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SUPER SECOND PLACE
AT COWAL CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR TWEEDVALE PIPE BAND!!
Tweedvale Pipe Band travelled west last Saturday 29 August
to participate in the last major pipe band championships of the year at the Cowal Highland Gathering, the self-styled “biggest
highland games in the world”. Everything went like clockwork on the journey through to the ferry, so much so that Tweedvale
managed to get a ferry 30 minutes ahead of schedule. This put the band in a relaxed frame of mind and gave the band plenty
of time to set up after arriving at the Dunoon Stadium. Though the weather was changeable, with sunny and overcast conditions
mingled with showers all through the day, this was no hindrance to Tweedvale as they marched into the contest circle to perform
their March Strathspey and Reel set of “King George V Army”, “Captain Colin Campbell” and “Lexy
McAskill” for the final time in front of the judges. One of the bands best performances of the year was presented to
the judges and after the performance all the players expressed satisfaction with the way things has gone. After a long day
spent sampling the atmosphere of the Cowal Gathering, the band finally marched back onto the field to take part in the massed
bands and prize-giving ceremony. Tweedvale was placed second out of 16 competing bands in the Grade 3B contest at Cowal, winning
the Linda Duffy Memorial Trophy, the band’s first trophy in a major championships for three years. The band was placed
third and fifth for piping, third for drumming and second for ensemble by the respective judges. The top prize in Grade 3B
was won by the Methil and District Pipe Band from Fife. After the prize-giving ceremony Tweedvale participated in the traditional
march down Argyll Street, complete with fancy dress, from the Stadium to the ferry terminal getting drenched in the process
as the promised rain finally came down heavily. The band departed Dunoon by ferry as fireworks lit up the darkening sky. Tweedvale
Pipe Band's attendance at the Cowal Championships was made possible by generous coach sponsorship from Brown Brothers
Ltd, Peebles to whom the band extends its grateful thanks.
Speaking about the Cowal result, Tweedvale’s Pipe
Major Bruce Gillie said, “This is our best result as a Grade 3 band without a shadow of a doubt. Taking a prize at any
major championships is quite an achievement and I’d like to congratulate all band members on taking second place at
Cowal. For some of the bands members this was the first time that they’d won a prize at a major championship so I’m
especially pleased for them. I’m sure that after experiencing the elation of a prize-winning performance at a major
championship, they’ll been keen to repeat the performance. The performance itself was what I’ve been looking for
all year and I’m glad that they band finally played up to its potential. I'd like to thank Brown Brothers for their
sponsorship of our coach to Dunoon.”
Tweedvale Pipe Band now has a free weekend in which to regroup before
participating in their final contest of the year at Peebles on September 13. The band will be participating in the Grade 3
and Grade 2 contests at Peebles, both of which are medley events. Tweedvale Pipe Band is drawn to play 9th out of 20 bands
in Grade 3 and last out of 9 bands in Grade 2, with the band taking to the Grade 3 circle at approximately 2.42pm
and the Grade 2 performance following on about 30 minutes later. Tweedvale will be working especially hard to do well at the
Peebles contest as the band is currently top of the RSPBA Lothian and Borders Branch Champion of Champions table and a good
placing at Peebles would see the band retain this title in their third year as a Grade 3 band.
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