PP Ed’s Blog: Breton Pipers/ Craigmount Contest/ SPA Recital/ Angus Nicol

Robert Wallace

8 years ago

Grateful to Patrick Molard for this: Here is the report as it appeared in the Breton magazine ‘Ar Soner’ with a clipping from the Oban Times:

Read Patrick’s letter here.

Craigmount Caledonia Pipe Band have confirmed their annual junior competition will be on December 3. Unfortunately this clashes with the Shotts & Dykehead Junior Piping and Drumming contest the same day. Here is the poster for Craigmount:

We may find that young pipers from the west go to Shotts and the from the east to Craigmount. Perhaps no bad thing. Entries for Craigmount here. Details on the Shotts contest here.

SPA President Tom Johnstone has sent this: Dear Members and Friends, As usual our meetings are 1st Friday of each month at 7.30pm so the next ones are Friday 4th November and Friday 2nd December. All welcome to play, listen or just chat. You may remember that the final of our knockout was held on 7th May 2016 and it should have been between John Patrick and Stuart Liddell.

‘Unfortunately John took ill and was unable to play and the contest was won by Stuart Liddell who really pushed the boat out by playing what amounted to two recitals! John Patrick [below] has now agreed to perform a recital on Sat., December 10. There will be refreshments available and we hope to have other piper(s) to support John.

‘John was taught by Dugald Ferguson, then from age 15 by P/M Angus MacDonald joining British Caledonian Airways PB and thus becoming their youngest player aged only 15. The band of course became Power of Scotland Pipe Band and after that John joined Black Bottle Pipe Band with Don Bradford and Ally Fletcher.

‘John was the first piper to win both Silver Medals in the same year at Oban and Inverness. He has won the Golden Axe at the Lochaber Gathering, was overall winner at Cowal 1994 and is an A Grade winner of light music at Oban & Inverness. He also won the SPA Knockout contest in 2009. All events at the College of Piping. Please put these dates in your diary.’

Some heartfelt tributes to the late Angus Nicol have been posted. Read them here. A reminder of his funeral details:
Tuesday 18th October: Oban RC Cathedral: Funeral Mass: 11.30am followed by Kilninver interment and Knipoch Hotel wake .
Friday 21st October: Brompton Oratory: Requiem Mass: 11am with wake afterwards at St Wilfrid’s Hall.

Angus did so much work for piping, not least of which was his instituting of the MacGregor Memorial competition at the Argyllshire Gathering. He is pictured above presenting the trophy to young Sandy Cameron a couple of years back.