fter the positive feedback from the worlds Deeside went to Cowal with a cautious air of optimism with the hope of getting placed.

After starting from Aberdeen the bus pulled into the harbour at Gourick at about 9:30 and it wasn’t long before we were on the boat heading across to Dunoon. The band decided against marching up the street this year to maximise the amount of practice and tuning ahead of the performance.

Despite the Bass drum getting an early shower of lager by member of another band, practice went well with the band sounding good and as usual attracting a crowd.

The performance itself was also very encouraging with an excellent intro and confident March. By the end of the set all band members seemed satisfied with what they had played.

The band were then free to enjoy the rest of the day until mass bands, a short amount of this time was devoted to devising cunning ways of taking liquid refreshments into the park. The prize for this must go to Kevin who managed to turn his pipe box into the Tardis carefully arranging 23 bottles in it! With the hot sun beating down it was a pleasure to have a cold bottle while watching Grade 1.

While the band was not announced in the prize list, we were hopeful of a top ten place. However, not for the first time this year some "interesting" judging decisions placed the piping at opposite ends of the table and did not allow this.

However, what with the Europeans coming up next and a return to the selection Deeside are as always optimistic about their chances.