Gourock, possibly rain!

It just got real. All the soothing words and praise have gone out of the window and it’s just you, your instrument and your heart in your mouth. Welcome to Gourock, start of the outdoor season and the first time many of the weans will have played on grass, other than tig or rounders obviously.

Aye Busy!

Just because you don’t see us on the street doesn’t mean we’re sitting with our slippers on listening to Pipeline eating brose. Work continues apace on getting the Grade 4B and 3B bands match ready because the Gourock Highland games is just round the corner and we still have to waterproof the Glengarry’s and fit stronger guy-ropes to the Big Blue House of Fun.

AD&G thankfully Indoors

A big day lay ahead, the first time the grade 4b band, who will heretofore be known as the weans, even though some of them are acting their shoe size, were in competition and the first run out for our 3B band or the Big band. Now that the introductions are done we can begin

2023 retrospective

After Mickey Blue Eyes played laments for the Auld Year and we’d all kissed and handshaken in twenty twenty four it was a case of Auld Lang Syne and back to the dancing. This was going to be a retrospective of 2023 but I’ve tried three times to write it and it was boring so I bring you 2024 BIG CHANGES.

Nights of lights and coldness

Brrr! Pure freezing! It’s now a KPB tradition that when the cold weather begins to bite and the gales and squalls strip the last of the leaves from the trees we put on outrageous Christmas jumpers and attend village crimbo light switch ons.

Gloomy Winter

It was with a heavy heart that I attended the funeral of one of our pipers. Gordon and I spent many a mile on parade chatting and laughing when we should have been playing. It felt important to me that I attended his last farewell.

We will Remember

Remembrance Sunday is getting bigger every year, I’m not sure if this is because we are getting better educated about past wars or are grieving all the current horrors but we parade and play and honour all the dead of past and present generations.

Change in the weather

The time to look out your big coat has arrived heralding in the dark nights and chilblains of the winter season. The heartwarming but bone chilling seasonal marches. I should feign illness and let the young and warm blooded members, those whose trousers get shorter the colder it gets, represent us but before that there’s an end of season barbecue to report on.

Top Dogs in Dunoon

With an earlyish start and conflicting weather predictions we met at Malcolm’s for the season finale and this will be a four or possibly five ring circus as we’re taking two buses.

Weans Worlds

With a daft o’clock start from Malcolm’s I was up at 6:15am and washed and dressed ready to be collected by James the Hat at 6:30am. He had promised breakfast at the Barras so I was travelling light.