open Class competition of 1998, and placed second, behind the visiting open-aged Dutch corps Beatrix. Second place that day meant a number one seeding for the corps in DCUK competition. They then went on to place first in all competitions in the first half, apart from Tottenham where they were beaten into second place behind another visiting corps from Holland, Jubal.

Black Knights reciprocated by visiting Holland in July of that year to tour, and were well received by the Marching Band community. Indeed, many members from Beatrix and Jubal travelled across Holland to see Black Knights perform.

Upon their return to competition in the second half they remained undefeated, until the A Class Prelims show, then held at the Velodrome in Leicester, where they were narrowly defeated by the Sunrisers. As a result they were seeded second going into prelims, and that was how it stayed through the night.

Coming second to Sunrisers that day was by no means a disappointment upon reflection, taking into consideration that many observers rated the Sunrisers' 1998 show as one of the best to be performed in this country.

Black Knights walked away from finals 1998 with their heads held high, knowing that they had put the performance of their lives out on the field. They left with the highest ever Black Knights score and the High Colourguard Trophy to boot!

With the beginning of the season came a new staff members in Louise 'Scooby Lou' Sudbury, who joined the Brass staff. Following on from the best year the corps had seen, 1999 was the year that would test the corps staying power. As with many things in life, it is hard to get to the top, but even harder to stay there. Black Knights had a point to prove.

The musical selection was from the stage version of 'Titanic', along with part of the main theme from the Blockbuster Movie. The Cadets show was also based on Titanic, however their selection was from the Movie soundtrack.

DCUK's rules changed this year, allowing each corps to march 3 people over the age of 25. This ruling enabled the corps to utilise staff members Mark Brewster and Andy 'Fluff' Field on Baritone and Steve Clarke on Tenors. (All three of whom were in their thirties, one with a 2 year old daughter and another with an expectant wife who was due 2 weeks before finals.). They each worked very hard to learn the new techniques, and the more challenging music that BK was attempting. All three did superbly and impressed everyone, including themselves.

At the first show, the corps ended 3rd behind Cadence and Senators, and this was where they were to stay throughout the first half of the season. When the corps came out again second half, the show changes were all well received, and the show flowed from beginning to end. They ended up on top of the pile at the first competition second half (Tottenham), beating Cadence and Senators into joint second place. The same result came through at the A Class prelims show, with a clear top three. BK, Senators and Cadence, then Concord and Kidsgrove Scouts in 4th and 5th place.

Finals day came, and the corps had prepared well for the event. The prelims performance was the best of the season, with some truly electrifying moments. The result, 4th place, behind Cadence in first, Kidsgrove who jumped to second spot and Senators. The top five were all within a point of each other. Anything could have happened.

The evening performance was brilliant and every member performed to his or her best standards and beyond. The corps, which was known at that time for its strong Guard presence retained the high Colourguard trophy. Many suspected that Black Knights would get the Bronze position, however they remained in 4th spot being overtaken by Concord.

This was still a great year for the corps, but one that was perhaps marred by some internal problems. For the members who would be staff, it was a massive learning curve, and the opportunity would soon come for them to take their chance to make a difference.

Due to many of the corps members and staff leaving because of personal commitments, the depleted numbers meant that it would have been very difficult to continue on at the standard of the previous 2 years. The decision was made to merge both the remainder of the Main corps and the Cadets to form a Junior corps. Some of the older and more experienced members stepped out of the line to help teach the younger ones and on occasions jumped into the line to help with the numbers. Steve Muzio returned from his first year marching for the Cadets (of the New Jersey kind) as a co-champion, and helped with the brassline for the second half of the season.

Much of the corps was still made up of members from the previous two years, who showed their commitment by taking the backward step required to re-build the corps.

The corps competed in Junior class and ended with a well deserved 2nd place at DCUK finals just behind Junior Class champions, the Forgemen.

Simon Barrett stood down from his position as Corps Director. His replacement was Dennis Rogers. When he took over, Dennis had been involved with youth performance activities for 25 years, filling several roles from fund raiser, humper and supporter to treasurer and trustee. With the return of some ex members, the staff was strengthened to help provide support and development for the corps members. Phil Ramsay returned to teach the percussion and Rus Rogers returned to aid with the Brass as well as writing the Brass Charts. Steve Muzio once again helped with the Brass before and after his second DCI trip. Jon Bilby took on the role of visual show co-ordinator.

2001 saw the introduction of Jon Bilby to the Staff. Jon brought with him a wealth of knowledge, not just of his chosen caption, visual, but of rehearsal technique and teaching techniques. Once onboard, Jon rose to the challenge of his instructor's role and designed the visual package with great enthusiasm.

