Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Lothian & Borders Branch | 75th Anniversary

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Congratulations to all of the Branch Bands and Drum Majors who has some success at the Worlds at the weekend. It was a day of two halves on both the Friday and the Saturday with showers in the morning and warmer & drier in the afternoon. So well done to those who were in the prizes.

Congratulations to The Royal Burgh of Stirling on becoming Grade 3A World Champions as a Band and Drum Corp.

And congratulations to our Champion of Champions Band - Wallacestone and District, in their 130th Year and also to our Champion of Champions Drum Corps - George Watsons College (Novice A) and (Juvenile), and The Royal Burgh of Stirling (Grade 3A).

Peoples Ford – Boghall and Bathgate – Novice B, and Preston Lodge High School – Novice B, both finished just outside the prizes in 7th and 8th place respectively
George Watson's College - Novice – Novice A – 4th Place
George Heriot’s School – Novice A – 5th Place
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia– Novice A – 6th Place
Stirling and District Schools – Novice A – finished outside the prizes in 8th Place
George Watson's College - Novice – Champion of Champions Drum Corps - Novice A
Davidson’s Mains and District – Grade 4B – 6th Place
Denny & Dunipace Gleneagles – Grade 4A – 4th Place
Dunbar Royal British Legion – Grade 4A – 6th Place
George Watson's College - Juvenile - Juvenile – 2nd Place
George Heriot’s School – Juvenile – 3rd Place
West Lothian Schools – Juvenile – 4th Place
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Juvenile – 5th Place
George Watson's College - Juvenile – Champion of Champions Drum Corps - Juvenile
The Highlanders (4 Scots)- Grade 3B – 4th Place
The Royal Burgh of Stirling – Grade 3A – World Champions Band - Grade 3A
The Royal Burgh of Stirling – Grade 3A – World Champions Drum Corps - Grade 3A
Wallacestone and District – Grade 3A – Champion of Champions Band – Grade 3A
The Royal Burgh of Stirling – Grade 3A – Champion of Champions Drum Corps - Grade 3A
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Grade 1 – MSR 6th Place
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Grade 1 – Medley 7th Place
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Grade 1 – Overall - finished just outside the prizes in 7th Place
Police Scotland Fife – Grade 1 – Also made the Worlds Final and finished outside the prizes in 9th Place
Special mention for Michael Binder – Stockbridge – Adult Drum Majors – best ever result at the Worlds placed 12th in the Heats

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As we approach the final few contests, please find below a link to the current branch champion of champions tables for bands, drum corps and drum majors.

Click here for link

The file is in Excel format and will automatically download to your device.

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Congratulations to all of the Branch bands and Drum Majors who has some success at the European Championship at the weekend in Forres. It was a blustery day with difficult conditions for the bands so well done to those who were in the prizes.

George Watson's College - Novice – Novice A – 3rd Place – European Champions Drums
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Novice A – 4th Place
Stirling and District Schools – Novice A – 6th Place
Denny and Dunipace Gleneagles – Grade 4A – 4th Place
George Watson's College - Juvenile – Juvenile – 2nd Place
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Juvenile – 3rd Place
West Lothian Schools – Juvenile – 5th Place
Preston Lodge High School Pipe Band – Juvenile – 6th Place
The Highlanders (4 Scots) – Grade 3B – European Champions
Wallacestone and District – Grade 3A – European Champions
Royal Burgh of Stirling - Grade 3A - 5th Place - European Champions Drums
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Grade 1 – 5th Place
Police Scotland Fife – Grade 1 – 6th Place
Eve Llewellyn – Camelon & District – Junior Drum Majors – 4th Place
Rowan Murdoch – Denny & Dunipace Gleneagles - Junior Drum Majors – 6th Place

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Congratulations to all of the Branch bands who has some success at the UK Championship last weekend in Belfast

Preston Lodge High School Pipe Band – Novice B – UK Champions – Band & Drums
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Novice B – 2nd Place
George Heriot's School – Novice A – UK Champions
George Watson's College - Novice – Novice A – 2nd Place – 1st Drums
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Novice A – 5th Place
Stirling and District Schools – Novice A – 6th Place
Denny and Dunipace Gleneagles – Grade 4A – 6th Place
George Heriot's School – Juvenile – 2nd Place
George Watson's College - Juvenile – Juvenile – 3rd Place – 1st drums
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Juvenile – 4th Place
West Lothian Schools – Juvenile – 5th Place
The Highlanders (4 Scots) – Grade 3B – UK Champions
Wallacestone and District – Grade 3A – UK Champions
Police Scotland Fife – Grade 1 – 5th Place
Peoples Ford - Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia – Grade 1 – just outside the prizes in 7th Place

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On Sunday 18th June 2017, the City of Edinburgh prepares to welcome back the Pipe Band fraternity after an absence of 17 years. Not since the year 2000 has there been a pipe band contest in Princess Street Gardens in Edinburgh. This year’s Axios Systems - Edinburgh Pipe Band Championship will take place at the Ross Theatre in West Princess Street Gardens. The Edinburgh Championship will provide an ideal platform for bands preparing for the European Championships the following weekend in Forres, as the adjudication and playing requirements match exactly. The Edinburgh Championship will provide competition for all grades of band, from Novice to Grade 1. With over £5,000 in prize money available, it is hoped to attract some of the Worlds most successful bands to compete.

