The Solo Piping Judges Association (SPJA) held a well-attended annual general meeting online, Sunday October 16. The Association welcomed the return of live solo piping events during 2022 and observed that this had been a successful season despite the two-year hiatus effected by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Colin MacLellan, Euan Anderson and Roddy […]
Bruce Hitchings MBE BEM, has introduced a product aimed at pipers concerned about viral transmission, available from his Scotland and Arizona-based bagpipe company, Highland Reeds. The product is a strip of fine Merino wool that absorbs the piper’s warm breath and kills all viruses including coronavirus. There are no chemicals […]
By MARK MacKENZIE Graham Adams’ recent article on Bagpipe.news brought back to me my own memories of Andrew Pitkeathly. As Graham mentioned in his piece, I stayed in Scotland for 12 months from November 1989 to November 1990 and received tuition from Andrew during that time. Graham was my first […]
In the second part of the 2017 College of Piping Lecture, ALAN FORBES talked about the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society. At the start of Alan’s presentation, the audience was treated to a performance of Roddy Campbell’s Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society by Andrew Frater, Robert Frater and John Frater. The Scottish […]
When it comes to conversations about great pipers, Andrew Pitkeathly is sometimes overlooked, particularly by younger pipers today. A military man, he had modest competitive success: he won the Gold Medal at the 1949 Northern Meeting when a young Corporal, the same year in which he joined the Pipe Majors’ […]
Regular readers may recall our story last July about Branko Lustig. As a 10-year-old boy, Branko, a Croatian Jew, had been imprisoned at Auschwitz and later at Bergen-Belsen during the Second World War. Branko went on to have a successful career in the movie industry and, in fact, in 1994 […]
Bruce Hitchings MBE BEM has spoken of his fond memories of his fellow Queen’s Own Highlanders piper, Iain Morrison, who died a few weeks ago. The recently married judge and proprietor of Highland Reeds told Bagpipe.News: “I was fortunate to have served with Iain when I joined the 1st Battalion, […]
After our post that the National Piping Centre (NPC) in Glasgow will next year mark 25 years, Jim Todd of the Kilsyth Pipe Band contacted us with some childhood memories of the iconic McPhater Street building. Says Jim [pictured]: “I was born in 1948, not a quarter of a mile […]
Thousands of pipers around the world joined in yesterday’s tribute to commemorate the 80th anniversary of St Valéry. On June 12, 1940, around 10,000 Allied soldiers were taken prisoner there. The 51st (Highland) Infantry Division suffered huge losses. The event was organised by PoppyScotland. Those participating included former Armed Forces […]
