NEWS
Peebles
With the grade 2 taking the day off after a long hard season , the grade 4 took centre stage and rose to the occasion with a superb performance which earned them 2nd place overall and 1st for piping beating several strong 4a bands and the 4b CofC's ,stockbridge.On a disappointing note, Shaun Russell, leading drummer with the grade4, has decided to move on to a fresh challenge which we wish him the best of luck.
New Address For Photos And Stuff
Just to let you all know that the site is now under new management after the departure of my brother to another band, Dumbarton & District. I hope we gub them next year or we'll never hear the end of it!
Please forward any articles, information, pictures or anything else you want published on the site to col65_2000@yahoo.co.uk This is your website and it will only reflect the membership of our band if you all contribute.
As a wee aside we have had over 5500 hits in the year that this site has been running. Cool or what?
End of Season Changes
It's that time of year when there is traditionally a merry-go-round of changes as people join the band and others move on. Our Pipe major Mark Sutherland writes, "After a long season of mixed success, unfortunately a few players has decided to leave the Denny Grade 2 band to try their luck elsewhere!
Leading Drummer Stuart Paterson has left after 6 years at the helm, during which time he won a World and Cowal drumming title. Stuart put in a huge amount of work and commitment, and I personally thank him for that.
Iain Armstrong, side drummer and bass section tutor, has also left. Iain worked extremely hard with the bass section, and was again instrumental in the best Bass section award at the Worlds in 2006. Iain did a great job. Gillian Wannan, a tenor drummer, has gone on to play with Strathclyde Police, and again, given an opportunity like that, I wish her all the best.
Finally, our webmaster Sandy Johnston, has gone back to play with Dumbarton. Given that Sandy was travelling from Dumbarton to Denny twice a week, this was a huge commitment. Sandy was the driving force behind the music book and the revamped website. Again, Sandy, thank you and all the best.
The band are currently seeking a new leading drummer, although there is no great pressure in the short-term.
My thanks go to all the guys who have helped me develop the band over the last few years.
Here's to 2009 -bigger, better, stronger (hopefully!)
Mark Sutherland
Pipe-Major"
Cowal
The last championship of the year saw members of the band in Dunoon for the Cowal Championship. Another weekend away crashing in the Scout hall for some whilst others made it a one day wonder. The full membership of both bands were out in force with even Gav appearing to join the fun! The Grade 4B band had a good outing qualifying for the final with a 5th place in their heat and achieving a 6th place in the Final. Well done to all! The Grade 2 band on the other hand felt that they got a bit of a doing and finished last in their grade. So its back to the drawing board for next year. GOAN THE DENNY!
Rothesay
A competition without Mark was always going to be different for the Grade 2 band but the Grade 4 excelled on their trip "doon the watter". A good perfrormance by the Grade 4 was awarded a first on piping and a second for drumming giving a first overall, beating some other good Grade 4 bands in the process.
The Grade 2 band provided a lacklustre performance in the March, Strathspey and Reel format for the Grade 2 competition and this allowed them to be marked well down the field with a juvenile and two Grade 3 bands placed in front of them. However their performance in the grade 1 competition was more like the thing with a second place in the medley format. The M,S&R result must be a wee bit of a worry with Cowal on the horizon and it is an understatement to say that some work is required! However there was one other high point for the day when Snowy got a third place in the Drum Major's competition. Well done to you sir and we all hope to see more prizes in the future.
The WORLDS
Not the best of days for the Denny bands with the Grade 4B failing to qualify and the Grade 2, despite having a good run, being placed as 19th or third last depending on your outlook! Not a lot more to be said other than we need to achieve some consistency of performance with both bands. if neither band can put in good solid performances then neither band can expect results. Okay in the grade 2 we thought we played well but judging is subjective and if you or I had 21 bands to judge it would be hard after you choose the top 6 to place the rest according to merit. We just have to accept that we didn't merit it! see video
PICTURES
There have been a few comments in the guest book about getting more photos from recent competitions on the website. Yes lets do that but YOU HAVE TO SEND ME THE PICTURES so that I can post them. I'm fairly talented in many respects but I don't have the ability to magic things out of thin air! Send your pictures to col65_2000@yahoo.co.uk (small files please).
