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

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Following the Branch AGM on Sunday 26th November, I am pleased to confirm the following:

Office HeldName
Branch PresidentJohn Hughes
Branch ChairpersonStewart Orr
Vice ChairpersonAlex Dalziel
Branch DirectorStewart Orr
Branch DirectorDenis Johnstone
Branch TreasurerLesley Anne Riad
Branch SecretaryAnn Hazzard
Branch Trophy ConvenorBrain Watt
Music Board (Piping)Iain Simpson
Music Board (Drumming)Mick O'Neill

As intimated previously, this year has brought to an end my period as Branch Chairperson. Having taken over from George Purves in 2003, I hope that I have continued to build the visibility of the Branch and added some value to proceedings along the way.

I would like to thank all involved with the Branch over the years for their help and support, and I certainly intend to be around to offer any support and encouragement your new Chairperson may need, especially in their first year of office.

It’s been hard work at some times over the years, but I have enjoyed it, and now it’s time for someone else to take it forward.

Following the sad loss earlier in the year of our Branch President Bill McMorran, the Branch have kindly asked me to pick up this role, and I look forward to promoting the Branch at every opportunity.

We unfortunately lost both Bill McMorran, and immediate past Branch Chairman George Purves this year. As a Branch, we owe a debt of gratitude to these two gentlemen, as without them, this Branch would not be where it is. So our heartfelt thanks, thoughts, and prayers are with their families.

Best Regard
John Hughes
Branch President

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Dear Band Secretary,

This is confirmation that the date for the 2017 Lothian & Borders Branch Annual General Meeting has been set for Sunday 26th November 2017 at 3.00pm and will be held at:

Bellsquary Hall
Bellsquarry
Livingston
EH54 9AA

I have enclosed a link here to the AGM Pack for your band.

The Branch will continue with the Online registration & payment process successfully introduced last year. If any of the Band details on the system are incorrect, then please direct any changes to RSPBA Headquarters.

The link to take you to the online registration and payment process is: https://www.rspba-landb.org/entries

Fees for 2017/2018 will be as follows:

Adult Bands are £80.00 if paid before the 2017 AGM this includes the £10.00 education fee. If payment is made after the AGM the fees will be £100.00 including the £10.00 Education Fee

Novice and Juvenile Bands are £60.00 if paid before the 2017 AGM this includes the £10.00 education fee. If payment is made after the AGM the fees will be £80.00 including the £10.00 Education Fee

May I remind you that the Branch meetings are your chance to air your views and get involved. The elected committee are there to serve the Branch bands, so it is up to you to attend meetings and let the Branch know what you want. The first Branch meeting of the season follows the AGM and will start at 5pm and will usually finish by 6pm. We hope that you will be able to stay for the Branch meeting.

Yours sincerely

Ann Hazzard
Secretary

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The 2017 season finished at Innerleithen on Saturday 9th September. Please find below a link to the final 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 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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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