Editor’s Notebook: British Championships/ PS Summer School/ Medal Info/ Oban & Inverness

Reader Eric McGaw, ‘I would like to leave a comment regarding this event [last weekend’s British Pipe Band Championship]. I think it is a really good idea to have other people’s perspectives on this event. ‘I travelled by plane on Saturday morning and walked to the venue, so access for me was excellent. I observed lots of car parking for coaches and cars. ‘I assumed that accessibility for other people…

Reaction to Report on British Pipe Band Championships/ Victorian Pipers Results

Alistair Aitken’s report yesterday prompted this response form a reader who has asked to remain anonymous: Who has got it wrong this time? What was the large seated main stand in between G1 and G2 arenas for? I was at Ingliston this year and all that you could hear from the stand was a mixture of G1 and G2 playing and a mixture of the next G1 and G2 bands…

Review: The British Pipe Band Championships 2026

The 2026 British Pipe Band Championship, the first RSPBA Major of the year, was held at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston, to the west of Edinburgh, on Saturday 30th May.  A total of 125 pipe bands had entered and, if my calculations are correct, 114 bands actually competed.  The weather was sunny before turning dull, but thankfully there was only a short period of rain towards the end when…

British Pipe Band Championships – Shotts Triumph

Shotts & Dykehead are the new British Pipe Band Champions winning Grade 1 today (May 30th) at Ingliston, near Edinburgh, in overcast weather conditions. Two Medleys were required in G1. Shotts were placed first by every judge in a sweeping victory. The other places in the top grade went to: 2 Boghall3 Inveraray4 Fife Police5 FMM6 FederationDrumming: Shotts Judges for the Grade 1 Championship were: R Mathieson, C Edgar, P…

Editor’s Notebook: Competition Light Music/ Funeral Reminders/ Correspondence/ Glenfiddich Date

One thing I found striking about the report this week on the 1934 Argyllshire Gathering was the tunes played in the light music: Shepherd’s Crook, Lochcarron, Piper’s Bonnet, Glengarry Gathering, and what must have been an early run of Mrs MacPherson of Inveran. Here we are, eight years off a century later, and these classic pieces are still what separates the great from the not so great players of ceòl…