Going along to their practice I was introduced to the members as the Pipe Major of RAF Leeming Pipe Band. I had never considered myself as that good, & had not been elected as such. I called myself their Senior Piper.
When I joined this band their repertoire consisted of 129 tunes, of which I knew about half. So it was a steep learning curve to get up to speed if I was going to take an active part in the band. Fortunately I had the opportunity at camp to practice when I wanted, so it worked out well.
Also at this time of uncertainty, coming out from under the big umbrella that was the RAF, I had no idea what I was going to do. There were no Flight Simulator jobs in the small market town where I lived.
Out of the blue I received a call from the engineering contract manager at RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire, asking me to attend an interview. (I vagely remembered filling in a form while doing resettlement stuff at Leeming). They were looking for a Flight Line Controller with Navigational Instrument background.
How stunned was I when I found out he (George Brown) had been the next door neighbour of my dear old granny in Scotland. I got the job.
On one memorable occasion I was asked to accompany the fitter of a new autopilot unit to air test the system. We did so successfully so I went up front to watch the pilot & engineer doing circuits & bumps. The flight engineer acted as a second pilot on the Domini aircraft. While oberving I remarked that it looked just like the view in the simulator, where I had worked. The pilot, who must have thought I had become a steely eyed pilot myself, let me sit in the right hand seat & take the controls for the last landing while he adjusted the engines. It was a brilliant experience & we landed perfectly.
The band had its ups & downs, like any other, and went from a strong group when I first joined, to a valiant few in a short few years, then began to recover slowly between '94 & 98. A big problem was that the band was divided in two. One group met on a Wednesday evening at the official practice hall, while the other group met in a different location on a Sunday morning. It was difficult to get both groups together as neither venue nor time was convenient for the individuals to come to the opposite practice. The only time they got together was on a band job or at the AGM.
Sadly our Pipe Major, Pat McKenzie died during that period, which left us devastated for a long time.
Due to the next Pipe Major retiring early, I was elected as Pipe Major in Jan '98 & led a very strong band for the following 3 years. We had a tremendous number of events in that time, sometimes out on both Saturday & Sunday to cover the multitude of functions we were asked to do. It became so demanding that we decided to cut the number of jobs to either the Saturday or the Sunday, but not both, as members had other commitments they were unable to fit in.
We fielded a regular 15 pipers & on a couple of occasions had as many as 25 pipers in our ranks. I was very proud of my band over those 3 years. We hosted a Tattoo in June 2000 which I organised & directed, in aid of Marie Curie, which was supported by 8 bands from Yorkshire together with 2 Silver bands. The event was held in the Silver Ring at York race course, & was a great success.
We had a very enjoyable Spring Ceilidh in '98, among many others, but this one happened during a visit by my sister, who came over from Australia to see us & our dear old Mum. It was a fab event & Jim & I played some ozzzie tunes just for Marg. I hope to put the video on this blog when I get my head round the techie bit.
The band was asked to officiate at the roll-out of a reconstructed Royal Navy wartime helicopter at Ellvington Airfield by Mr Ray 'MAC' McElwaine & his collegues, which we duly attended. It was a well attended occasion & our appearance to support it was greatly appreciated.
The band was asked to lead the Lord Mayors Parade through the City of York in July 2000, which I agreed to only if we marched, as we had had a disasterous event previously where the Pipe Major had agreed to use an open topped bus, which I warned he would regret. As an experienced clippie of many years before, I was proved right.
Our march, at the head of the parade went down a storm. We won "Best Marching Band".
The band became involved in a major event in Edinburgh in August '95, which was called Pipefest. The aim was to gather a huge group of Pipers & Drummers from around the world, to march in aid of Marie Curie. The target was 3000 & I believe they were not far short of that mark on the day. Our block had pipers from as far away as Chile. There were however reports that bands had been left at railway stations en route because trains were full so there might have been many more.
The event was recreated 5 years later with an even bigger target of around 5000 players. By 2005 the target was up to 10000 pipers & drummers & again they were not far short of it, with more than 8000 pipes & drums parading through the city.
The band enters Princes Street in '95. We are 2nd from the left, in single file.
The City of York Pipe Band, in Edinburgh August 2005.
In 2010 we were unable to field a full band as we had no drum corp available. We were still represented by a valiant few.
Another event we were asked to lead was the reintroduction to service of The Flying Scotsman after a major refurbishment. The engine is a regular feature, during the summer months, on the York- Scarborough line. Here the band pipes in the Famous engine at York. The project was heavily endorsed by Sir Richard Branson.
After the departure of the then PM, Hag, our first female Pipe Major was elected. It was another low point in our numbers so it has been another rebuilding exercise which seems to have taken a very long time. There seems to have been a dearth of accomplished players in the York area, over the last few years.
The picture shows Laura and a few others who have stuck it out to try & recover our numbers.
In 2010 the Pipefest plan changed & events were held around the world, with the Edinburgh Pipefest starting the chain of events which were to follow. A smaller number of players made the pilgrimage to the city, around 4500, whereas many others took part in their own countries.
The City of York Pipe Band has played in all 4 of the Edinburgh marches.
Photos from the 2010 event.
more photos to come.
I had the honour of leading our band in the marches in '95 (as Pipe Sergeant) & 2000 as Pipe Major. In fact there is a video on the Youtube website which features our band, (among many), coming along Princes Street, in front of the Art Gallery in '95 with me second from the left. (White shirt, Red sash) in the 2nd group of bands.
You can see it at this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9Lf5MZ0Nc
Bring on the next one.
We had a band reunion in 1999 to celebrate 20 years since the formation of the group, which had started off as a Piping Society in Marygate. Great credit has to go to a former member, ( & one time PM) Kevin Coulson who did an enormous amount of work contacting past members, who came from far & wide to attend. It was a great event with about 300 people coming to the do. We had a massive band on parade with many of the past members bringing their instruments and filling the hall at the Askham Bryan College with a cracking sound.
Sadly all good things come to an end, & I retired as Pipe Major in 2001.
After about a year out of playing I returned to the fold in late 2002, & have been playing with the band since then, helping learners whenever our resident tutor, John, is overwhelmed by sheer numbers. We do seem to get people interested in learning to play, but not everyone continues with the task, as is the case with many people taking up a musical instrument. The band has helped to populate the Piping World however, on a regular basis.
Although tempted on a couple of occasions to take over the reins again when opportunities arose, I have so far refrained from allowing my enthusiasm to run off wildly. I am happy with the no-pressure status of just being a piper.
The band is steadily building again & we now have 10 playing pipers with a further 4 progressing nicely. Our drum corp is also coming on quite well, although we could do with a few more sides.
Any information about the band, including numbers to call regarding bookings & practice hall location can be found on the web at:-
http://www.cityofyorkpipeband.co.uk
We are always looking for new people. Tuition is FREE. There is no catch, its free.
Some of the more experienced members are currently learning a great tune called,
"The Steam Train To Mallaig"
Some years ago I was asked to play in a stage production of Brigadoon. Sadly no pictures of that show were allowed, due to copyright. Some years later I took part in another show with excepts from all the productions, including Brigadoon, called “Stars in Our Eyes”
This picture shows the cast taking a bow after all their hard work in that production.
The story will continue in the next post, as we march onwards to the Tunes of Glory, so watch this space.
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