Tag: Bagpipe Journalism

Review: The British Pipe Band Championships 2026

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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…

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Silver Chanter Details Announced/ CLASP Results

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The pipers who have qualified for this year’s Silver Chanter competition are as follows: Derek Midgley (Skye Clasp runner-up), Steven Leask (Oban Gold Medal), Brodie Watson-Massey (Inverness Gold Medal), Stuart Liddell (Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd, Inverness Clasp), Alistair Brown (Dunvegan Medal), Sandy Cameron (Skye Clasp). The competition will be held at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Gaelic College, Sleat, Skye, on August 5. The adjudicator is Dr Jack Taylor. Each piper has…

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

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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…

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RSPBA Hit Back Over Pipe Band College Claims

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The RSPBA has responded to comments made by former Pipe Band College Piping Principal, Mr Jim Campbell. Mr Campbell’s comments followed the announcement earlier this month by Association Chairman Bob Niven of a ‘strategic reset’ of the College with new leaders and more focus on teaching. Read it here. In a long statement reported fully on Piping Press, Mr Campbell claimed that he and the other three College Principals, were…

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History: Games Day at the Argyllshire Gathering, 1934

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This article is from the Oban Times and covers the second day of the Argyllshire Gathering in 1934…. The weather on Thursday,, the second day of the Games, was ideal for piping, and lovers of the lighter form of bagpipe music had the pleasure of listening to a wide range of tunes, many which were finely played. Those who took part in the competition for marches, strathspeys and reels are…

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