The month of May began with the band leading the Edinburgh May Day Parade from East Market St up the Royal Mile, down into the Grassmarket and along into Princes Street Gardens. Fielding 22 pipers and 14 drummers, we were please to get the majority of both our G4 and G3 bands out together for a performance prior to the first outdoor competition of the Season…..
Which was held in Dunbar on Saturday 8th at a new venue near the centre of the town. Despite being much more sheltered than Winterfield Park, it did little to protect against the bitterly cold morning during which the G4 band made its first foray into the outdoor Competition scene. Simple mistakes marred an otherwise good performance but the drumming as confident and well expressed and proved to be the best on the day, with the band placing 16th out of 23 and the drummers placing first!
Our G3 band played well enough, and despite a few ensemble issues disrupting the performance, we were delighted to place 2nd overall and win the drumming as well! All in all, a confident start to the Season.
Two weeks later and the first Major, the Scottish Championships, was upon us. With at least three of the five Majors beginning at 10:30am instead of the usual 9:00am, and the G3B band drawn to play at 1:30pm with the G4B band drawn to play at 4:30pm, it was very strange indeed to be leaving Edinburgh Academy halfway through the morning!
Our G3B band had a bit of a rushed tune-up but had a reasonable run in the circle; integration and a few note errors marred this performance. And our G4B band played well but again note errors and some rushing tempered their performance.
After a shorter than normal day, the results were announced with the G4B band placing 8th out of 22 band and their drummers placing 3rd. Our G3B band did especially well too for their first Major in this grade, placing 3rd overall. A good reward for everyone’s hard work over the winter months but still a lot more work to do to ensure we improve throughout the Season.
Thus Bathgate Highland Games on the 29th May hopefully served as a reminder that we need to keep working hard; with neither band featuring in the prize list, our G4 drummers did, however, win the drumming prize for their Grade which helped perk up our spirits on the way home.
Finally, we extend a warm welcome to piper Ashley Kirby who joins us from the Grand Celtic pipe band, Fergus, Ontario whilst working in Edinburgh, tenor drummer Stephanie Winton who joins from the local Craigmount High School pipe band and snare drummer Scott Black, formerly of Bo’ness pipe band who also joins the band. And we bid farewell to Pamela Matuszewski who has completed her studies in Edinburgh and returned to New York.
Moving indoors, the Lothian & Borders branch Mini Band competition was held once again at Peebles High School on April 24th. Fielding two bands in Grades 4, 3 and 2, it was a busy day all round. Our G4 band’s competing debut saw them place 12th and 13th out of 19 bands whilst our G3 band placed 2nd and 4th outfit of 8 bands.
And we also took possession of eight new Pearl snare drums which, combined with a recent purchase of second hand tenor and bass drums from Fife Constabulary, now ensures both of our band have a full compliment of drums.
Kate Spowart returns to us after a few months with East Kilbride - we’re sorry to hear that it’s unlikely that they’ll be competing this year but look forward to locking horns with them again soon - and we welcome a couple of new learners, Mark Holloway and Scott Fraser. And Erin Allenby leaves us after a year with the band to continue her working holiday on the west coast of Scotland.
The big news this month concerns the official formation of our new G4 band. Further to our promotion to G3B at the end of last year, and following on from our recent intake of new players, we have decided to form a G4 development band. Our aim with this band is to help facilitate our current learners and also those players who wish to strive for competition standard.
Current G3 Pipe Sergeant Blair Milne will lead the band, aided by newly appointed Drum Sergeant Shane Finnegan.
The RSPBA have confirmed that our new band will be competing in G4B for the 2010 Season and we’re all looking forward to the challenges and rewards competing with two bands will bring.
On Saturday 20th we held a fundraising Ceilidh at the Roxy Art House in Edinburgh. This was a huge success with a sell-out audience of 250 family, friends and guests joining us for over 4 hours of dancing and music. The Thistle Do Ceilidh band provided the dance music whilst a joint performance from the G4 and G3 bands opened the first half with the G3 band performing another slot later in the evening. We also held a Grand Prize draw on the evening with a first prize of two tickets to the Scotland v England Six Nations rugby match at Murrayfield.
Both events raised over £3500 towards band funds – essential to help us kit out our new players in both bands. We are also on a major funding drive to purchase new drums for the 2010 Season and money raised from these events will also help with this cost.
Congratulations to one of our young learners, Izzy Webster, who placed 3rd in the under 12 years chanter class at the Craigmount Solo Competition at the beginning of December.
Our first outing of 2010 saw us return to Craigiehall Officers’ Mess, Headquarters 2nd Division British Army, for their annual Burn’s Supper, with a series of mini-band performances throughout the evening.
On the tuition front, we are delighted to have once again secured the services of Scott Walsh, HOE Shotts & Dykehead, and Matt Wilson, Field Marshall Montgomery as drumming and piping tutors. We are also pleased to welcome Allan Jordan, formerly of Boghall & Bathgate as our mid-section tutor. As series of workshops are now underway, aimed at improving multiple aspects of our overall performance, sound and ensemble.
And we are pleased to welcome some more new pipers to our band; Pamela Matuszewski from Putnam Valley, New York and currently of Yorktown Irish Pipes & Drum, joins us whilst studying in Edinburgh, Thomas Bryce joins us from Craigmount High School and we’re also pleased to welcome Lena Bernard of Bagad Moulin Vert who joins us whilst working at the French Institute in Edinburgh. And welcome back to Colin Winter who re-joins us after a 12-month hiatus.
Welcome also to Rab McCutheon, formerly of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and Alan Chalmers who both join the drum corps.
December began with us leading the Stop Climate Chaos protest march from Bellahouston Park to Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow. We were delighted to be asked to lead this parade and did our best to keep spirits high despite the lengthy trek. Around 7000 marchers followed the band along the heavily policed route before assembling to hear speeches and rallies in Kelvingrove Park.
The following weekend we celebrated our Christmas Party at the Hawke & Hunter hotel on Picardy Place. Around 70 band members, friends, families and guests joined us for a party in the Cocktail Bar where we showed a short film of our Lorient trip highlights and a slideshow of 2009 photos. Santa once again made his appearance and we were also able to award £50 John Lewis vouchers to our most improved drummer (Teale Failla) and piper (Kate Spowart) for 2009.
And once again, to cure the worst of the party hangovers, the following day we were out bright and early to play for the Wish-Upon-A-Star charity Santa Stroll through Princes St Gardens. 30 band members braved the cold to dress up as Santas for the 4th year running, playing prior to the start and as the 2500 Santas began their route round the gardens.
And finally, our last gig of 2009, bringing our public appearances this year to 17 in total, was another Beat Retreat at the Royal Yacht Britannia on the 19th. In bitterly cold conditions following on from the snow that fell earlier in the day, the band played for 20 minutes alongside the ship for the assembled audience above.
As is normal for this time of year, we’ve said goodbye to a few players and welcomed some more into our band. Scott Forrest, Jim Orr, Craig McGuire and Sara McLean all leave the band to focus on other pursuits. Craig McGuire was instrumental during his tenure as DS in bringing the drum corps up to competition level and we thank him for his commitment during this time. Kate Spowart leaves us to play with East Kilbride while she continues her studies in Glasgow.
To the pipe corps we warmly welcome the following players: David Hennessey; formerly a piper with Newtongrange, David Allan; formerly a piper with Stonehaven, Neill Gillies; formerly PM of Heriot Academy and member of the Pinstripe Pipers in London, Kelly Henderson from New York; formerly of the Mohawk Valley pipes and drums who is currently studying in Edinburgh, Ryan Bain; formerly of Boghall & Bathgate juvenile pipe band, Andrew Park and Chris Winton; former pipers with Craigmount High School, John MeHarry; formerly from the Royal Burgh of Stirling pipe band and Grant Ingram who joins us whilst studying in Edinburgh
Also joining us are learners Gordon Wilson, Jemma Brunton and Marc D’Ambrosio
And to the drum corps we warmly welcome Michael Binder who moved to Edinburgh from Austria earlier this year, Islay Robertson from Wellington, New Zealand who joins us whilst working in Edinburgh, Ali Razvi; formerly from Craigmount High School, David Lowe, former DS at Heriot Academy, Alan Rennie from Penicuik, Graham Wilson; formerly a drummer with Newtongrange and Shay Reid who joins us from Methil.
