Lochaber and Birnham

Our schedule has meant four days in a row of competing. We left Oban on the afternoon of 28th to go to Fort William where Lochaber Piping Society competition is held. Delwyn has a senior moment and discovered only as we were approaching Fort William that she had actually booked an extra night in Oban! To rectify the expensive mistake, we booked into a hotel in Fort William for the night.

We had dinner with Liam Kernaghan and Ross Miller and deliberated over many things "piping" related. Maggie enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Ross who is a member of Inverary, a Red Hot Chilli Piper, has his own band "Ross Miller Music". It was interesting to hearing about Liam and Ross's Grade 1 band experiences over their careers and Ross's performance experiences.

LOCHABER

Playing in a strong field of 8 Under 18 pipers, the events played were Piobaireachd, March, Strathspey/Reel and Jig. Maggie play another beautiful Piobaireachd and submitted the Iolaire. She placed second in Piob, second in March, first in Strathspey/Reel and first in Jig so second overall on Piob preference.

We staying in Fort William in the accommodation Delwyn had booked and enjoyed a relaxed evening.

BIRNHAM

We travelled to Birnham/Dunkeld from Fort William and had a VERY quick stop off at the McConnochie Clan museum so Maggie could get her photos taken outside on the way. We didn't have time to pop in but hope to on our travels another day.

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Birnham is an event that is entered on the day. The organisers received a larger number than expected for both senior and junior piping entries. The events played for juniors were only a March and Jig. Again a strong field of 10 junior pipers - Maggie being the only girl on the list. She managed to win most points overall on the day.