Lisburn, Bridge of Allan and North Berwick
Sorry about the delay in updating the band news page, holidays and a heavy work schedule have meant that this entry had to wait until I could find the time. So how have we done?
Well in short not too bad, but not too good either. The Grade 2 results could be described as the good, the bad and the ugly! Good being our performance at Bridge of Allan when we came in third, beating another couple of good Grade 2 bands in the process. The bad being our performance at North Berwick when all the pipers came off the competition field in the knowledge that we had "blown it" and the Ugly being the placings that we got at the European Championships in Lisburn when we actually thought that we played quite well. However on reflection and after seeing the video on youtube it wasn't the greatest of performances. You do have to remember that judging is very subjective so we have to be at the top of our game before we can start moaning about placings. Of course we could have an AGM and change the band's name to Denny O' Dunipace but on second thoughts maybe not!
The Grade 4 were third at North Berwick, fifth at Bridge of Allan video and didn't compete at the Europeans in Lisburn. Next competition, the Worlds!
Birmingham - The British Championships
Well, there were no prizes for the Denny bands at the British but there was an overall improvement in performance for a Championship competition. The Grade 4 band qualified for the final where they came in 10th Place. Again blowing issues let the piping side of things down however one piping judge has us 6th with the other 12th. Quite a difference but you have to remember that there is a subjective side to judging. However 9th for drumming and 9th for ensemble shows that there is room for improvement.
The Grade 2 band, apart from Sandy's early 'E' (apologies to all), had a good run through their medley set with both the drummers and pipers reasonably happy with their performance. Unfortunately the judges thought differently with a 6th and a 7th from the piping judges, an 8th in ensemble and a 12th in drumming. This left us 8th overall. One heartening aspect of the whole weekend was the number of other bandsmen who complimented us on the perfomance and thought that the drummers deserved a far higher placing than the one given. The following link should take you to a video of our performance. Video
As usual the 'weekend away' aspect of the trip meant that there were some sore heads and some high jinks which were enjoyed by some, and suffered by others, but it was a good trip and we can all look forward to Ireland where we have nothing to fear if we can maintain or improve on this level of perfromance.
A No Competition Weekend
No competitions this weekend but a trip to Grangemouth Children's Day provided an outing for both bands. All thoughts are now on the British Champs with a trip to Birmingham next weekend. Both bands have had encouraging results over the last few weeks and if we put the work in and hold it together we are all in a good position to improve the standing of each band in our respective grades. C'moan the Denny!
Also a wee snippet about an event we are performing at, on 19/20th July at Scone Palace.
Highlander Challenge World Championship
19 - 20 July 2008
A spectacular two-day event which sees the fusion of history and traditional sport, echoing the war games of our ancestors. Events will include traditional throws, gladiatorial challenges and feats of strength. Competitors will include world champions, record holders and Olympians. Music by Denny and Dunipace Pipe Band.
This major new event will be broadcast over three programmes by Channel 4 Television.
Bearsden Results
Both bands attended the Bearsden Highland Games on Saturday 14th June 2008.
The Grade 4 Band had a good run in their grade with only a few blowing issues marring what would of otherwise been a fine performance. It was definitely one that the judges enjoyed as they put them in 1st place in front of Stamperland the Scottish Champions in their grade.
The band followed this up with a foray into Grade 3 and again beat Stamperland to secure a third place. An excellent result and a sign of all the hard work going on!
The Grade 2 band had two competitions giving runs with both with the March, Strathspey and Reel and also the Medley. They were first on in the medley competition and a slightly nervy start meant that the piping judges could award a 4th and a 2nd with Inveraray and District taking two 1st places in the piping. However the drummers came through to save the day with a 1st in drumming and with a 2nd in ensemble the Grade 2 band were awarded 1st place in their grade on an ensemble preference.
The March, Strathspey and Reel was a more polished performance and the judges evidently thought so with two 1st places for piping, 1 for drumming and a 2nd for ensemble again giving an overall 1st place. On a side note, one of the trophies that we won was the Reid Whitelaw trophy which had been donated to the Bearsden Games by Neil Whitelaw when he was Chairman of the Glasgow Branch of the RSPBA.
Andy gets a first!
