PP Editor’s Blog: SPA KO/ Gordon Duncan Book/ Kilberry Bagpipes/ Scottish Schools

Vice President Hugh Anderson reports from Saturday’s SPA Knock Out: ‘We had a really good night despite high winds and heavy rain all day. You could hear the wind gusting in the hall fortunately it was at the back so did not affect the players or the sixty-odd audience. Chris [Armstrong] won the toss and played first and played really well then after the break it was Stuart’s [Liddell] turn…

PP Editor’s Blog: National Juvenile Pipe Band Fund/ Archive Recordings/ Archie Kenneth/ SPA KO etc

A meeting will be held this weekend to decide on the disbursement of the first grants from the RSPBA’s National Juvenile Pipe Band Fund. The fund was launched last World’s Week. It’s aim is to help young bands who are struggling to find the cash for competition buses, instruments and  tuition. Most of these bands receive  nothing from the public purse at all and it was to try to redress…

PP Editor’s Blog: All Happening in the South West etc…..

To Dumfries the other night for a recital by Gordon McCready at the Hole in the Wa’ pub. The crowd enjoy a full evening of quality piping on a very good instrument.  Gordon was supported by 86-year-old Hamish Thow – clearly a player of note in his day, Alan Clement, and a very promising, clean fingered 11-year-girl, May Cranmer. Alan is, I think, Stuart Liddell’s cousin, and like the maestro, taught by his…

PP Editor’s Blog: RHF Pipe Major/ Black Watch Pipe Major/John MacFadyen etc.

P/M Gordon Walker has sent this: ‘The picture [above] shows D/M Ronnie Hughes and P/M Eddie Frame at Edinburgh Castle. Eddie was P/M of the Royal Highland Fusiliers before P/M Gavin Stoddart. Eddie passed away last week and his funeral is on Monday, November 30th, at Holytown Crematorium, Lanarkshire.’ Don’t forget the Gordon McCready recital in the Hole in the Wa’ pub in Dumfries tomorrow night (Tues, Nov 24). Support…

PP Editor’s Blog: John MacFadyen Recording/ Edin. Police Names etc

New recording added to the sound archive today. It’s of John MacFadyen playing Too Long in This Condition complete with open fosgailte. The tune has been made available to PP readers thanks to Chris Terry, Grahamstown, South Africa. John recorded the tune when he was on a visit to the country in the early 70s. Listen here. The above picture shows John leading the march to the games at Glenfinnan….