Following on from last week’s item on bands in shipyards, I enclose photos of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band led by P/M Donald MacKay at Yarrow’s shipyard on the Clyde in November 2007 for the official launch of Royal Navy vessel HMS Diamond, writes Allan Hamilton.
It was a cold wet day as usual, but undaunted the band played without capes to the delight of a crowd of Navy personnel, shipyard workers, management and their families.
In keeping with this century, there was no deluge of whisky afterwards, merely coffee and a sandwich.
HMS Diamond is decribed by the Navy as: ‘A jewel in the naval crown …… the third of the highly capable Type 45 air defence destroyers and one of the most advanced warships in the world.’
It can be seen from the pictures that the band has undergone a massive change in membership since then and some may opine that it was not for the better.
The band attended quite a few ‘gigs’ like that in those days, the days of the Pipe Band Unit, where they were constantly available. Stewart McCallum of McCallum Bagpipes was one of the few civvies playing then. Happy days.
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