The Queen 's four-day Platinum Jubilee weekend has brought so much joy to many people around the country and the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band are 'excited' to wear their new uniforms on Sunday, June 5th.
The band is a traditional marching band, comprised of players of all ages, from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a passion for bagpipe music. They provide entertainment for the communities of Rothbury, Coquetdale, and, occasionally more widely across Northumberland and the North East, at village shows, community events, and the annual Remembrance Day Parade in Rothbury.
Formed in 1920, the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band, historically, has played at many formal events, for a large number of VIP guests, including the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.
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The band receives no formal funding, with the exception of minimal appearance fees, and the financial support of the local community, which enables them to purchase instruments and uniforms and provide tuition for new members. Through the ‘generous’ donation of £5000 from the Northumberland Freemasons, the band is now able to replace their tired uniforms, which are in desperate need of refreshment.
The original Kilted Pipe Band was historically gifted with various items of equipment including drums and uniforms, with the uniforms being replaced with a more modern and less restrictive one over thirty years ago.
Kevin Scott, Chairman of the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band, explained: “As a community organisation we provide entertainment at many local functions in our village and the wider area of the Coquet Valley, many of these functions are also run by a charity or donation-based organisations. Therefore we operate in a very non-commercial environment where fees for our appearances are low or sometimes just donations.”
The Pipe band has operational costs for the provision of uniforms and instruments to their members, this can cost them upwards of £2,000 per playing member. Because their fee-earning opportunities are limited, they rely upon grant funding and private donations to allow their services to run the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band to a very high standard.
Kevin added: “The grant generously provided by the Freemasons has allowed us to continue with our current programme to refresh current playing members' uniforms, which is an ongoing process, and to provide new uniforms for some new members we have coming throughout the tutoring scheme.
“So, with this support from the Freemasons, we hope to secure a future for our inclusive and social Highland Pipe Band and continue to provide our special brand of traditional entertainment in our community helping to promote wellbeing and a feel-good factor for both our local audiences and the members of the Pipe Band.”
Andrew Miller, 63, from Rothbury has been playing the bagpipe for fifty years. He is the pipe major in the band. He said: “After 102 years of the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band’s existence, the community band with members from all walks of life are all learning to play the pipe, especially for the Jubilee weekend but also for all other future events. A lot of people enjoy watching us and we love what we do.
"We perform in the traditional Scottish quilt and march on the streets. Now we have the new uniforms and drums and we're very excited to wear them."
Stuart Cairns, the Northumberland Freemasons' secretary who oversees the grants from the Richard Henry Homes fund, said: ”When the members of Coquetdale Lodge No 5122 (a group at Freemasons) heard that the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band was in need of both new and replacement uniforms they had no hesitation in requesting support from the Northumberland Freemasons Benevolent Fund and for two very good reasons.
"First of all, the Rothbury Highland Pipe Band has been delighting audiences and events in the area for more than 100 years, and secondly, their very own former member, David Brown, had played a significant role in the Pipe Band’s recent history.
"The Trustees of the Benevolent Fund were delighted to award a grant of £5,000 in support of the cost of the uniforms; in recognition of the Pipe Band’s service & contribution to the local community and also the great joy that it had given to David Brown”.
To learn more about Rothbury Highland Pipe Band, visit here and to learn more about Northumberland Freemasons visit here
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