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It's come to our attention that Andy Grant our senior drum major recently stepped back onto the competition field last weekend (8th june 2008) at the Strathmore games and came in 1st in the Adult section. Andy, not being one to blow his own trumpet, was keeping this quiet until Snowy our other drum major fired him in! Well done Andy and all the best to Snowy as well. |
Shotts Results
This proved to be another great day out with prizes for both bands in their respective grades. Up first were the Grade IV band who put in a fair performance to achieve a credible third place.
Then came the Grade II band, who put in two very good performances to obtain firsts in both the Grade I and Grade II competitions. Although there were only three Grade II bands competing these were fairly emphatic wins as four different piping judges all had Denny's pipers in first place.
Lets hope we can take this form forwards to Bearsden next week and then the British Championships two weeks after that. C'moan the Denny!
Bathgate Results
Saturday 31st of May saw both bands attend the Bathgate Highland Games. The Grade IV band had a good run in their competition and came in third place, a vast improvement on the previous weeks. The Grade II did one better with a second place in Grade II and a fifth in Grade I, mind you there were only five bands that competed! This was a big improvement on previous weeks and gives us something to build on. C'moan the Denny!
Scottish Championships Results
Saturday 24th May saw both bands competing at the Scottish championships in Dumbarton. First up were the Grade IVB band who were first on in their grade at 09.15 hrs. It was quite a cold morning with a stiff breeze blowing in off the Clyde and this didn't help with setting up the band. It was an early start and their performance wasn't their greatest as they ended up 8th in their qualifying heat.
The Grade II band played later in the afternoon and had their number 1 March, Strathspey and Reel drawn on the line. After a poor start the band settled but the damage was done in the first part of the march and as a result the band ended up second last in the grade. Not the best of days out for the Denny bands!
It's now time for some hard practise and we need everyone to work on their personal playing. The grade II band have until Cowal to perfect their March, Strathspey and Reel sets but now thoughts turn to the Medley set and we will see how we do with this. Anyway to end I suppose I can summarise the Scottish results for Denny as "Can Do Better"!
Dunbar Results
Both bands were out last weekend at Dunbar competing in their respective grades. The Grade IV band finished a credible 8th place with a 6th in piping, a good result considering the number of Grade IV A bands that were competing.
The Grade II band felt that they had a good run however this was not bourne out in the results and they finished well down the Grade II list with a 6th in piping and a 5th in drumming to give an overall 6th place.
However that's the first competition out of the way and both bands can now settle down to some hard practise in order to make an impression in the prize lists in their respective grades. Good luck to everyone in the days and weeks ahead!
Full results can be found on the RSPBA website
Colin Shearer Steps Down
Colin Shearer has resigned as the Pipe Major of the Denny and Dunipace Grade IV Band. Colin has cited pressure of work as his main reason and wishes to express his thanks for the support that he received whilst in post. Colin took over a Grade IV band that propped up the bottom of the Grade IV results table and in two seasons transformed the band to one that was continually pushing for prizes in their grade.
No-one has yet been appointed to take over this role but Colin said, "I hope that the next person to take on the job of Pipe Major with the wee band will be able to take the band to the next level and I would ask that all members of both bands would provide him or her with their support. ". Colin will remain a member of the Grade II band.
Competition List for 2008
| Date | Event |
| 10/05/08 | Dunbar |
| 24/05/08 | Scottish Championships Dumbarton (MSR/MAP) |
| 31/05/08 | Bathgate |
| 07/06/08 | Shotts |
| 14/06/08 | Bearsden |
| 21/06/08 | Grangemouth Children's Day |
| 28/06/08 | British Championships Birmingham (Medley/MAP) |
| 13/07/08 | Stirling |
| 19/07/08 | Balloch |
| 26/07/08 | European Championships Lisburn (Medley/MAP) |
| 03/08/08 | Bridge of Allan |
| 09/08/08 | North Berwick |
| 16/08/08 | World Championships Glasgow (Medley/MAP) |
| 23/08/08 | Rothesay |
| 30/08/08 | Cowal Championships Dunoon (MSR/MAP) |
| 14/09/08 | Peebles |
To ALL BAND MEMBERS
Please notify either the P/M or L/D well in advance if you are unable to attend any of the above. Travel arrangements to Lisburn and Birmingham are still to be confirmed.
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