A Blow-Out at Dunbar for Tweedvale Pipe Band.

Tweedvale Pipe Band travelled to Dunbar last Saturday to take part in the twenty seventh annual pipe band contest at Winterfield Park, traditionally the first outdoor pipe band contest of the new season in the Lothian and Borders area. Travelling through to Dunbar, the weather promised to be ideal with plenty of sun. This was to change however and by the time the band entered the contest field the conditions were overcast with a very gusty wind blowing. Playing their March, Strathspey and Reel set of “King George V Army”, “Captain Colin Campbell”, and “Lexy McAskill”, Tweedvale put in a very creditable performance considering that it was a tricky operation to keep standing never mind playing because of the wind. The band played 2^nd out of 11 bands and then moved on to play for a heat of the Drum Major’s flourish contest, with the band just missing out on being soaked by the rain that continued to pour for the rest of the afternoon. This caused the traditional march past to be cancelled. When the results were announced Tweedvale found that it had been placed seventh overall, with the piping placed seventh and the drumming ninth. The Grade 3 contest was one by Linlithgow and District Pipe Band

Reflecting on the Dunbar result Pipe Major Bruce Gillie, in charge of Tweedvale Pipe Band said, “Considering the conditions, the performance at Dunbar was reasonably good. The wind made it very difficult for the pipers and drummers to hear each other and it is to their credit that the performance kept together as much as it did. We are all now focussing on improving our performance in time for the first major of the year, the Scottish Championships, next weekend. Hopefully the weather will be much better and we can concentrate on the music and not on standing still!!”

As Pipe Major Gillie mentioned, the 100 Pipers Scottish Championships take place in Levengrove Park Dumbarton this Saturday 16 May. Tweedvale Pipe Band has been drawn to play 10^th out of 15 bands in the Grade 3B contest, and will be taking to the contest field at 11.42am. This unfortunately means an early start for the band with the coach leaving Innerleithen at 7.15am. The playing requirement for the first major of the year is a March Strathspey and Reel set. The following weekend sees the band have a break before heading to West Lothian to take part in the pipe band contest at Bathgate on the last Saturday of May.