Wallacestone & District Pipe Band

After the departure of PM Neil Henderson in December, an EGM was held last month and piper Ciaran Payne, who has been a member of the band for the past five years, was appointed the band’s 9th Pipe Major.
The band has now started on a re-building programme and have already added a number of players to its roster.
We are still actively seeking new players for the band and have also requested to be regraded to 3A for the 2023 season.
Any pipers or drummers who are ambitious, driven and willing to work hard to help the band achieve success, please feel free to contact the new Pipe Major, Leading drummer Stewart Gardiner, or any band member.
The music for the 2023 season has now been chosen and the band will be ready to return to the contest ring by mid summer.
Wallacestone & District currently practice on Monday and Thursday evenings in Brightons, between 7:30 and 9:30, with the practice venue only a few minutes walk from Polmont railway station, or around a ten minute drive from Falkirk.

After 11 seasons in charge, Pipe Major Neil Henderson has decided to stand down for the role.
The announcement was made at the band’s AGM held in Brightons on 8th December.
Neil can proudly look back on a very successful tenure which saw the band gain promotion three times, taking them from grade 4A to grade 2. The band would like to thank Neil for his hard work and dedication over the years and wish him well for the future.
The search is now on for a suitable successor, who will only be the 9th Pipe Major in the band’s 135 year history.

Interested parties should contact the band secretary, Julia Kay through this webpage or the band’s Facebook page.

The 2022 contest season has now come to an end with the band unable to compete at as many contests as hoped.
With Covid in the ranks, the band was forced to withdraw from the European Championships at Inverness, but did bounce back with creditable performances at both the Scottish and World Championships against a high quality grade 2 field.
Looking to next season, the band hope to strengthen all sections, so are keen to hear from any players who would be interested in coming along to join the band.
The Pipe Major and Leading Drummer can be contacted through social media or the band’s webpage, so if you think you have the ability to compete in grade 2, or currently play in a lower grade but willing to work to improve your playing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Huge congratulations to Tommy and Peter Anderson who were both Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) in the recent Queen’s Honours list and were recognised for their contribution to piping and pipe band drumming. Both brothers have been involved with the Wallacestone & District Pipe Band since childhood.
Tommy was Pipe Major of the band for over 30 years and these days continues to assist the Camelon Pipe Band, while younger brother Peter is still a playing member of the Wallacestone drum corps.
Well done gentlemen.

Wallacestone and District Pipe Band celebrate our 135th anniversary in 2022 and to commemorate this we are launching a composition contest! Tunes should be in March format with any time signature permitted. 1st prize is £500 and the winning tune will be named after the band. Composers of the top 3 shortlisted tunes will be invited to the Band dance on the 19th of November where the winner will be announced. Tunes will be judged anonymously by Craig Sutherland and Craig Muirhead plus Pipe Major Neil Henderson. The last date for entries is Saturday 13th of August 2022 and the winner announced at the band dinner dance on the 19th of November 2022.
For full details of the rules etc please see the band Facebook page or contact Pipe Major Neil Henderson.

The band was delighted to return to the competition field at Battery Park in Greenock on 21st May when they took part in the Grade Two Contest at the British Pipe Band Championships.
No silverware this time round, but happy to be back with a decent performance after a break of 30 months.
The band are not making the journey to the UK Championships at Lurgen, but will make the trip north for the European Championships in Inverness next month.

This will be the first news update for some time, mainly because the webmaster has been living abroad and hasn’t kept up to date with the weekly goings on within the band, but also because there hasn’t been too much happening.
The band competed in grade 2 in 2018 without any great success, but were looking to build on it the following season.
Unfortunately Pipe Major Neil Henderson was forced to spend the 2019 season working and living in the South of Ireland which prevented any progress being made with the band’s performances.
However, on a positive note the band remain in grade 2 and although the 2020 season failed to happen, and 2021 is shaping up to be the same, as soon as lockdown permits they are hoping to be back on the floor preparing for the contests, whenever that may be.

In the meantime Pearl Drums Europe has recognised the good work being done by the
drum corps and Leading Drummer Stewart Gardiner is now an official Pearl Artist.

Stewart Gardiner | Pearl Drum

The first season back in grade two for many years has now come to an end with the band struggling to break into the prize list at the major competitions.
The players will be disappointed with the results despite putting in some creditable performances, but know the only solution is more hard work over the winter months.
Changes will be made to the tunes which were played in 2018 and a number of new players have joined the band, so it is hoped better results are not too far off.

Research into the early days of the band continues and old photographs and information from over 100 years ago are still occasionally coming to light. An upsurge of interest in genealogy and the relative ease of researching family history on sites such as Ancestry have helped greatly is putting people with similar interests in touch with each other.
It is impossible to say how much information and how many photographs are waiting to be discovered, but the band is always delighted to hear from the families of former members who are willing to share their knowledge of bygone days.

Linlithgow Marches

Here is one example shared by the family of PM T D McLuckie, which shows the pipe major listening to a brass band at the Linlithgow Marches. Pipe Major McLuckie died in January 1914, so the photo is from 1913 or earlier.

The band will be heading across the water to Northern Ireland on Friday to take part in the UK Pipe Band Championships. This is a relatively new contest, which was brought in a few years ago to replace the Cowal Gathering as one of the five major contests of the year.
The Championship will be held in the grounds of Stormont House and in recent times has been a happy hunting ground for the band.
After being placed second in grade 3B in 2016, they followed it up with first place in grade 3A. Returning in 2018 and now playing in grade 2, they will be doing their best to once again bring home a trophy.
Good Luck to Neil, Peter and the rest of the band.

UK Championships 2016

UK Champions
Belfast 2017

The new competition season is now upon us and the band will take part in the grade 2 contest at the British Championships to be held in Paisley on Saturday 19th May.
This should be a challenging season for the band having been promoted twice in two years and will be playing in the second grade for the first time in many years.
Good luck to the band, who have had to work hard over the winter, but are ready to give it their best.
Last month’s “There and Back Again” concert was a huge success with the band doing their reputation nothing but good. Thanks again to guest soloists Ally Henderson and Ben Duncan for their contribution and also to former piper Stuart Cassells, who did a superb job as MC and was even persuaded to change into the band’s kilt later in the evening.
The event was photographed by Kenny Ritchie and a small sample of his wonderful photos are attached here and the link below should take you to his page and almost 200 photos recording the evenings proceedings.

https://www.facebook.com/stingerphotiz/