Council celebrates Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band centenary
A CENTURY of piping and drumming by the Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band has been celebrated at a civic reception in the Inverness Town House.
Inverness Provost Helen Carmichael and councillors Roddy Balfour, Trish Robertson, Duncan MacPherson and Isabelle MacKenzie were joined by some of the members of the pipe band, band committee members and band family and friends.
Provost Carmichael said: “It is a remarkable achievement that the Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band is still going strong after 100 years. For this reason, the City of Inverness Area Committee was delighted to mark the occasion by saying ‘thank you’ to the band with this Inverness common good funded reception.
“Your performances each year leading Remembrance Day and Kirking of the Council parades are appreciated by councillors and we know that tourists love your weekly evening parades in the summer on Inverness High Street as hundreds of visitors appear from nowhere cameras-at-the-ready to the sound of the Legion pipes and drums.
“We thank you also for your performances at so many community events from Highland Games to smaller sessions in local care homes not just in Inverness area but across the Highlands and we wish the band another 100 years and many more of playing.”
Pipe Major Gordon Straube said: “One hundred years ago, the first chanter practice was held by the members of the newly formed Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band. The band was created by pipers and drummers who returned to civilian life from the horrors of World War I battlefields.
“We pay tribute to the first Pipe Major, John Ross of Innes Street, and Drum Major J Fraser of King Street, and to the many band members who have played since then. We are just custodians of the uniform and the band lives on through its members and many supporters.
“We thank the city of Inverness councillors for their support over the years and we entrust the band to future generations to ensure its community spirit lives on.”
The Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band meets weekly on Tuesdays at the Royal British Legion, King Street, Inverness and parades on Inverness High Street 8pm-8.30pm during July and August.
