The start of the two day event begins today with Grade #1 action in Arena 1 with all bands playing an MSR and then later a Medley. Here is the draw......
Day one - MSR
Draw Time Band
1 09:30 Manawatu Scottish
2 09:38 Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia
3 09:46 Scottish Power
4 09:54 Police Scotland Fife
5 10:02 Closkelt
6 10:10 Johnstone
7 10:18 Inveraray and District
8 10:26 St Thomas Alumni
9 10:34 78th Fraser Highlanders
10 10:42 St Laurence O'Toole
11 10:50 Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia
12 10:58 Simon Fraser University
13 11:06 Field Marshal Montgomery
14 11:14 Ravara
Day one - Medley
Draw Time Band
1 11:50 Manawatu Scottish
2 12:00 Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia
3 12:10 Scottish Power
4 12:20 Police Scotland Fife
5 12:30 Closkelt
6 12:40 Johnstone
7 12:50 Inveraray and District
8 13:00 St Thomas Alumni
9 13:10 78th Fraser Highlanders
10 13:20 St Laurence O'Toole
11 13:30 Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia
12 13:40 Simon Fraser University
13 13:50 Field Marshal Montgomery
14 14:00 Ravara
Action also begins for both the Juvenile A and B Bands at 3:05 this afternoon.
We had a coffee and prepared my backpack for the day. Rain gear, water bottle etc. and away we went. Forecast is for sunny weather with a chance of rain. A quick walk along the Clyde and we soon found the main entrance. We have always been on a bus in previous worlds so this was a new process to us 😂.
We walked over to Arena 1 and grabbed a good corner spot a few rows up. There were many familiar faces close by with the Hilder's, Parkes and other judges doing a mock adjudication. We were clearly in a good listening spot.
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| Judge training underway. |
Great story here….. St Thomas Alumni has a blind piper who is lead in by an escort. Once they march in and form up the circle, the escort leaves and they continue to play their set. For the breaks into the next tune, the piper beside him taps his foot on the pipers foot to the beat. Very inspiring!
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| St Thomas Alumni |
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| Field Marshal Montgomery |
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| Simon Fraser University at the line. |
The bands all played and I gave it to FM with SFU second and I & D third … but I’m not a trained judge 😂
Kelly had slipped out and picked up some shirts from I & D that had been ordered along with some Worlds shirts. She ran into Jill and Drew Mackay and had a quick catch up. We will hopefully meet up later.
We sat right behind Peter Aumonier and during the break, asked about the judging group sitting beside us. It is part of continuing education program for new judges. Gives them a chance get feedback etc. on their efforts to be accurate with comments and maintaining impartiality.
I went over and had a great conversation with the camera boom operator who explained how the camera functioned and what shots they got from it. It is really an indoor camera but it has been adapter for this venue. Very interesting.
The Medley competition started right on time and we watched as each of the bands came up to the line and then marched into the circle playing their competition tunes.
My “personal” placing so far… I & D, FM, SFU, Boghall, Revara, Shotts, St Thomas Alumni, SLOT, Closkelt
We will have to await the results tomorrow to see how close I was in these MSR & Medley predictions:-)
After the medley competition, we went over to the Babbity Bowster Pub for a late lunch and a pint with Jill and Drew. We got caught up on their recent hike of the West Highland Way along with piping activities, family etc. Great to see them.
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| Killing the thirst at the Babbity Bowster |
Cody arrived and joined us for a cool beverage. North Stratton had a band practice at 2:00 pm and he was exhausted from hiking to a grass covered park by the old Todd Bar. He is taking it easy today so only one pint for him and he was off to his flat at Collegelands.
We headed home as the Mackay's caught a train back to Sterling.
It was a great start to the competition and we are looking forward to even more action on the green tomorrow with 207 bands competing in numerous grades and age groups. The Grade 1 bands play a different MSR and Medley in front of a different set of judges. We bought seating in the grandstand so expecting a great experience.
North Stratton plays an MSR at 10:39 and then a Medley at 3:09 in Arena 2. We will be there to support them.
Steps - 6,500 - yep sitting in a chair watching pipe bands :-)
Mixed cloud with 23ºc temps- no rain and it felt a lot hotter when the sun was out!
