Highland Piper’s mammoth trek reaps rewards

By Alistair Munro

March 26 2018, 5:37 am

Struan Robertson, who travelled from Knoydart to the competition and was rewarded with top places in the Bagpipe Novice march and the Slow Air competitions.

A dedicated teenage piper saw his massive effort to travel from the Knoydart peninsula – using ferry and roads – in a bid to compete in a major competition pay off.

Thirteen-year-old Struan Robertson caught an early 30-minute ferry crossing to Mallaig before continuing a journey of almost two hours to Fort William to attend the Lochaber Piping Society’s annual youth piping competition.

Judges and organisers were delighted by the effort, as Struan put in one of the best performances of the day to win the bagpipes novice march category.

Rona Cameron, one of the organisers of one of piping’s biggest annual events, said: “Struan made a great effort to get from Knoydart to take part.

“He put in a great performance and walked away with a winner’s prize, which is a great result and provides inspiration to others.”

Her husband Ken, chairman of Lochaber Piping Society, said: “We had a great day at Lochaber High School on Saturday, attracting entrants from as far apart as Stirling, Inverness, Oban, Skye, Dunoon and Knoydart.

“We have been running annually since 1970 and have seen some tremendous talent at the solo piping competition.

“I hope the fact that people have travelled from all over will encourage those more locally to take a shot at piping.”

The winners were:

Chanter 10 years and under March – Rosie MacLennan

Chanter 11-13 years March – Connie MacLennan

Chanter 14 years and under March – Grace Kelman

Bagpipes Novice March – Struan Robertson

Bagpipes Novice Slow Air – Struan Robertson

Bagpipes under 16 years Slow Air – Gregor MacDonald

Bagpipes under 15 years March – Gregor MacDonald

Bagpipes under 15 years March (Best Local) – Laura Robertson

Bagpipes under 15 years Strathspey and Reel – Gregor MacDonald