Whilst November saw us make good progress with our new competition sets in preparation for the 2010 competition season it was also a busy month engagement-wise.
Our first outing was a very special affair; a 70th Wedding Anniversary party in Portobello for a pair of childhood sweethearts!
Then on the 28th we paraded across the City in all directions, simultaneously leading two parades; one from the Castle to the Parliament for the annual St Andrew's Rally Parade and the other from St Giles to St Andrew's Square for the Homecoming Finale Art Car Parade.
And on Sunday 29th we participated in the St Andrew's Do Massed Pipes and Drums, parading from the City Chambers to the Castle Esplanade before performing a Beat Retreat along with the Vale of Athol, City of Edinburgh, Linlithgow and Tranent pipe bands.
After a 4-week break, the band returned afresh to practices. Monday evenings continue to be held at Flora Stevenson Primary School in Comely Bank but our Thursday practices are now held at St James Church hall on Inverleith Row.
The main news this month came via the RSPBA who confirmed our upgrading to 3B for the 2010 competition Season. We are delighted to have progressed swiftly through 4A and are looking forward to the challenges this new grade will bring. Congratulations to everyone who has made this possible; a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment over the past few years have certainly paid of.
Our first gig of the winter season was a Beat Retreat with band performing outdoors for around 25 foreign guests at Preston Hall, just south of Edinburgh.
Being first on out of 17 bands we were keen to set a high standard and again, fielding a large band, we strode up to the line and delivered a solid performance in Grade 4. We also played up to Grade 3 but, despite some tight playing, bad blowing once again let us down; however, the drummers delivered one of their best runs of the season playing the medley.
After enjoying a few beers in the glorious autumn sunshine we fell in for Massed Bands. As well as the competition held on the day, this event also marked the end of the Branch competitions with the 2009 Branch champions soon to be announced. We were delighted to win both the piping and drumming in Grade 4 and, with this win, were once again crowned the Grade 4 Branch Champions. Our drummers missed out on the drumming championship by one point to Newtongrange; congratulations to them and their young drummers on another excellent season.
So, once suitably adorned with silverware, we joined the line of bands and played down through Peebles town centre before peeling off into our usual pub for a few pints. Once again, many thanks to Matt Wilson for helping with the tuning of the band.
The band is now on another well-earned break until practices resume in mid-October.
The Grand Parade was broadcast on French national television, as were most of the main events of the Festival, so this was good exposure for the band. It took about five hours for all the bands to march through the city and into the main stadium, and with deep crowds lining the parade route and the stadium filled to capacity this really was one of the highlights of the Festival.
The Magic Nights, held in the main stadium in the centre of Lorient, were a three-hour spectacle of Celtic music and dance accompanied by a lighting and visual display and culminating in a ten-minute long fireworks finale. We performed alongside Methil and Toronto Police pipe bands for a 20-minute slot, also performing further massed band sets with the Irish pipe bands, Welsh choir and our old friends the Keltika Highland Dancers from Scotland. A couple of pipers, including our youngest player, twelve-year-old Lewis Blyth, were also invited to join Keltika’s piper Andy Gibb and drummer Lee Erskine on the main stage for part of the dancers’ set.
We also entered an open pipe band and drum fanfare competition, competing against nine other bands including Toronto Police and another grade one band, the recently-promoted Bagad Cap Caval. Our drummers placed third in the fanfare competition, and we placed fifth in the medley and joint third in the MSR competitions.
Our stage show at the Espace Marine was a very professional affair with over 2,000 people paying to watch us perform for almost an hour. We’d learnt new material for this event, which included backing musicians plus dancers from Keltika performing onstage with us, and everyone pulled out the stops to ensure we put on an excellent show.
A mere five days after our return from Lorient it was time for the World Championships, held on Saturday 15th August at Glasgow Green. We were fortunate to have a decent competing time in the morning, but – of the three qualification heats – our heat was nicknamed the ‘Heat of Death’ thanks to the number of bands in it who had previously placed at a Major this season. In wet and mucky conditions we tuned up swiftly and were relieved to deliver a solid performance, placing third equal with the University of Bedfordshire and earning us a place in the final.
However, despite a good rest, the warm up to the final didn’t quite click and our performance was well off the standard we had previously been setting. It was therefore with little surprise that we stood at the end of the day, listening to the Grade 4A top six places and didn’t hear our name called out! This was the first time in nine Major Championship competitions that we’d failed to place and certainly overshadowed the excellent achievement earlier in the day when we qualified with confidence.
So, keen to get ourselves back into the prize list, we travelled south to Melrose the following weekend to attend our third Branch competition. Fielding quite a small band, we were delighted to place first out of twelve bands in Grade 4. We also entered Grade 3, which gave us our second chance of the season to play our MSR, and despite fielding the minimum-sized competing band we were very pleased to place sixth out of eleven bands, with our pipers placing fifth.
The Cowal Championships came round swiftly to mark the end of the Major Championship season for 2009. Held as ever in Dunoon, we had the luxury of a relatively late start, leaving Edinburgh at a civilised 8am, with a qualifying performance time of 12:38pm. Qualifying very well in joint first place with Quinn Memorial we were a little disappointed with our sixth place in the final, but acknowledged that we again didn’t deliver as strong a performance as we know we can muster. Still, we enjoyed the street parade and partied our way back across the country arriving back in Edinburgh just before midnight.
Congratulations to Letterkenny and District, Quinn Memorial and Matt Boyd Memorial who have dominated Grade 4A this season. Given that this is our first year in 4A we are delighted to finish fourth in the Champion of Champions table, one point behind Quinn.
After a hectic June the band took a two-week break to recharge the batteries, resuming practices in mid-July. As well as working on our competition sets we also began working on new material for our trip to the Interceltique Festival in Lorient at the beginning of August.
On 18th July we travelled west to Balloch for the Loch Lomond Highland Games where we placed first in Grade 4, albeit in a relatively small competition. We also ‘played up’ to Grade 3, which gave us another chance to play our medley; our drummers won first place and we placed fourth as a band out of nine bands.
The European Championships were held on 25th July at Battery Park, Inverclyde. With glorious sunshine for most of the day, and exceptional views up to Loch Lomond, we all enjoyed a good day out. It was a long day, though (we left Edinburgh at 7am and didn’t return until 10pm), but our hard work over the last few weeks paid off and we qualified second in our heat before playing well to win third place in the final.
Now we’ve just one practice left before we leave for Brittany. During our time in Lorient, as well as enjoying and absorbing the music, sights and sounds of the Festival, and doing our bit through various performances, parades and shows, we will be using the ten days playing together to work on our competition sets and overall band sound in preparation for the rest of the season.
On the same day, a group of pipers, including some of our youngest players, entertained the crowds at the Stockbridge Primary School Fete. Well done to those who made their first appearance with the band!
The following weekend was another double event with a sizeable band led by Scott and Erin participating in the Leith Pageant whilst the competing band travelled to the branch competition at Innerleithen. Once again we won the Grade 4 band, drumming and best bass section trophies and were very pleased to place sixth out of eleven bands in Grade 3.
