Blown Away at our first Froxfield Mobile Pizza Pop-up

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Blown Away at our first Froxfield Mobile Pizza Pop-Up

 Froxfield is a lovely village some three miles down the road from Hungerford. It has a Memorial Hall dating back to 1949, which we had spotted as an ideal location for one of our mobile pizza pop-up spots. We’d contacted the Hall representative and dropped in to finalise details about when we could start only to find the local Brass Band (coincidentally named the Phoenix Brass band) were just finishing one of their regular practise sessions.  It wasn’t long before it was revealed that many years ago I used to play the cornet in my school band and we were told how Phoenix were always looking for new players. I must admit I was terrified by the prospect of attempting to make a noise out of a brass instrument and I quickly tried to forget the conversation had taken place…

… but just a few days later the training band recruitment drive was in full swing and we received an email from a band representative who had tracked us down and invited us along to a training session the following weekend.

We aimed to arrive mid way through the session only to find it wasn’t a training session at all but a talent show in honour of the Queen’s birthday featuring members of the training band with the hall wonderfully decorated with union jack bunting and flags.

And what a wonderful show it was. Performances included a father and son trombone and drum duo who bounced off each other admirably – the young drummer portraying his t-shirt with aplomb – a legend in his own time indeed!  The leader of the band played his own composition of Despacito which was mesmerizing and another family duo – this time of brothers – playing the piano and trombone in an engaging performance especially given the fact the trombonist had only been playing the instrument for seven months. The full training band finshed things off in style and left us thinking what a shame we missed the first half of the show.

It wasn’t just the music on show that was astounding though – the warmth and community spirit that shone through in that room was overwhelming. Topped off by the presentation of a brand new tuba to a young man who was clearly chuffed to bits with his new instrument. We left the hall with a distinctly positive glow and with a wonderful feeling that we could soon become part of the community of Froxfield.

The following Wednesday was our first pitch outside the Memorial Hall and we were not to be disappointed. We received such a warm welcome from all of our customers that night. Despite the windy conditions (at one point we thought the Gazebo was heading back home to Hungerford) plenty of people turned out to sample our pizza – with one customer returning to the hall to tell us it was the best pizza he had ever eaten! We really hope everyone enjoyed their pizza and look forward to building relationships in the weeks and months to come…

…and yes, next Saturday I will be attempting to get a noise out of a cornet for the first time in 35 years…