Support Needed for Juvenile Pipe Band Concerts and New Fund

The very active and popular  Ross and Cromarty Pipes and Drums School are holding three concerts later this month. The school is led by one of Scotland’s top pipers, double Gold Medallist Niall Matheson, and as you would expect play to a high standard. The concerts are on November 23/24/25 in Tain, Invergordon and Dingwall. Tickets are available locally or at the door and are priced at £8, Concessions £5 and Family…

PP Editor’s Blog: Edinburgh Police/ John Burgess/ Andy White/ John MacLellan Contest

One thing I forgot to mention in my report on the London Championship 10 days or so ago was breakfast. Not what I had, but who I was sitting with: three Grade Two World Pipe Band Champions no less. They were Dr Jack Taylor who lifted the trophy with Buchan Petersen in 2013, Walter Cowan (left) who did the same as P/M of the Annan Ex-Servicemen’s band and Archie Maclean…

Famous Pipers: John D. Burgess/ Calum Campbell Concert

It is hard to believe that it is ten years since the death of one of the great pipers and characters of the recent past, P/M John D. Burgess. Today we mark this anniversary with a feature on John in our Famous Pipers column. Read it here. A concert is being held in Balivanich Hall, Benbecula, tomorrow night to celebrate the launch of a book of music ‘Ceol Chaluim’ by…

Shotts Junior Piping & Drumming Championship – Pictures Added

World Champion Pipe Band, Shotts & Dykehead, held their Annual Junior Piping and Drumming Championship in the town’s Calderhead High School today. There was a very healthy increase in competitors from 103 last year to 154 this. Pipe Major Ryan Canning and Leading Drummer Blair Brown were in Canada on a teaching trip but the event went like clockwork in their absence. North Lanarkshire Council, the local authority, are very…

Richard the Third – Concluding Part of Our Interview with P/M Parkes of Field Marshal

IN this, the concluding part of our interview with P/M Richard Parkes MBE of Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, we hear of his early influences, what he thinks of the players in his band, and the support he gets from his family and employer. Read the earlier excerpts from this interview here. PP: Who would you say were your biggest influences? You mentioned Ian McLellan and Strathclyde Police and what they…