The following weekend a large band led the Davidson Mains Gala parade to Lauriston Castle, once again providing an opportunity for our newer and non-competing members to play with the band. And at the same time, another group of pipers, again including some of our younger players, entertained the crowds at the St Serfs Church Fete. The next day the band travelled to Eglinton, south of Glasgow, to perform at the opening of the Eglinton Arms Hotel. This performance was thanks to a winning bid by the hotel’s owner at the MacMillan Cancer Trust auction held earlier this year. The band played several times throughout the afternoon outside the hotel, entertaining a steady stream of guests and locals.
To round off a busy month, we travelled to Belfast on Friday 24th June in preparation for the British Championships at Banbridge the following day. Once again we stayed at Stranmillis University campus and enjoyed excellent B&B accommodation. We knew this was going to be a tough competition; with the grade so far being dominated by Irish and NI bands and with only three non-Irish bands in our qualifying heat, we were only too well aware of how hard we’d have to work if we wanted to win a place in the top six!
Our qualification went well, with fifth and third places from the judges, but we really worked hard in the final winning two third places for piping, and fourth for drumming and ensemble. This gave us third place overall, a result we were thoroughly delighted with! Our hard work had paid off but we’d also like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Matt Wilson from Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band in helping with the tuning of the band.
Once back in Belfast and with everyone in high spirits, we enjoyed a meal out together before letting the more energetic band members party late into the night.
The band performed both days, playing all 14 team coaches into Murrayfield and helped draw public attention to the forthcoming 2009 World Pipe Band Championships which will be held at Glasgow Green on August 15th.
Several thousand spectators descended on Murrayfield for the weekend and the band enjoyed playing to continually appreciative crowds in the carnival atmosphere surrounding the stadium.
Our first outdoor competition of the Season was at Dunbar on May 9th. This was probably one of the coldest days we’ve ever competed on, with a strong chilly wind blowing squally showers across the competition field making it a tough day for all the bands entered.
That said, the rain held off for our Grade 4 performance and drawn 4th out of 25 bands, we fielded 15 pipers and a large drum corps. With a rocky start it took a while for the band to settle but we were delighted when the drum corps were announced as G4 winners and the band won first place overall.
Our Grade 3 performance featured our first attempt at competing with an MSR; we’d put in a lot of practice for this over the months beforehand, but the bad weather and competition nerves combined to deliver a less than satisfactory performance. That said we still managed to place 6th out of 11 bands but acknowledge that we’ve a lot to work on before the next MSR outing at Melrose in August.
One week later, and a week earlier than normal, the Scottish Pipe Band Championships were held once again at Dumbarton and marked the beginning of the Major Championship Season for 2009. This was our first competition in G4A and after a solid tune-up and a bracing 9:27am performance in the Qualifier, we were delighted to make it through to the Final.
After enduring a 5-hour wait for the Final, we tuned up well and managed to keep momentum going through the performance. But a bad start and some slack playing from the pipers meant we didn’t deliver the performance we had hoped for. However, when the results were announced, we were very pleased with a 4th place overall, but even more delighted with the announcement that the drummers were the Scottish G4A Champions!
Well done to everyone and many thanks to Matt Wilson for his assistance.
And on the fund-raising front, the band performed at two late-night Beat Retreats during May, one at the Royal Yacht Britannia on May 15th and the other at the Mansfield Traquair on May 19th.
However, the main focus for April was the Lothian and Borders mini-band competition at Peebles. The band had an excellent day, placing first and second out of 20 bands in Grade 4 and reclaiming the trophy we won last year.
But we also played up to Grade 3 and managed to win this grade with our second band placing fourth. With 14 bands entered this was an amazing result and a great achievement for everyone involved!
And our second parade of the month featured the largest band we’ve ever fielded, with 18 pipers and 12 drummers leading the first St Patrick’s Day parade from St Giles to St Patrick’s Church in the Cowgate. Over 200 people followed the band and church members down the Mile before attending a special Mass at St Patrick’s.
Finally, we’d like to extend a warm welcome Erin Allenby, originally from New Zealand, who joins us from the Williamstown RSL Pipeband in Melbourne and Michael Binder who has moved to Scotland from Austria; both have joined the drum corps. And also to piper Clare Miller who joins us from the Grampian Police Pipe Band having recently moved to Edinburgh.
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Our sponsorship by John Lewis was officially marked with a photo shoot and press release towards the end of February. We arranged for award-winning Edinburgh
photographer David Bryce to take some shots of John Lewis’s Community Liaison Officer, Ken Miller, handing over a cheque for £4,000 to band members
Rebecca Anderson, Cameron Tulloch, Andrew McCaig and Lewis Blyth.
Ken Miller noted that “Stockbridge Pipe Band are beacons for Edinburgh’s proud heritage, and we’re proud that our donation enables them to carry on promoting their good work throughout the world.” We hope that John Lewis and Stockbridge Pipe Band have forged the beginnings of a successful partnership for the future. We’re proud to carry the John Lewis logo with us on our travels across the globe. |
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| And on the subject of travels, we are delighted to announce that we will be participating in this year’s Interceltique Festival in Lorient, Brittany. This annual gathering takes place in the heart of the city every August and features Celtic traditional, classical, folk, jazz and rock musicians, singers, dancers, painters, sculptors, writers and other artists. Participants are invited from Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Cape Breton Island, Galicia, and Asturias. One of the highlights will be the spectacular Grand Parade of Celtic Nations, in which more than 3,500 musicians, singers, pipe bands and dancers from all over the Celtic world parade through the city in national costume. The band members are really looking forward to this trip and we will be working hard over the coming months in preparation for the parades, shows and competitions which occur during the Festival. |  |
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No sooner were we back from our festive break than the band was out playing again. First up was a midnight Beating Retreat at the Royal Yacht Britannia
on 24th January which went well despite the sub-zero temperatures! Thankfully, the next event was indoors at Craigiehall Officer’s Mess, which allowed
us to air our new MSR and Medley to over 100 guests and dignitaries. Everyone performed very well and this early opportunity to perform all our
competition sets will hopefully help us with our preparations for the Branch mini-band competition in April.
However, the highlight of the month was the announcement that, after successful negotiations with the Edinburgh branch of leading department store John Lewis, the band will receive financial support to develop its teaching and workshops throughout early 2009 as well as assistance with travel costs during the competition season. The band will sport the John Lewis logo on our bass drum and we hope this is the beginning of a successful partnership for the future |
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The band held its AGM on 18th December. We enjoyed an immensely successful year in 2008, and along with the competition success, the band has continued to grow to over 50 members. Highlights of the year included a short trip to Provence, appearances on Channel Four and CBBC and of course winning four Major Championships and our promotion to 4A. The band has also helped initiate after-school piping classes at Stockbridge Primary School and is currently helping to get a similar scheme for piping and drumming up and running at Davidson Mains Primary School in early 2009.
The AGM saw a shift in Pipe Sergeant personnel with Ken Ross stepping down as the number two PS and Scott Forrest filling this role from the beginning of 2009. Ken has been with the band for over ten years and in that time has provided excellent tuition for pipers and will continue to assist in this role. Scott joined us over six years ago, was soon voted into the PS position and has since helped nurture the band as it has grown and developed. A valuable player and all-round band member, he now feels it is the right time to take a step back and let someone else fill this position. So we are delighted to announce that Blair Milne, formerly of Grampian Police Pipe Band, has now joined the band and will fill the role of Pipe Sergeant. A competent player with valuable competing experience, Blair will be helping Euan and Andrew set up the band for the 2009 season.
We also wish to extend a warm welcome to Tony Park, Ross Martin and Louise Park from the Penicuik Pipe Band, Stephen Moggach who formerly played with Buchan Pipe Band, Claire Loftus from Seafield and District, Val Clark and Kathryn Wylie who have all recently joined the drum corps. Welcome also to Dave Shewan, Gerald Blyth, Lewis Blyth and John McLaren who have joined the pipe corps, and to Michael Green who returns to us after a couple of years’ break.
We restarted practices in mid-October and immediately began work on the new tunes for the 2009 season, as well as resuming our teaching programme.
