2006

From August 2006, all our news will be in our blog at

http://coldstreampipeband.blogspot.com

  25 February

 25 February Scotland vs. England

Scotland 18 England 12

First victory over them for six years. You just knew this was going to be a really special day. The crowds arriving at the North Stand where we were assembled seemed really up for it. They cheered our tunes as we practised an hour before kick-off. There was a feverish feel to it all.

It felt like the coldest day of the year and not one for playing in a pipe band. Working for the Scottish Rugby Union at Murrayfield is a long day. Be there at 1.30 for a 5.30 kick-off. Stand around a lot. Don't get paid or fed. Make sure the look is correct for the TV and the band is as tight as it can be around the sponsor's logo. Then empty the pitch 90 minutes before kick-off so those 30 bears can get ready to eat each other.

The noise of the crowd as soon as the massed band entered the ground was, however, amazing. If I had hair on my heid it would have been standing up. The roar of the crowd was like facing a jet engine, a blast of air and a deafening roar.

The braveheart actors looked like a rabble and their jeering at the English team seemed a bit childish. Why do middle-aged architects think they can dress up and look like Pictish warriors? I can't imagine the English were intimidated a bit. Have they not heard of Culloden? The worst panto I've seen in a while.

I could barely hear 'Highland Cathedral' and I couldn't hear 'Flower of Scotland' at all.

Couldn't see the Drum Major either, it was so noisy it was hard concentrating to remember which part we ended on. Then it was a quick shuffle off the pitch, could anyone hear the taps? Sprint to the bus, leave your kit, grab every item of clothing you could and back into the ground where it was already 3-3. Hip flasks emptied quickly and it was eyes down and hawd on.

Any moans about the cold were, however, laid to rest by a fantastic match. And, to be fair, given that the majority of the massed band is made up of bands from schools, the sound was OK.

A real nail biter of a match. The day really was worth the price of admission.

View Pictures

  5 February

 5 February Scotland vs. France

We spent a long day at Murrayfield Stadium entertaining the crowd pre-match and then on the pitch for the anthems, etc. The timing of the anthem was well off, but something must have went right because Scotland played a great game and won through 20-16 for a historic victory.

14 January

Coldstream Cottage Hospital Protest March Against Closure

The band lead a protest march in Coldstream at the threatened closure of the Cottage Hospital. 600 people were on the march, which is quite a number in Coldstream. Thanks go to the pipers and drummers from Duns, Eyemouth, Berwick and Kelso that turned out to make a good sound.

View Pictures

2005

General

We did a lot of work in 2005, honest! We just forgot to take any pictures and update the site. Sorry.

Sadly, the band lost Alastair Brown-Scott in 2005. This is a big loss, which we are only now feeling. Alastair was a larger than life figure and we will miss him.

Read Alastair's Story

 New Drums

The Big Lottery Fund supported the band in 2005 with a generous grant that allowed us to fit out the drum core with new Andante drums.

This is a great boost for the drummers with the new drums replacing old, tired, heavy drums, we still have old, tired, heavy drummers, but that’s another story…

We’re very appreciative of the support from the Big Lottery and particularly from Jean Robertson at Scottish Borders Council and helped us with writing up the bid.

The drum core is currently well subscribed with new drummers constantly and consistently rolling off the production line managed by the Cockburn brothers.

February

Merse Pipers Society

Pipers of the Coldstream Pipe Band opened the February session of the Merse Pipers Society's winter programme. The quintet consisted of Duncan Bell, Peter Scott, Orrin Karp and Stephen Hyslop and was led by Pipe Major Robert Bell, the founder of the Coldstream Town Pipe Band and a member of the Merse Pipers Society. Read full story from Berwickshire News.

 Spring

We didn't do a great deal. Practised and got ready for the summer.

 Summer

Civic Week, was again the highlight of the year. The band turned out for all the ride-outs and events. We played at the usual shows and other towns festivities.

