One of the best pipe majors of the recent past was undoubtedly Robert Mathieson, firstly with Polkemmet Grorud and then House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead. His five World Grade 1 championships alone have earned him the right to break bread with the greats of the game. Now retired from competing, Robert is Secretary of the RSPBA’s Adjudicators’ Panel (recently in the news) and will be on duty judging throughout the…
The funeral of Willie McCallum Senior will be held on Saturday, 16 April, at 1pm at Highland Parish Church, Campbeltown. Willie (87) passed away after collapsing after attending the Donald MacLeod Memorial Competition in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. Willie was an unfailing servant of piping, though not a player himself. He was instrumental in establishing the Kintyre Piping Society and dedicated himself to its promotion over a 60 year period….
The number of bands scheduled to compete at the British Pipe Band Championships next month is a record for the competition. A total of 147 bands have entered for the contest which will be held for the first time at St James Playing Fields near Paisley, a town few miles to the south and west of Glasgow, on May 21. Usually around 110 – 120 would take part in the competition,…
Two senior pipe band adjudicators who recently resigned their positions within the RSPBA’s Adjudicators’ Panel Management Board (APMB) have written to Piping Press to clarify their position. Former Convenor John Wilson and Vice Convenor Joe Noble resigned following a decision by the Board not to re-instate newly qualified adjudicator Ian Duncan. Mr Duncan had resigned after a series of correspondence between the board and himself. Mr Duncan is now taking legal advice as…
One fact that emerged from yesterday’s story concerning the RSPBA’s Adjudicator Panel was this: the passion and concern everyone involved has for the pipe band art. The judges themselves are dedicated to trying to get their results correct and to have in place the best system that allows that to happen. It is inevitable that there will be clashes of personality and disputes over how this should best be done. In…
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