I received this anonymous message earlier this week: ‘This segregation of the Worlds is all kinds of wrong. My son plays in the Juvenile grade and says the kids now feel like second class musicians, not worthy of sharing the big day with their adult heroes.
‘It does not happen at other majors and there is no good reason for it to happen at the Worlds (RSPBA ineptitude aside). My son’s band were consulted by their leadership on this before the decision was made and the unanimous verdict was that they did not want the segregation.
‘This was fed back to the RPPBA. How many other leadership teams actually asked the kids what they wanted? My strong suspicion is that many of the Pipe Majors of kids’ bands, who also play with adult bands, simply wanted an easier life on the Saturday and took the decision upon themselves with no consultation.
‘This is the showcase event of the piping calendar, but many of the kids will not now attend the Saturday and will miss out on hearing the best adult bands. The attendance for both days will suffer. (I usually buy four tickets but won’t now be going on the Saturday and will only need one for the Friday because everyone else will be working.) The general feel of both days will be much diminished.’
Is it the case that the RSPBA are planning on holding all Juvenile and Novice band contests on the Friday along with the recently announced World You Pipe Band Championship? If so I think my correspondent makes some valid points.
Senior Piobaireachd
Missing from our lists of contestants in the Gold and Silver Medals earlier this week were these names who are all down for the Senior Piobaireachd at Oban:
Christopher Armstrong, Callum Beaumont, Alan Bevan, Glenn Brown, Cameron Drummond, Jamie Forrester, Andrew Hayes, Alasdair Henderson, Nick Hudson, Finlay Johnston, Jack Lee, Stuart Liddell, William McCallum, Angus D MacColl, Ian K. MacDonald, Colin MacLellan, Roderick MacLeod, Douglas Murray, Connor Sinclair, Iain Speirs, Innes Smith, Craig Sutherland, Greg Wilson.
In past years it could have been assumed that these Gold Medallists would all be playing for the Clasp at Inverness too. This may not be the case this year given that the Argyllshire Gathering and the Northern Meeting are two weeks apart. A double showing will be very expensive for overseas competitors.
The calendar gap brings an advantage for some, however. If you have a stinker at Oban you have time to recover before heading to Eden Court.
Pitlochry Band
Pitlochry & Blair Atholl Pipe Band have received a £4,000 grant from their local Enchanted Forest Community Trust. Band travel costs last year were £3,600 with an additional £1,000 spent on uniforms.
In 2024 the band performed at 12 major events, including the Atholl Gathering, Pitlochry Games, the Blair Atholl Remembrance Parade and the Avenches Tattoo in Switzerland.
The band’s Tracey Cudworth said: ‘Thanks to the Enchanted Forest Community Fund we’ve been able to support our members with essential travel and kit. We’re very grateful for every donation given to us.’
The Enchanted Forest Community Fund 2025 is now open for applications. Closing date: March 28. www.enchantedforest.org.uk.
Brodie Pic
One of the candidates for this year’s Gold Medal is the 2024 Inverness Silver Medallist Brodie Watson-Massey. He’s now also a Worlds winner with Inveraray Pipe Band.
Brodie forwarded this picture a few weeks ago. It’s of him receiving his Grade 8 certificate after our Summer School at the College of Piping in 2013.
Checking out the background, it is good to see the old College building looking so well. It was rather the worse for wear when I was last in for the Uist & Barra earlier this month and the gents WC was blocked.
