Too much wind for pipe band

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Too much wind for pipe band 8/3/14

A problem of too much wind has cost a Western Isles prize-winning pipe-band the chance to compete in national bagpiping championships.

Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band, from the secondary school in Benbecula, cannot travel to the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships in Edinburgh because a storm has stopped ferries from sailing.

All ferries for the Western Isles - including the inter-island routes- were seriously disrupted since Friday due to wild weather.

Gusts up to 70 mph mean the young pipers and drummers are stuck on Uist and Benbecula while rivals across the country battle it out in the events in Broughton High School this weekend.

Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band took first place in the debut category in the first ever Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships in Edinburgh last year.

Their £500 prize money was added to the fundraising drive of bag-packing and bake sales to buy the ferry tickets and hotel costs for this year’s contests.

But heavy gales prevented the ferry MV Hebrides from getting to the mainland so the players were forced to abandon their plans.

Pipeband committee member Anne Bird said the youngsters are “very disappointed.”

However, the pipe band has now been invited to perform at a special concert at Carinish Hall in North Uist on Saturday night.

The event is being held by music students of Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig as a tribute to well-known Uist piper Ivan MacDonald who tragically died following a car collision last year.

Meanwhile, ferries risk disruptions on Sunday as strong winds batter the Hebrides for a third day.