At the beginning of November the band led the Port Seton Remembrance Parade and, at the end of the month, we took our customary place at the head of the annual St Andrew’s parade, this time down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.
We also competed in the Grade 3 competition and, having had some rather poor results from our attempts previously in the season, we were delighted to place 6th out of 15 Bands, with the pipe corps also placing 6th.
So the Season finally ended with the Band being crowned Lothian and Borders Branch Champions both as a Band and as a drum corps, and with these trophies in tow, we marched proudly up the street and into the pub for a well-deserved pint!
As the Season ended we had to say goodbye to some friends from overseas. Amos Van Die, who despite being based in St Andrews had been keen to play with us during the summer, returned home to Ottawa. And we also had to bid farewell to Rob McKenzie, who returned to Toronto having completed his studies. During the 2008 Season Rob committed a lot of time to helping us improve our playing, maintain our sound through both qualifiers and finals and generally giving tips and advice to everyone to help improve our overall standard. We wish Rob all the best for the future and look forward to hopefully seeing him again in 2009!
We also wish to thank Scott Walsh of the House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band who has spent a lot of time this Season helping Andrew with the scores and our drummers to improve their playing skills.
Thanks also to Stu McHale from the Hamilton Caledonian Society Pipe Band of New Zealand who spent time with our mid-section earlier in the Season whilst working in Edinburgh.
And finally, thanks to Blair Milne of Grampian Police Pipe Band who has helped out continually throughout the Season both at practices and competitions.
The biggest thanks of all, however, goes to the Band members and supporters.
Thanks to all the players for their commitment, energy and drive which has made this such an excellent Season. Thanks to Mr M for looking after the refreshments, Sara for her high-spirited treats, to Willie our coach driver for being exceptionally accommodating and a willing participant and thanks to all the helpers and supporters, families and friends who kept us motivated throughout the Season.
The Band is now taking a well-earned break until mid-October when we will resume our winter practices.
So, with high hopes we headed east to the wet and wonderful North Berwick Highland Games on the 9th August. Traditionally a sunny event, this year’s Games were shrouded in persistent rain which turned the field into a muddy marsh. We were on 11th out of 15 bands in Grade 4 and were delighted to win first place in the Open competition as well as best drum corps in G4. We also won both first places in the Lothian and Borders Confined Branch competition.
The following day, we travelled up to Perth Highland Games. Having surpassed ourselves the previous day, we had a very poor run and placed 8th out of 24 Bands. The drum corps, though, were deservedly pleased with 2nd place.
The week of the World Championships began with a solid practice on the Monday night. Then, throughout the week, the Piping Live festival in Glasgow provided non-stop piping and drumming highlights in the build-up to the Worlds. The day itself dawned earlier than normal for the PM, who after a wedding in Essex the day before flew up from Stansted at 6am, arriving bleary-eyed at Glasgow Green in time to finalise the Band’s tune-up (many thanks to Scott, Rob and Blair for getting things going) before the qualifier at 9:18am.
We were delighted to qualify with two 1st places from this heat of 13 Bands and took some time to rest before the warm-up for the final in the afternoon. A solid tune-up saw us heading to the line in good form. Nerves kicked in just at the beginning but we settled down into a steady performance and marched off pleased to have made it into the Final for a third time.
Entering the arena for Massed Bands, we were confident that, with two wins behind us, we had played well enough to place somewhere in the top six, but none of us could quite believe it when first the drum corps were announced World Champions and then the Band were also announced as 2008 World Champions!!
Nothing can beat this feeling, slightly surreal though it felt at the time! We were absolutely delighted; tears, hugs, silly grins all abounded as we congratulated each other! With both titles in the bag and the trophies there in front of us to confirm it, we were on cloud nine.
And if this wasn’t enough excitement for one day, we had a wedding to celebrate as well! Congratulations to our piper Colin and his lovely wife Sharon who were married earlier in the day. Colin missed playing at the Worlds, but our trip home was via their wedding reception, at which we gave the ceilidh band a break by playing a few sets before celebrating the occasion with the Bride and Groom.
One week later, all this excitement was behind us as we competed at Melrose Pipe Band Competition in a bid to extend our lead in the Lothian and Borders Branch Table. We were now determined to go all out in an attempt to win both the Branch and Champion of Champions. We didn’t play as well as we could have done at Melrose but, nevertheless, the drum corps placed 1st, the pipers 5th and we placed 3rd overall out of 11 Bands, securing another 5 points. And with these points, we also secured our Branch Champion of Champions position for both the Band and the drum corps for 2008.
And so the final Major rolled round on Saturday 30th August. An early start saw us arrive at Dunoon in Argyll for the Cowal Championships by 8:30am, despite a few people missing the 5:45am pick-up!
In weather that was a wee bit chilly and slightly overcast we tuned up quickly, accepting that the sound wasn’t going to get any brighter, and concentrated on nailing our attack and ensemble.
Qualifying comfortably with a 1st and 2nd placing, we then had an arduous 5-hour wait for the Final. It takes a lot of effort to keep a Band motivated between two performances so far apart, but our determination to strive for a fourth win kept us focused.
The afternoon brightened a little and we warmed to this final assault with a confident drive, playing well but wearily! And as we entered the arena at the end of the day, at the back of everyone’s minds was the million-dollar question; have we done enough to win again? We knew we had already won the Supreme Champions as a Band thanks to our previous placings, but the drum corps still had a point to gain to secure their place in the Champions league.
Burntisland won the best drum corps and, whilst delighted for them, we all began to wonder where we’d place. But our commitment had prevailed and we were delighted to hear Stockbridge announced the 2008 Cowal Champions! The subsequent announcements for 2008 Supreme Band and Drum Corps Champions were lost in the mêlée as we hugged and cheered, relieved and delighted with the result.
So with three trophies secured, and with a little street party fancy dress courtesy of the drum corps, we took our place in the queue for the final parade through Dunoon, heads held proud as we weaved our way to the foot of the High Street.
Congratulations to both Burntisland and Stamperland on an excellent season; two challenging adversaries who’ve kept us on our toes for the past few months!
So instead we headed north to Cupar Highland Games on Sunday 6th and despite persistent rain all day, we were pleased to win 2nd place in G4, 3rd in G3 and 3rd in an open G2 competition.
The rest of the month was spent preparing for the European Championships in Lisburn, NI, on the 26th July. We left Edinburgh at 6:00am on Friday morning, catching the ferry from Stranraer and were in Belfast for 12 noon. As short drive took us to our accommodation at Stranmillis University campus on the south side of the city. After a leisurely lunch we had a brief practice in the afternoon before the heavy skies broke. And after a few beers over dinner it was an early night all round; we almost all round!
Everyone was up bright and early on the Saturday morning and after an quick breakfast – thanks to Dave and Henry for their help with this – we took the short drive to the competition grounds. Having arrived in plenty of time, we had a leisurely tune-up and, playing well, placed 1st in our Qualifying heat.
The day brightened up from here on in and it began to get quite hot, so we concentrated on a well-paced tune-up for the Final in the afternoon. We were pleased with the performance with each corps again gelling well as a unit and producing a strong band sound.
And we were delighted to be announced the G4b European Champions for 2008! Again, a lot of hard work over the past few weeks paid off for everyone and the well-deserved celebrations continued late into the night! Congratulations to Everyone.
This month got off to a glamorous start with the Band performing at the Vodafone T4 concert in Princes St Gardens on 1st July. Along with the Sugababes, The Feeling and the Hoosiers, the Band entertained several thousand revellers in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.
And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the Band were also commissioned by Channel Four to film a live link with the Sugababes which was shown on T4 as part of the concert coverage. Playing a rendition of ‘About You Now’ four of the Band’s members appeared, albeit briefly, with the Sugababes and T4 presenter Dave Berry.
