Great achievement for Ullapool & District band at UK championships

Last Friday (12 June) 31 pipers and drummers travelled from Ullapool and the surrounding area to Belfast, Northern Ireland to compete in the United Kingdom Pipe Band Championships held at Stormont Estate.  

Despite 14 hours travelling time to get to the hotel, and an early start to get to the park, the band were on high spirits following the recent 5th place they had received at the British Championships in Bathgate.  

The Ullapool & District band competed in Grade 4a against a grade made up of 11 Irish bands and 1 Scottish representative. The band has worked extremely hard since the British Championships in May, correcting and improving some elements of the performance that we felt weren’t as good as they could be.  

Band members celebrate with a "selfie"

When the time came to play, the band members, who are tutored by the Highland Council’s piping Instructor in the West, Gary Nimmo, were full of confidence and delivered a good solid performance, banishing the mistakes of previous weeks. This performance earned them a very well deserved 4th placing overall, with both Piping Judges having placed the band 1st.  

Considering the band has only just moved up into this grade and has many young members from the areas schools, it is an absolutely fantastic achievement.   

Music Development Officer for the Council, Norman Bolton said: “The Ullapool band is currently going from strength to strength and are gearing up for the European Championships in Forres on 27th June.   Groups such as this add so much to the tuition afforded to Highland pupils and can give such a boost in confidence and self-esteem.”