Wallacestone & District Pipe Band

Saturday 16th April will be the first indoor contest of the season at James Young High School in Dedridge, Livingston. It will the first chance for the band to gauge what effect their hard work over the winter months has had on their playing, and will be followed by a second indoor contest in Dundee on 23rd April.
Last Saturday a mini band took part in a Community Fun Day at Tesco in Redding, Falkirk which was an opportunity for a few of the younger members to perform in public. It was also the first showing for the band’s new drums, complete with new heads for the bass drum, which again carry an image of Sir William Wallace as designed by local artist Murray Robertson and are now synonymous with the Wallacestone & District Pipe Band.
Pipe Major Neil Henderson was delighted to accept a cheque from Tesco for supporting their Community Day.

The band enjoyed some mixed results over the season but finished in 5th place in the Champion of Champions and looking forward to a great season in 2016.

After the contests were over a Halloween fancy dress night was held at the Greenpark Centre in Polmont,
where many, including the bass section, went to great lengths to make the night a success.

The band also recently held its annual dinner dance at the Abbotsinch in Grangemouth where drummer “Del” Hutchins won the coveted “Cooper Trophy” for his outstanding efforts (mainly in keeping us all amused) during the 2015 season. After a lengthy acceptance speech in which he thanked Mr Bean and Dick Dastardly for their assistance, he posed for a photo
with his delighted father.

The band competed at this years championships and played their MSR well in the qualifying heat, which they finished in first place.
They played well again in the final but sadly just missed out on a prize, finishing in 7th place, with the drummers being placed second.
This being the last major championship of the season, the Champion of Champion prizes were also awarded, with Colmcille Pipe band winning grade 3B and Wallacestone in 5th place.
In the drumming, Upper Crossgare were named as the champions in the grade with Wallacestone  finishing in 2nd place.

Well done to all the band.

The band competed in beautiful sunshine at the Scottish Championships
on 25th July, which were held in Levengrove Park, Dumbarton.
After putting in a very solid medley performance they were delighted to
finish in second place.

PM Neil Henderson &
LD Stewart Gardiner

Congratulations to Colmcille Pipe Band who finished in first place
and also to Upper Crossgare who took the drumming prize back
to Northern Ireland.

The band are now looking forward to the World Championships
whish will be held in Glasgow on 15th August.

Since the band’s success at Bathgate early in the season they have competed in another two major championships. The UK Championships were held at Sormont Estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where a poor break in the middle of the band’s medley pushed them out of the prize list.The European Championships which were held in Forres saw the band bounce back with another solid MSR performance. Again, a disappointing place from the ensemble judge kept the band out of the top 6 places, but there was some consolation by the drum corps winning the grade 3B drumming prize.

The band’s first major championship of the season was a short, but successful trip to Bathgate where the finished in 3rd place in the grade, behind Colmcille and Portlethen & District.
Well done to all the bands who made the prize list, including Upper Crossgare, who won the drumming prize. The band will be heading off to Belfast on Friday 12th June, to take part in the UK Championships at Stormont and are hoping to build on their success at Bathgate.

Alexander’s of Greenock Shield

The new season is now underway with the band getting off to a great start by winning the L&B Branch indoor contest at Livingston a few weeks ago, after being placed first by both the piping judges and the drumming judge.
The outdoors commenced last weekend at a very wet and windy Gourock Highland Games. The band had a poor start in the grade 3 contest, but recovered well and finished in 4th place, with the drummers lifting the “Alexander’s of Greenock” Shield for the best corps of drums in grade 3.
On Saturday 16th May the band will be competing  at Dunbar games and hope to put in a solid performance in preparation for the British Championships at Bathgate in 2 weeks time.

P M Thomas D McLuckie c.1900

Although the winter months are generally quiet for the band, with engagements few and far between, it seems to be a popular time for family history research.
With the popularity of TV shows such as “Who do you think you are?” and a multitude of websites such as “Ancestry UK” researching a family tree has probably never been more popular.
The band was contacted a few days ago by a the Great Granddaughter of Pipe Major Thomas Davidson McLuckie, who became the band’s second pipe major, back in the 1890’s.
It is hoped that some new information can be gleaned about the early days of the band and the three McLuckie brothers who played with Wallacestone then.
A superb new photograph has already been added to the band’s archive and shows  Pipe Major McLuckie with a fine collection of medals, probably dating back to around 1900.

The band members were sad to hear of the recent death of Erwan Ropars, the former ‘penn soner’ of the Bagad Kemper. Erwan was a hugely talented piper and led his band to 10 Breton Championships during his 25 years in charge.
The Wallacestone pipe band played several concerts along with Bagad Kemper in the 1980’s, with the bagad visiting Scotland in 1987 as part of Wallacestone’s Centenary celebrations.
His funeral in Quimper was attended by around 2000 mourners,
many who brought pipes and bombards to pay tribute to Erwan.

The band held it’s annual ceilidh/dinner dance at the Craiglee Inn, Reddinmuirhead on Saturday 15th of November. A great night was had by all and the band played a final performance of it’s 2014 medley, prior to the ceilidh band getting the dancing underway.

The much coveted “Couper Trophy” which is awarded to a member of the band each season, was awarded so drummer Alan (Joe) Pilley for his efforts during last season.
“Joe” underwent major surgery to replace both his knees just after the UK Championships in June, but was back competing in time for the World championships in August.

Well done Joe – a fantastic effort and a well deserved recipient of the award.