The Riddings Band is an un-sponsored Championship Section English Brass Band from the Derbyshire village of Riddings (unsurprisingly) in the Amber Valley. Last Saturday they held an indoor rowing extravaganza at the MacArthur Glen Retail Outlet in South Normanton in order to raise funds. Rather like that trusty old church fete staple of speculating at the weight of a cake, the idea was for people to hazard a guess at how far the band could row in eight hours with prizes of a 100 pounds for the nearest guess, 75 pounds for second place and 25 pounds for third provided by A-Plant, Mansfield.According to organiser Joy Smith, The event itself went really well, and an enjoyable day was had by all. The total distance we managed to row was 99,873 metres on one machine and so far the row-a-thon has raised roughly 500 pounds, with more due to come in.