You’d think that one filming gig a year was good going but straight off the back of the T4 event, we were asked to film for CBBC the following day!
Williamston Primary School in Livingston was the venue for the filming of the children’s programme ‘Help! Teach is coming to Stay’ in which a teacher must learn two of her pupil’s hobbies over a weekend and is then tested on one of them the following Monday.
Our poor teacher was learning snare drumming and ballet and landed herself a 20-minute theory and practical test with Arthur Cook, Leading Drummer with the Lothian & Borders Police Pipe Band and a short performance with a mini-band, courtesy of ourselves.
Filming fun out of the way, the Band then knuckled down to performing at several ‘bread & butter’ gigs throughout the rest of the month; Leith Pageant, Stockbridge Primary School Gala, Davidson’s Mains Gala and Bo’ness Children’s Gala Parade.
In between, we competed at the third Branch competition at Innerleithen, where we placed 1st overall, winning also Best Drum corps and Best Bass section.
Our final outing of the month was to the British Championships in Birmingham on the 28th June. We travelled down on the Friday night after work and arrived at our Hostel in time to get a decent night’s sleep before heading off to Cannon Hill Park on Saturday morning.
Our tune-up went well for the Qualifiers and we placed 1st from both judges. After a short rest we re-tuned up for the final and after a good, steady run we were pretty pleased with the way things had gone.
And, when the prizes were announced for G4B, we were ecstatic to be crowned G4B British Champions for 2008. A lot of hard work from everyone in the Band paid off with a cracking result! Well done to everyone; many thanks to Rob and Amos for their assistance and thanks to all our supporters who made the trip south to cheer us on.
In April, we attended the Lothian & Borders Branch mini band competition, held at Peebles High School. In a field of 24 bands, we were delighted that our ‘A’ band won first place in Grade 4, with the ‘B’ band finishing in 8th place overall and winning the drumming as well.
And at our first attempt at the Grade 3 mini band competition we placed 8th out of 14 bands.
Next up was the first outdoor competition at Dunbar on the 10th May. A far cry from last year’s cold and wet event, the skies were blue all day but there was still a coastal chill to the air.
We had a good position in the Grade 4 heat and fielding a full band played well, if a little rushed. Finishing 2nd out of 22 bands was a cracking result and we were delighted to begin the outdoor season with a prize!
Between Dunbar and the first Major of the season, we were lucky enough to be invited to perform at the Fête de la Crau in Fos Sur Mer, a seaside town in southern Provence. We flew out on the 17th and returned nicely bronzed and culturally topped up on the 19th before heading straight to practice that evening. A full trip diary will be posted soon.
And, then it was the Scottish Championship at Dumbarton on the 23rd May. We had been working hard for this and knew we had to keep our qualifying reputation intact; we had a good draw and as forecasted, the weather was excellent.
That said, our morning tune-up was rushed and we were also rushed to the line a little early so the playing in the qualifier was not the strongest performance we can muster. None-the-less, we qualified in 2nd place and secured our position in the final.
We had a much more relaxed and structured tune-up for the final but some frustrating mistakes and bad blowing form the pipe corps didn’t give us the confident run we had hoped for.
So we were exceptionally pleased to place 4th overall with a 2nd place for ensemble and an excellent 2nd place for drumming.
However, it was a quiet bus journey home; gluttons for punishment that we are, we were booked to play at Hopetoun House later that evening and needed to be in tiptop shape for this gig at 11:30PM!
In fact we’ve had a busy run of Beating Retreats; along with the event at Hopetoun House we also performed at anther two engagements at Winton House in East Lothian as well.
Our final outing in May was at Bathgate Highland Games on the 31st May. Another lovely day, we fielded a large band, with some first time appearances within the pipe corps. Unfortunately, bad blowing left us in 5th place for piping, with the drummers in 2nd place and out Bass Section winning Best Bass. Thus a 5th place overall.
The Band's AGM was held at the end of January at which Craig McGuire stepped down as Drum Sergeant and Andrew McCaig accepted the position. We wish to thank Craig for his immense impact on the Band during his time with us as leading tip; he has been instrumental in building our competitive drum corps and attracting new players and hopefully will still find time to play with us this season. Andrew joined the Band last year and was previously Drum Sergeant with the Loretto School pipe band in the late 90s. Progress has been excellent over the past few weeks and we're all looking forward to the start of the competition season.
And we're pleased to announce that we are heading abroad again, this time to France to perform at the Fete De La Crau Festival, which takes place in the seaside town of Fos Sur Mer, 50km north west of Marseilles. The Festival runs for four days from May 16th and the Band will be accompanied by five of Scotland's finest young Highland Athletes who will be taking part in a friendly Highland Games contest with competitors from Spain and France.
Practices resumed in October for the winter season and we are currently looking to boost our ranks for the 2008 season. As is customary we have had to say goodbye to some band members but also welcome new players into our ranks.
Farewell to Catriona Sneddon who leaves us to play for the Pheonix Honda Glasgow Skye Association Pipe Band in Grade 2, and Kirsten Reid and Michael Lawson who have both joined the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band in Grade 3A.
We’ve also had to say farewell to Tyler Irving who has returned to Canada to take up a teaching post at the University of Toronto and will shortly be waving off Ross Cameron who has reached the end of his teaching placement and will return to South Africa at Christmas. It’s been a pleasure having you both with us this year and we hope you keep in touch and visit soon.
On the plus side we welcome several new players. Additions to the pipe corps include Kate Spolwart who joins us from Duns Pipe Band, Michael McGillis who joins us from the University of Bedfordshire Pipe Band, Alan Ballie who recently played with the Edinburgh Postal Pipe Band and Jim Orr who has recently moved to Edinburgh from England. We’re also pleased to welcome Blair Milne who plays with the Grampian Police Pipe Band but is currently working in Edinburgh. And also Rob McKenzie who joins us from the G2 Glengarry Pipe band in Canada. Rob is currently studying in Edinburgh and hopes to be able to help us out during the 2008 competition season.
We also welcome tenor drummer Julie Gerkin from the Lothian & Borders Police Pipe Band, and Shane Finnigan, Steven Durie and Alyson Hainey who have all joined the drum corps.
Over the past few weeks the Band has been working hard on the new MAP tunes for the 2008 competition season as well as performing for the annual St Andrew’s Day parade and the Wish Upon A Star charity Santa fun-run held in Princes St Gardens on the 16th December.
And on the 8th December, we held our Mexican-themed Christmas Party at Viva Mexico on Cockburn St, where amongst the seasonal festivities, our Mexico DVD premiered to 40 band members, family and friends. Well done and a huge thank you from everyone to Hazel for all her hard work in completing another excellent record of this major trip!
The Band is now resting over the festive period and will resume practices in early January.
We’ve also been busy preparing a 30-minute DVD which features some of the Band’s past performances this year and insights into the typical Band setup, uniform and the principal Highland Games events. The DVD will be distributed when we are in Mexico and will hopefully prove entertaining and informative. Many thanks to Hazel for all her hard work in collating and editing the footage.
Once we return there will be a short break, with practices resuming on Monday 22nd October.
We were very pleased to be placed fifth overall in Grade 4, pipped for fourth place on an ensemble preference. We also placed third in the confined Branch Grade 4 competition. After leaving the field, we swiftly marched down the street and into a local bar before adjourning to former band member David Anderson’s house for more refreshments, food and entertainment. Many thanks to Gillian and Neil for having us.
The following weekend was the World Pipe Band Championships at Glasgow Green. The odds were not in our favour with three heats of 15 bands and only four from each going through to the final. With our coach turning up 30 minutes late, and thus only arriving in Glasgow an hour before we were due to go on, it was a very hectic tune-up in the beer tent as we avoided the persistent rain. Going straight from the tent to the line, we were delighted to place third equal and so qualify for the final.
