fter starting off at 7:30 on the bus in Aberdeen, a sleepy Deeside made their way south to Pitlochry for the British championships.  It didn't take long for the sleep to wear off and for Deeside to get themselves into the mood for proving themselves after a controversial 1st and 16th at the Scottish Championships in May.  After 2 1/2 hours the bus pulled into a rainy park in Pitlochry.  However,  not even the rain could disguise the beauty of the surroundings or dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

With a couple of hours to go before 'show time' the band were still practicing in the bus to try to avoid the heavy rain.  The rain subsided at approximately 12:00 allowing the band to get some outside practice and tuning in before the performance.  With a knowledgeable crowd looking on the band was sounding good as they moved into the Final Tuning (despite a drummers laces coming undone in this mini marathon run). 

Final tuning went well despite another band's insistence that Deeside move onto the line before they were ready (Deeside's PR person *ahem* "politely" asked him to mind is own business)

Sadly nerves took hold on the line, partially due to the fact that this was the first major for playing the selection.  The Intro was clean, but a few slips were made in the performance from all cores.  This left the band feeling a little down afterward.  However, things calmed as soon as the band crossed the line again due to having to play for the Drum majors' competition.  Once again the result was somewhat strange with the pipers being placed 6th and 10th.

Despite the result, the band had a thoroughly enjoyable day, with many members enjoying the sights and sounds of the beer tent and finding amusement in a pair of broken scales which claimed that Big Neil was a petite 7 stone.  Furthermore sales of Columba Cream sky rocketed after several members acquired a taste for it from some free samples at the manufacturers stall.

The bus ride home saw fewer members than on the way down due to some deciding to stay over in Pitlochry.  However, with Robert, Pauline and Kirsty on Pipes and Alan on drums there was a good jam session going on.  This continued into the night at a band members house with Robert on Chanter, Alan on the Djembe and Magnus on the Didgeridoo.

All in all, despite the result the band had an excellent day and know now exactly what to work on in order to make a big impact at the World Championships in August.