 Autumn

We played at all the autumn tests at Murrayfield: Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand. Remembrance Sunday and other stuff like that. Individually, the band players did a load of stuff, including piping for Cardinal O'Brien!

2004

27 November

Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland vs. South Africa

With improved performances against Auatralia, scoring 100 against Japan and up against a weakened South African team Scotland were in with a chance against the Tri-Nations champions; naturally Scotland threw that all to the side, played the worst game of rugby imaginable and got humped 45-10. The
band, however, had a good day out and we enjoyed the day immensley.

14 November

Remembrance Sunday, Coldstream

The band led the parade of the Royal British Legion Coldstream Branch, ex-servicemen and women, youth organisations and town representatives from Henderson Park to the war memorial with a brisk selection of 6/8 marches. A short service was held and the two minutes silence observed at 11am. Duncan Bell played the lament before the band led the parade back along the High Street, at an equally brisk pace, to the Parish Kirk for the remembrance service, following which we were well catered for at the Legion.

5 September

Coldstream

The band played for the entertainment of the folks at Gowan Lea and for any passing tourists and locals at Henderson Park - and a reasonable crowd was duly entertained. Afterwards the senior members did their usual temperance work at the Besom Inn before a barbecue at PM Bell's hoose.

29 August

Massed bands, Floors Castle

The band took part in the annual massed bands at Floors Castle along with almost all the other Border bands and some visiting bands from the Lothians. More temperance work back at Coldstream led to a few sore heads the next day.

22 August

Scarecrow Festival, Norham

21 August

Whittingham Show [Link]

Our annual trip to Whittingham in Glendale, Northumberland was its usual success and we were happy to re-acquaint ourselves with the intricacies of the Northumbrian dialect (two nations separated by a common language?) and sheep dog trials. Pity the pub's been closed though.

1-7 August

Coldstream Civic Week

The band played for the sashing of the Coldstreamer at the beginning of the week and at the beating of the retreat at the end of a very successful civic week. In addition, we turned out throughout the week for the ride-outs to Norham, Flodden and Leitholm, for the torchlight procession and the fancy dress parade.

31 July

Border Union Show, Kelso [Link]

24 July

Kelso Civic Week

The band played for the evening fancy dress at Kelso Civic Week and later in a massed-band with the Kelso Pipe Band. Temperance work throughout Kelso later in the evening led to some jovial exchanges with other visiting band members!

2-9 July

Trip to Bennecourt France

The band visited Coldstream's twin-town of Bennecourt in France. The band was invited to accompany the annual visit of the Coldstream Twinning Association.

Although we have been to Bennecourt several times over the past few years this was a special visit as it marked the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Bennecourt from occupation during the Second World War.

Bennecourt is on the border between Ile de France and Normandy and is about ninety minutes downstream of Paris on the banks of the River Seine, just off the A13 motorway near the larger town of Bonnieres. It is in the area made famous by Claude Monet and the impressionists and is close to Monet's house and garden at Giverne. It is a cracking wee place, in a lovely area and well worth a visit.

Of great poignancy to the band was the visit to the military cemetery at Ranville on the Normandy coast. Two thousand soldiers from all nations lie here, including two from Coldstream and quite a number from the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB). Among them lies Private Robert Bell, uncle of Rob and James Bell, who was killed in 1944 during the advance by 15th Scottish Division out of the bridgehead created by the invasion toward the city of Caen. The other Coldstream man buried here is Driver Kerr of the Royal Corps of Transport.

We also visited the bridge over the River Orne Canal, the famous 'Pegasus Bridge', which was captured during the night of 6th June 1944 by glider borne soldiers of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. The band took the opportunity to play over the bridge. We also played on the promenade at Arromanches later that day when we visited the actual coastline itself.

26 June

Beltane Festival, Peebles

2 May

Allerdean Fayre

1 May

Riding of Berwick bounds

9 April

Installation of the Coldstreamer