Black Knights took the decision to re-enter the BYBA circuit to try and reintroduce a sense of achievement to the summer season.

The corps took another step forward, moving up to A Class in DCUK and competing in Championship Class in BYBA.

The week before the first show, one of the five battery members decided to leave. Immediate decisions were made, and the percussion were taken from the field and placed in the pit. The members handled the situation well. None of the battery wanted to be in the pit, however they understood that no other option was available. One member had wanted to march in the drumline since starting in the corps 9 years previously, however no complaints were made and Phil and the percussion section worked hard to produce something for the first show.

They continued to work hard through the season to develop the various colours of sound they eventually produced by finals. The corps came away with some fantastic results through the season, taking several 1st places and caption awards home with them. They ended up with Third place in both disciplines, and gained a lot of respect and encouraging comments from many people across the drum corps and marching band community. In the words of many in the audience at A Class finals, Black Knights' performance was one that will long be remembered and reminded people why they do the activity. The percussion section that had so many problems had many of the crowd up dancing and clapping along to the Samba that finished the show and got the crowd response of the day.

The show wasn't the cleanest, it wasn't the most technical, however it did exactly what it was designed to do and that was to entertain the audience as well as the members.

Rachel Weir stepped in to aid Dennis.

2002 saw the re-introduction of the Black Knights Cadets. Due to his previous experience and natural ability to teach young children, Gary Wooldridge stepped comfortably into the role of Cadet Corps Co-ordinator and the Cadets set about learning their first show entitled 'Scary Songs'

The Senior Corps moved back up to the Open Class field of competition, enjoying another year of Jon Bilby's guidance. They performed a dark show based on the film 'Gladiator'. This time with a marching drumline! The corps worked hard, leaving them confident for finals, if they made it through prelims…

The Cadets enjoyed a similar confidence, having spent a year under the wing of some of the older BK members (some of whom were in the first cadet corps) and across the whole of BK, emotions ran high on arrival at Milton Keynes. The Senior Corps performed a fantastic rendition of their show at prelims, and were then faced with the gruelling wait to see if they'd made it into finals. The members were made to sit on the coach whilst the results were publicised. As they crossed the car park, the faces of the staff hid the answers every member needed to know. The silence was almost suffocating as everyone held their breath waiting for Rus to share what he knew. When he told the corps they'd made it into finals (barely overtaking 6 th Hove), the noise on the coach was indescribable. The expressions on everyone's faces (if you could see them through the tears) reflected the joy at the news. The Corps was ecstatic, and with nothing to sway their enthusiasm, their finals performance was simply amazing.

The Cadets did BK proud achieving a silver award at BYBA and 4th at DCUK.

On the BYBA circuit the Senior Corps came 1st (with 832) and were crowned British Youth Band Association Champions, helping to make the 2002 season even more memorable and proving the Black Knights were definitely back.

Rachel left the corps, and Dennis continued as the Corps Director with Rus's aid.

2003 saw the Cadets perform 'Black is Back' which included 'Music of the Knight' (Phantom of the Opera), 'Black and White', 'Blackadder' and 'Blackbird', whilst the Senior Corps performed a show based on the Cirque de Soliel show 'Quidam'.

The Senior Corps enjoyed an influx of members from Southern Aurora ( Brighton) who were unfortunately unable to compete that season. Both corps held high esteem for each other, and existing friendships made it easy for the Southern Aurora members to fit in. The corps also benefited from a brand new uniform. Although it was awkward rehearsing in a public field due to being unable to rehearse on our normal field, the corps continued to rehearse hard and well.

The Cadets reflected this work ethic and practiced hard, improving in leaps and bounds.

At finals, the main corps came away with an amazing 1st place at BYBA finals retaining their British Youth Band Association Crown (923 and a red patch! The highest BYBA score to date!) and 4th at DCUK, whilst the Cadets came in 2nd and 3rd . It was a fantastic year for both corps.

In 2004, Dennis stepped down from the role of Corps Director, and Steve Muzio took his place. Jon Bilby left to pursue other interests, but not without writing some of the drill programme first. Andy Suett took on the role of teaching the brass, Vicky Richards taught the Pit, Adam Stillwell, Matt Link (MJ) the drum section and Gavin Woodhead and Jo McGrath looked after the Colourguard.

From the word go Steve approached his role of Corps Director with enthusiasm. An attitude which was very much reflected by the members and staff of the corps. Despite a drop in numbers (many of Southern Aurora's members returned to their corps), the corps was excited about the year ahead, and the show suited this. The Senior Corps performed a jazzy show this year, designed to entertain. The numbers included 'Johnny One Note', 'Feeling Good', 'Jump, Jive and Wail' and 'At Last'. It reflected a celebration of Drum Corps, and for many, on a personal level, a reflection on how far the corps had come.