However, we weren’t drawn to compete until 3:20pm and, thanks to the continual rain, it was a long five hours spent on the coach as we waited to tune up. It proved very difficult to get everyone fired up for the final performance and although we tuned up well, we really lacked the drive to give a solid performance. That said, we were happy to be placed tenth overall in our second ever World Championships – and even happier to get aboard the coach after massed bands and head home!
Subsequently, Perth Highland Games on the Sunday was cancelled due to the awful weather.
Melrose Pipe Band Championships took pace on Saturday 18th and whilst not a clear sunny day, the rain held off. We were only able to field two snare drummers for this competition but persisted in playing and placed seventh out of 14 bands, with a fifth for piping. This was our final Branch competition of the season which saw us placed second in Grade 4 behind Newtongrange. Unable to make Peebles in September, we fully expected Duns to perform well and push us into third place.
The final Major of the season was Cowal Championships, held in Dunoon. We had the pleasure of being drawn to play at 9:42am which meant leaving Edinburgh at 5:30, but we made swift progress and arrived in good time to tune up. Intermittent showers proved awkward but we took to the field with confidence and placed fourth out of the 12 bands in our heat. The weather cleared for the afternoon and we marched up to the line for the final ready to do battle. But rushed playing towards the end of the set meant a less than perfect performance, and we placed ninth overall, with a sixth place for ensemble. Our tone was solid and the overall band playing and sound was tight but the finer points of our performance were lacking and this showed in our placing. It had been an enjoyable day’s competing, though, and a good end to the season. Fully charged, we marched down the street at the end of the day, accompanied by a neon pink-haired young Drum Major who kept the crowds cheering with her flourishing, before hopping back on the bus and partying over the Firth of Clyde and back to Edinburgh.
| June was as busy as usual. At the beginning of the month, 27
band
members and 6 Highland dancers flew to Bergamo in northern Italy for
three days to participate in the 7th Lo Spirito del Pianeta festival.
Upon our return, the band performed and competed a total of eight times during the month. Leith Pageant, on June 9th, was hot and sunny; a rarity compared to the rest of the month. Fielding a sizable band we participated in the parade down Leith Walk towards Leith Links and did a quick turn for the assembled crowds. |
 |
The following Saturday saw us field two bands on the same day. Fourteen Band members led the parade at Davidson’s Mains Gala Day under cloudy skies from the high street along to Lauriston Castle grounds. And at the local Branch competition in Innerleithen, the competing corps placed 5th overall in G4 with the drummers winning the Best Drum Corps trophy! We also competed in G3 but principally to give us another chance for feedback on the G4 set; despite being placed 10th overall out of the 11 bands competing, the drummers did very well and were placed 6th beating several G3 bands. Well done and thanks to everyone that played; fielding two large bands at the same time takes a lot of commitment from everyone involved, but equally highlights how far we have come over the past few years.
On Saturday 23rd July, we made the long trip to Ballymena to compete at the British Championships. Setting off from Edinburgh at 00.30 hrs we drove through the night across Scotland to Stranraer where we boarded the 4:45am sailing. Two hours later we were docking in Belfast and a short drive north took us to the Ballymena Showgrounds, arriving just before 8:00am.
We had an excellent draw, playing second last at 11:08 so there was plenty of time to get settled in. Tuning up went well and as we moved across the park to the final tuning area everything was coming together. A steady attack and reasonably controlled playing saw us place joint third along with Fraserburgh and Irvine Memorial and thus qualify for the final. We weren’t due to play in the final until 4:20pm so, after lunch and a couple of hours kip, we headed back out. Again, things were settling down well and as we approached final tuning the band was sounding very solid and confident. Unfortunately, we peaked a little too early and had to wait five minutes until we could play. It was still a steady performance but we lost a lot of integration towards the end and, in a rather stiff field of bands, finished 9th overall with the drum corps earning a 5th place. Many thanks to David and Neil for their assistance tuning the drones.
The ferry back was a great laugh, but once back in the bus most people were soon fast asleep as we headed back east across the country, arriving in Edinburgh at 5:00am.
Despite this late return home, some of the band, accompanied by those who hadn’t been competing, managed to get themselves back out again for the Bo’ness Kirkin’ parade on Sunday.
Friday 29th saw us out at Bo’ness Gala Day parade where, along with several other pipe, brass and reed bands we marched through the town under clear and sunny skies.
Then on Saturday 30th, we fielded two bands again. One band went across the water to Cowdenbeath to participate in the annual Gala Parade whilst the other band travelled the short distance to Glencorse Reservoir in the Pentland Hills to appear in a forthcoming Argentinian documentary. The film is about Italian-born Argentinian rock star Luca Proda who was educated at Gordonstoun School and who died in 1987. Filming took about three hours and luckily the weather stayed fair and we only had to do a few takes before the director was satisfied with what was filmed.
And if that wasn’t enough action for one day, on Saturday evening the band held its first ever Race Night at Heriot’s Rugby Club, Goldenacre. Almost £1000 was raised for band funds through pre-Race Night betting and betting on the night itself. The whole event was excellent fun and we rounded the night off with a short ceilidh, with music being provided by our own in-house ceilidh band!
Many thanks to everyone who has donated a prize or sold a race card for this evening’s event and our race sponsors. These were:
Race 1 – The Retirement Stakes – Sponsored by Henry Aitchison
Race 2 – I’m Still Retired I Think? Stakes – Sponsored by Henry again
(We think he forgot
about sponsoring Race 1)
Race 3 – Top Six at Inverness Championship Stakes – Sponsored by Euan
and Hazel
Race 4 – Pipe Sergeants Rule Gold Cup – Sponsored by Scott Forrest
Race 5 – Small Cars Get Off the Road or I’ll Crush You Stakes –
Sponsored by John – all
terrain – Mallon
Race 6 – The Quartermaster Aberdeen (Angus) Steaks - Sponsored by Gavin
Hamilton
Race 7 – The Milligan Paints Super Sprint – Sponsored by Mr K. Milligan
Race 8 – Princess Sara Stakes – Sponsored by Sara McLean
It was great to see some old and familiar faces as well as new friends too; many thanks to everyone who came along and a big thank you to our Pipe Sergeant, Scott, who organised the successful event.
The competition season is now upon us and during the month of May, the Band attended two Branch competitions and the Scottish Championships at Dumbarton.
Dunbar, at the beginning of the month, was bitterly cold and windy and, competing at 10:30am, this meant it was a pretty tough run for those not used to such conditions. We placed a credible 9th out of 22 mix of 4A and 4B bands and earned four points for the Branch Championship.
At the Scottish Championships in Dumbarton we experienced some of the worst weather we’ve ever competed in; we tuned up under heavy clouds but the wind kept them moving until about two minutes before we were due to go one when the heavens opened. With a bit of a rocky intro and not playing at our best we were very pleased to qualify. So with almost four hours until we were due on in the final, everyone got dried off and warmed up, determined to do better second time around. Tuning up was going really well and we headed down to the final tuning area for Arena Three, right on a spur beside the river. And almost on cue, an almighty squall came straight in from the west, soaking us completely. We had no choice but to head up to the line and give it our best shot. Again, soaking and cold and battered by heavy winds, we ran through the full 2/4 set. But a poor start and unsteady playing meant we were placed 9th overall. Not a bad result considering, but a long way from where we had set our sights.
Bathgate Highland Games on May 26th saw an improvement in our playing but we missed the prize list, placing 5th overall. However this gave us another four points for the Branch Championship and some valuable constructive criticism from both judges.
During the final days in May the Band has been busy rehearsing with dancers from the Jane Knox School of Highland Dancing in preparation for our trip to Italy at the start of June. Everyone’s looking forward to this four day event and we’re pleased to be taking a large band, including some new players.
We also wish to extend a warm welcome to piper Ross Cameron from South Africa who joins the Band whilst working in Edinburgh on a Gap Year.
We are delighted to confirm two more major trips abroad this year.