The venue itself, colloquially known as the Ross Band Stand, hosted Pipe Band contests for many years especially during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and since announcing its re-emergence many have commented that they remember it as being a great venue for a contest. With a capacity of 2000, the venue has an impressive backdrop of Edinburgh Castle and the green hilly area of Edinburgh Castle Gardens.

Due to the unique nature of the venue, all bands will compete in ‘Concert Formation’ facing the audience, with the adjudicators placed in front of the band, but with the ability to move around if required. As the venue is terraced, this will provide an excellent opportunity for the public to see and hear the bands and it is hoped this will present the Pipe Band in its best light to the public audience as well as the adjudicators. The suggested band formation is as follows:

The contest would not have been possible without the support of a number of local Companies, but especially our Headline Sponsor, Axios Systems, who have been helping customers achieve business success through effective and efficient management of their IT services for over 25 years.

We’re looking forward to welcoming the pipe band fraternity back to the City of Edinburgh and are preparing the venue to provide an excellent platform for the bands in preparation for the European Championships and second half of the pipe band season.

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The first branch event of the 2017 season was held on Saturday 2nd April. The top three placings in the solo events are shown below, the band events can be found by clicking here.

Event 1
1st Poppy Spears - Burntisland and District
2nd Katie Pink - George Watson's College
3rd Ben Brown - George Watson's College

Event 2
1st Ruth Macdonald - Wallacestone and District
2nd Rory Laidlaw - Peebles Ex-Servicemens
3rd Connor Anderson - Wallacestone and District

Event 3
1st Josh Pollard - Preston Lodge High School
2nd Nicholas Knowles - West Lothian Schools
3rd Arran Cameron - Peebles Ex-Servicemens

Event 4
1st Luke Kennedy - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
2nd Brodie Watson-Massey - George Heriot's School
3rd Maxim Grieve - George Watson's College

Event 5
1st Andrew Henrikson - George Heriot's School
2nd Ian Hamilton - Lomond and Clyde
3rd Douglas Mair - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate

Event 6
1st Jonathon Simpson - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
2nd Calum Watson - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
3rd Neil Henderson - Wallacestone and District

Event 7
1st Blair Tait - George Watson's College
2nd Caelan McCrone - George Watson's College
3rd Michael Ryan - George Watson's College

Event 8
1st Patrick Lenihan - George Watson's College
2nd Mark Fyffe - George Watson's College
3rd Andrew Nash - George Watson's College

Event 9
1st David Fairley - George Heriot's School
2nd Freddie Somerville - George Watson's College
3rd Craig Waddell - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate

Event 10
1st Daniel Knowles - West Lothian Schools
2nd Kerr McQuillan - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
3rd Finn Tomnay - George Watson's College

Event 11
1st Chloe Taylor - Scottish Power
2nd Oliver Gardner - George Heriot's School
3rd Finlay Aitken - George Watson's College

Event 12
1st Callum Burns - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
2nd Craig Brown - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
3rd Mark Hastings - Police Scotland Fife

Event 13
1st Hannah Donaldson - Preston Lodge High School
2nd Rose Winchester - George Watson's College
3rd Catherine Farquhar - George Watson's College

Event 14
1st Holly Harrison - Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate
2nd Lucy Carroll - West Lothian Schools
3rd Claire Baillie - Preston Lodge High School

Event 15
1st Michael Rutherford - Prestonpans RBL

The first outdoor event of the season for the Lothian and Borders Branch will be at Dunbar on 13th May.

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The RSPBA is working with international pipe band associations across the globe to develop a database of requirements and processes for players travelling with bagpipes containing African Blackwood. An international working group was established during the Alliance of North American Pipe Band Association’s Summit in Kansas City this month attended by RSPBA vice-chairman John Hughes, RNZPBA president Alister Macgregor, South American association president Mike Flight and Pipe Bands Australia president Chris Earl.

African Blackwood was added to the list of endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) from 2 January 2017.

The inclusion of African Blackwood on CITES was discussed at ANAPBA Summit where it was resolved to form an international working group to ascertain the application of CITES as it relates to African Blackwood in each jurisdiction and the processes required to be followed to enable our members to travel with their musical instrument to other countries.

The intention is for the various international associations to write to their relevant Minister seeking information that can be included on the database.

Pipe Bands Australia has already written to their Federal Minister for Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg seeking information.

As we know, our members and bands regularly travel overseas to perform in concerts and championships, including in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia, North America, Canada & Europe.

We will keep you updated on progress.

Best regards

John B Hughes
Vice Chairman