The Cadets chose to perform a show based on Walt Disney's 'Jungle Book'. The members all approached the show with excitement, and made it clear from the start that they meant business. In the background, Gary Wooldridge, along with the rest of his Cadet staff began to write a set of theory booklets for each section in an attempt to create a progressive system of learning for the cadets to follow. Junior staff were also introduced to ensure the future of the corps.

The year ran smoothly, and both corps enjoyed the benefit of the field again, after a lot of hard work taken on by the support staff and a few members who could find the spare time to help. After over a year of neglect, it was a force to be reckoned with, and saw hours of hard work put in before it could be used again.

Both corps did well at finals, the main corps coming 7th at DCUK finals and 3rd at BYBA. The Cadets hard work paid off and they were crowned Champions of both DCUK and BYBA. A result very much deserved!

2004 also saw the creation of the Corps Development Team (designed to organise fundraising and recruitment.), headed by Steve, and later Paul Richards. The new addition had proved its usefulness by the end of the year.

Senior Corps:

Steve Muzio left as Corps Director, Emma Weir took control of the Senior Corps as Senior Corps Coordinator, Dan Stillwell-Brass, Adam Stillwell- Drums, Emma Weir-Pit, Gavin Woodhead and Ellen Gibson - Guard, Steve Blakeley- Visual. his year's show is a complicated performance based on the hit musical 'Ragtime'. It includes pieces from 'Daddy's Son', 'Henry Ford' and 'Ragtime.'

The 2005 season was a 'rollercoaster' of a ride. With a contribution of re-structuring the organisation and limited rehearsals, the 2005 production struggled immensely in the first half of the season. The winter program had been strong and it was obvious that the corps had potential. During the first half the corps had trips to France and Belguim (DCE), these trips gave the corps a great experience but did cost us in regards to rehearsals. We ended up only rehearsing twice in the first half resulting in the show not developing as much as we all expected. We were placed 4th by the end of the first half. Over the summer the staff planned the show changes and the rehearsal structure well, and the members rehearsed in a determined and positive way. We had a busy rehearsal schedule over the summer that was needed to get the show to a standard that we all wanted. We came out second half strong. We were undefeated as a corps until finals day, winning both the Grantham and Newport shows; we also won the Severn Vale BYBA show. DCUK finals was a great experience, we had a very solid prelims performance and the finals performance was filled with energy and determination to put Black Knights back into the top 3 of Open class after a 6 year absence. The corps placed third with a score of 89.2, winning its first open class medal since 1998. BYBA finals was again a great experience, we came third with a score of 911.

Cadets:
Gary Wooldridge continues as Cadet Corps Co-ordinator, Beccy Powell -Brass, Vicky Richards - Drums and Pit, Laura Grain- Pit, Bianca Millward- Guard and Garry Gardiner - Visual.

Junior staff: James Powell, James and Daniel Easter, Reece and Leighanne Bolton, Charlene Bundock and Laura Sharman.

This year's show is based on the Weather and consists of 'April Showers' (Bambi), 'Let it snow', 'You are my Sunshine' and 'Colours of the Wind' (Pocahontas).

The cadets placed 2nd in DCUK finals and 2nd in BYBA finals with a score of 84.

After 14 years of competing, Black Knights enters 2006 as a corps which has proved it is a force to be reckoned with. Its history has shown that no matter what the problem, the corps will always have members that will be there to support it through thick and thin. BK has seen hard times and good times, but through everything its members have been enthusiastic and motivated. Truly admirable qualities. With 2006 looking to be a good year, who knows what Black Knights can achieve in the future? Whilst this is a question that could have many answers, there is no doubt that whatever the corps may achieve, it will do it through teamwork and a common love of music and friendship.

Senior Corps
2006 saw many new faces appearing from the start and soon shaped up to be one of the best years in the corps history. Emma Weir continued as Coordinator and the staff line from 2005 all continued working with the corps, with the addition of 2 experienced brass staff in Simon Hastings and Eoin O’Keefe. The 2006 production “Infinite Knightmares” was made up of various compositions by Danny Elfman, including music from the soundtracks of Edward Scissorhands, Spiderman, Sleepy Hollow and Beetlejuice.

The show developed throughout the season and was undoubtedly one of the very strongest shows BK has ever fielded, filled with effect and the usual BK energy. This was reflected with the first undefeated season BK had achieved since BYBA in the early 90’s. The DCUK Season ended with BK finally getting their hands on the Open Class Championship, with an impressive score of 92.7.