From June 1st-4th, 27 band members will be appearing at the Spirit of the Planet Festival in Bergamo, northern Italy, along with six Highland dancers from the Jane Knox School of Highland Dancing in Dunbar.
And, from September 18th-28th, 31 band members will be making the long journey to Mexico to perform at the opening of the 2007 UNESCO World Forum in Monterrey and at the 5th International Festival of Folklore in San Luís Potosí. Again, we will be joined by four Highland dancers from the Jane Knox School of Highland Dancing.
Combined with our earlier trip to Sicily in February of this year, this will take our tally of international forays for 2007 up to three, and this year will hopefully prove to be as exciting and rewarding as 2005 when we travelled to Sicily, northern Italy and China within a eight month period.
Both these trips will provide added focus for us in developing the performance side of the Band but will also require a huge amount of work, with fundraising throughout the summer. Everyone’s up for the challenge and looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead.
The past two months have seen the band practising hard and getting to grips with the new MAP tunes for this season as we look forward to the summer competitions. We have also benefited from a welcome influx of new members.
We extend a warm welcome to Andrew McCaig, Craig Bogle, Michael Lawson, Andy Egan and Barry Howes who have recently joined the snare section. We are also delighted that Angela Chalmers has now joined the band after playing with us in Sicily. Welcome as well to Karen Smith and Catriona Sneddon, who have joined the pipe corps.
In March, a mini band performed for around 60 foreign visitors from across Europe at the Tandem International Conference held in Drummond Community High School. Two weeks later, another mini band performed at a charity concert in Greyfriar’s Kirk along with two other local groups from Edinburgh.
And, on April 11th, the Band performed at the John Lewis AGM held at the EICC. The red carpet was rolled out and four pipers welcomed the 800 guests at the main door whilst a mini band played outside the main auditorium as the guests took their seats. Then the entire band marched down the aisles and onto the stage for a short performance.
The band are now busy preparing for the first local outdoor competition at Dunbar on May 12th, followed by the Scottish Championships a week later at Dumbarton. Good luck to all Bands for the 2007 season.
On 10th February 2007 band member Scott Martin suddenly passed away. Scott had been a snare drummer with the Band for about 18 months, joining as a learner and being taught first by Craig McGuire and then latterly by Andrew Dempster. Scott was cheerful, hard-working and committed and had recently begun playing in the drum corps at engagements. We will all miss him.
We would like to extend our sincerest condolences to Scott’s family and friends.
Prior to hearing this upsetting news, the Band had just returned Agrigento, Sicily, where we were performing at the 62nd Flowering of the Almond Festival.
A full trip diary can be found here
 |
We are pleased to confirm our attendance at the 62nd Feast of
Almond Trees International Festival, Agrigento, Sicily, in February
2007.
After a year of attending three Festivals abroad, we were unable to commit to attending this Festival in 2006. However, having been asked back again we are delighted to confirm that 20 band members will be making the trip to Sicily’s southern tip. More information about the Festival can be found here. We are also currently in discussion with the organisers of the Spirit of the Planet Festival in Bergamo, northern Italy and will hopefully soon be able to confirm our attendance at this event in June 2007. The Spirit of the Planet Festival is an indigenous culture festival that brings together various music and dance groups to help raise awareness and funds for projects across the globe for disadvantaged children. |
As is typical at this time of year we have had to say goodbye to a few band members. David Anderson leaves us to play with Grade 1 Lothian & Borders Police under David Barnes; a talented young piper, David will continue to play with Stockbridge and we wish him the very best for his future with LBP and beyond. We also say goodbye to Alastair and Vicky McNeil who leave us to join Newtongrange Pipe Band.
Kevin Stone leaves us as to join the drum corps of Grade 3 band Linlithgow & District. We extend our thanks for his contribution over the past year and wish him every success with Linlithgow.
We’re very pleased to welcome to the drum corps tenor drummer Sara MacLean who joins us from Lewis and Leonie Postma who is from Holland and currently studying in Edinburgh. Learners Liam Twamley and Andy Sanderson have both progressed well and have been out playing with the band over the past few months.
We’re also pleased to welcome pipers Colin Winter from East Lothian and Tyler Irving from Ottawa who joins us whilst working in Edinburgh.
The Band’s AGM was held on 11th December. Gavin Hamilton was appointed as our new Quartermaster; all other posts were maintained. Many thanks to everyone in the band for their hard work, commitment and help over the past year.
We have undertaken several more engagements at Stirling Castle, often very late at night and in pretty grim weather conditions! Again, many thanks to everyone for their commitment.
The Band will hold its final practice before Christmas on 18th December and will resume practices on 8th January.
On 11th November the band held its first Ceilidh in almost a year at the Lothian & Borders Police Club. The Capital Ceilidh Band provided the dance music and, once again, the event was a sell-out success with visitors from America and France enjoying the dances and the pipe band’s performances. Many thanks to all who attended and contributed to a successful evening.
The band has also been busy over the past few weeks performing in Edinburgh city centre and playing at several corporate engagements at Stirling Castle.
The band attended two competitions at the beginning of September. Pitlochry Highland Games, on Saturday 9th, is always a good day out but despite the pleasant sunshine there was a cold breeze blowing and the tone never really settled. Not playing particularly well, we placed 7th overall in G4.
The next day we travelled in the opposite direction to Peebles Highland Games. This was our first time at this competition; with favourable weather, and a good run, spoilt only by careless mistakes, we just missed the prizes, placing 5th out of 14 bands in G4. Our final outing in G3 went fairly well, but we only placed 11th out of 12 bands.
However, at the end of our first season competing at five out of the seven branch competitions, we were very pleased to finish 3rd overall in the G4 branch table. Congratulations to Tweedvale who were crowned Branch Champions of Champions.
The band is now taking a well-earned rest for a few weeks before resuming practice and knuckling down in preparation for 2007. We are still looking for experienced musicians to join the band and help us seek promotion from G4b to G4a during 2007 as well as participating in our varied schedule of engagements.
Anyone interested should contact either Pipe Major Euan Whitmore or Drum Sergeant Craig McGuire via the band’s email address for more details.
August is the busiest competition month of the year, and with our commitment to attend all major championships this season, the band was out every weekend.
Once again, North Berwick Highland Games on Saturday 5th proved to be an excellent day out, with glorious weather and over 45 bands competing across the six Grades. We played a full band of 12 pipers, 5 snares and 3 mid-section and were very pleased with our placing: 7th out of 16 bands and 3rd in the Branch Championships.
Despite very solid practices during the week leading up to the World Championships on Saturday 12th, we left Edinburgh with no expectations. With 50 bands in G4B, and only three going through from each heat of 12 bands, we knew we would have a very tough run. We had a fairly good performance though, and something must have clicked, because we were delighted to qualify along with Saintfield from Northern Ireland, and Glenngarry from Canada. This was our first ever World Championships and we were in the final! Fielding the same players as before, we took to the line for a second time and after a bad start, settled into a pretty solid performance. This was the World’s, however, and you need to play at the top of your game to win any prizes. We were a bit disappointed to be placed 12th, but overall, delighted that we’d made it through the qualifiers. Many thanks to Lee Moore for all his help in the weeks leading up to the Worlds and on the day itself.
Despite the serious hangovers, we made the journey up to Perth Highland Games the next day to compete in G4 and G3. Again, glorious weather and a pleasant setting made for an excellent day, topped off with 2nd place out of 15 bands in G4 and 4th place out of 8 bands in G3. Overall, a great weekend!!
Melrose Pipe Band Championships on Saturday 19th was a tough one; unfortunately, we didn’t get off to a good start and, with fairly even placings by both judges, we were placed 9th out of 11 bands.
Cowal Highland Gathering the following weekend was an excellent day out. With a good draw at 11:02am, we were delighted to achieve the best result of the season; 1st place from both judges in the qualifying heat. Once again though, despite a valiant effort in the final, we didn’t quite make it into the prizes, placing 10th overall. Congratulations to Kirkcaldy & District who took 1st place on the day and the Champion of Champions title for 2006. Ignoring the driving rain, we played down the street and then partied our way back across Scotland. Many thanks to Calvin and Kevin for sorting out the essentials, to Kevin for an excellent job on the BBQ and to the various virtuosos who kept the music flowing all the way home.
Unfortunately, we have had to say goodbye to Calvin McFarlane. A lively band member and excellent bass and tenor player, Calvin has contributed strongly to our success this year. He now leaves us to play with the Clan Gregor Society Pipe Band http://www.clangregorpb.co.uk/ in Grade 1 and we wish him every success for the future.
Subsequently, as advertised on http://www.tenordrummer.com/ we are now looking for a Bass player and Mid-section leader.
The first Sunday of the month saw us at Cupar Highland Games. Many things can be said about this event; unfortunately it was a total washout, with appalling weather, thunder and lightening, but it was also our first attempt at competing in Grade 3.
We were pleased with our performance in Grade 4. The rain held off and we were placed fifth out of the nine bands, just outside the prizes. Well done to Vicky and Kirsten who made their competing debut with the band.
Having been on eighth in Grade 4 we were drawn second in Grade 3 so it was straight back to the tuning park as we got ready to play up. The weather started to turn nasty at this point, but with only minutes before we were due on, all we could do was play and bear it. As we marched up to the line, the heavens opened, lightening forked and thunder rolled overhead! With grim determination, clad only in waistcoats and shirt sleeves, we made it through our set before playing off, and were delighted to place second out of the six bands competing! Well done to everyone who endured what must be the harshest conditions any of us have ever played, and won a prize, in! Thanks also to Alastair for doing an excellent job with the tuning.
The following Sunday we attended Stirling Highland Games. Having now developed excellent stamina and resilience to the summer weather so far this year, we were very glad to feel the sunshine beating down on us for most of the day. Fielding ten pipers and six drummers we had a good run in Grade 4 and were delighted to be placed third out of ten bands. Grade 3 went well and with quite a few Grade 3 bands playing we placed a credible seventh out of ten bands. Good experience, good playing and a good day out.
After a short break from competing, the band was back out again at the European Championships at Greenock. The weather was fine and we got tuned up fairly swiftly before playing in the qualifier. This was probably the best we’ve played as a band in the qualifier but the chanter sound wasn’t perfect; we were however delighted to qualify again and began our preparations for the final.
The weather was still reasonable when we marched up to the line for the final and after a decent performance we were pleased with an 8th place overall. More importantly, we were placed 4th for Ensemble, which was something we had been working on over the past few weeks. Well done to everyone.
June was our busiest month with the band out at least once each weekend playing at various events throughout the Lothians.
First off was Aberlady Children’s Gala parade; the rain just held off for us as we led the parade through this picturesque East Lothian village, fielding 15 pipers and six drummers, before partaking in the now customary post-parade pint and cakes supplied by the Gala Day committee.
Next was Leith Pageant; the weather was excellent and again we fielded a substantial band as we took our place in the parade as it made its way down Leith Walk from Pilrig Park and on to Leith Links.
On June 17th, for the first time in our short history, we were able to field two bands at the same time; one at Loganlea Gala Day, West Lothian, and a smaller band at Davidson’s Mains Children’s Gala, Edinburgh. Both bands had a good day out; many thanks to Scott Forrest and Joanna Cunningham who took the reigns at Loganlea.
On Saturday 24th June the band entered its third Major competition, the British Championships at Pitlochry. An early start saw us up in the picturesque highland town for 8:45am. The weather was unpredictable in the morning but we were fortunate enough to stay dry during the qualifying round, and were delighted to make it into the final. After a good break to recharge the batteries we had a fair run during the final and were pleased to be placed tenth overall. Not a bad result for our third Major and plenty of constructive feedback to work on for the next one. Many thanks to Kevin Stone who did an excellent job in our leading tip’s absence. The day brightened up nicely for the Grade 1 contest; the afternoon sunshine and pleasant location, combined with plenty of refreshments, made it a good day out for everyone.
Finally in June we attended our third Bo’ness Gala Day. After meeting in the town centre at 8am we played through the quiet streets before doing a short set outside the local Nursing Home. After a generous liquid breakfast, we were fired up and ready to lead the local school to the Gala Park where sizeable crowds lined the way despite the wet weather. Then it was off to the local Masonic Hall for more refreshments before forming up in the main parade through the town. A lengthy wait in the pouring rain did nothing to dampen our spirits before we marched through the town centre before heading up the hill and back to the Academy for lunch.
We’re pleased to welcome Vicky and Alastair McNeil who have recently joined our pipe corps and Andrew Dempster who has joined the drum corps.
May saw the beginning of the outdoor competition season with the 24th Annual Pipe Band competition at Dunbar on the Saturday 13th. Despite the glorious sunshine it was deceptively cold in the tuning park as the wind blew in from the Forth. We placed 11th out of a field of 21 other 4A and 4B bands; not a bad start to the season and a good run out before the Scottish Championships. Well done to some of our younger members, Alan, David and Colin on their first competition with the band.
On the 20th May, the band attended its second ever Major competition, the Scottish Championships in Dumbarton. This season, the RSPBA have introduced a new Musical Appreciation (MAP) qualifying format for Novice Juvenile, Grade 4B and Grade 4A bands, who play two 2/4 marches from a selection of 14 chosen by the RSPBA. Each band selects the two marches and plays these in a qualifying heat to proceed through to the final.
Despite the cloudy skies, we got off to an excellent start and were delighted to qualify, placing 3rd out of 12 bands in our qualifying heat. Six bands in total went through to the final from two heats.
We were then to battle it out for the top six places. Unluckily, we were caught in a sustained downpour as we tuned up for the final and, definitely not playing to our strongest, we were placed 9th out of the top 12.
It was, however, an excellent result; 9th out of 24 bands at our second ever Major Championships. And with five weeks to the next Major we’re looking forward to doing even better!
We have recently had to say goodbye to Nick Guise, who has left the band due to other commitments. Piper, founding member and long-term promoter, supporter and enthusiastic contributor to the Stockbridge Pipe Band over the past 11 years, Nick will be sorely missed.
This year’s competition season began with the RSPBA Lothian & Borders Branch Mini Band competition at Peebles High School. With two bands entered, our ‘B’ Band just missed out on 4th place on a piping preference, with the ‘A’ Band coming a little further down the field. Feedback was encouraging and we were generally very pleased with how both bands performed and the progress we’d made since this time last year.
On Easter Sunday the band performed with several other groups as part of the 2006 Easter Festival in Princes Street Gardens. This year’s Cavalcade down the Mound and along Princes Street was cancelled by the organisers due to escalating costs and charges, but we were none-the-less pleased to perform twice in the Gardens to enthusiastic crowds despite the unpredictable weather.
We’re delighted to welcome pipers David Anderson, Keith Milligan and Kirsten Reid who have recently joined the band.
After a short break over Christmas, the band is now working hard on competition and performance sets for the year ahead. This includes the new MAP format introduced by the RSPBA for all 5 Majors.
Due to the increase in the number of learners currently attending our Thursday practices, we have now taken over a new practice venue across the road from the St Vincent’s Chapel at the St Stephen Centre.
We are still looking for pipers to join the band though and are delighted to welcome Colin Callaghan and John Marin who have recently joined the pipe corps.
During the past eight weeks we’ve provided mini bands for engagements at the Royal Burgess Golf Club and John Lewis Partner’s restaurant as well as playing twice as part of pre-match entertainment before the six nations rugby fixtures for Famous Grouse. The venue both times was the Dunstane House Hotel with an excellent atmosphere provided by both French and English supporters.