RAF Halton were invited to take part in a parade celebrating Breton culture in the middle of Paris. In front of a crowd of between 300 and 400,000 people the band marched proudly down the centre of the Champs Elysées in Paris. The televised event opened with a Breton piper playing Amazing Grace followed by RAF Halton and a Welsh male voice choir. Groups representing all parts of the Celtic world came from Asturia, Brittany, Canada, Eire, Galicia, Scotland and Wales. The entire hour long programme from TF1 can be seen on thier web site.

Yes, absolutely brilliant, RAF Halton came second in grade IIIa at the World Pipe Band Championships, 2007. On a miserable August day in Glasgow, the band pulled out all the stops to become Runners-up at the World Championships. That is a huge achievement, with many of the serving members having to learn long distance! Pipe Major Finlay McGhee of RAF Waddington has been playing with us this season and managed to get his brother-in-law, a certain Alasdair Ghillies to play too.

The 60th Anniversary event will take place at RAF Kinloss, by kind permission of the Station Commander, starting on Friday 2 November 2007. At 2000 there will be a Meet and Greet in casual attire at the Music Services Flight. On Saturday 3 November 2007, 1830, there will be a Band Performance, Formal Meal & Ceilidh in the Sergeants' Mess. Highland dress, Mess Dress or Jacket and Tie.

If you wish to attend these celebrations, please use the Register page on their web site to send them your contact details.

The band was asked to play at the last ever Metropolitan Police Passing Out Parade - RAF Halton Pipes and Drums have played for many of these occasions over the last few years usually with a Military band along side. On this occasion it was the band of the Coldstream Guards with the Senior Drum Major of the Household Division.

The Metropolitan Police have decided that drill takes up too much of the valuable training time on the initial training and so the traditional passing out parade will stop in its' present form... for the time being at least. The training estate sits on what was once a part of RAF Hendon and so has always had links with the Royal Air Force.

Third Annual Chiltern Show

The Chiltern Show on 21st/22nd July provided a mixed bag weatherwise with rain and sun in equal measure. The Band played under cover on the stage for most of the performances on Saturday and on the top deck of a Edinburgh tour bus with accompanying belly dancers on Sunday, a first for RAF Halton Pipes and Drums! The weekend also gave us the chance to put in plenty of practise in preparation for the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow on August 11th with 12 pipers, 4 sides and the tenor & bass section.

The Band is booked again for 2008 hoping for better weather.

Article by Brian Westgate

The band marches past some of the attractions at the Chiltern Show.

Lieutenant Commander Brian Chittick of the Royal Navy is to become the Band President. Yes, that's right Royal Navy! Brian is a piper in the band and is a Dental Surgeon here at RAF Halton. Once he has learnt the band's repertoire he will be playing alongside us whenever he can.

Brian ran the London Marathon for charity. "Two of us from work are running it for a local children's charity in Aylesbury which our HQ has adopted. The charity is called CHAT (Children's Health and Therapy) and provides respite care for severely mentally and physically disabled children and their families. This is the biggest personal challenge that either of us has undertaken and hope that all of our training will pay off! The amount is not important as every penny will help the children and their families. Thank you for your support which is what will really get us through the 26 miles of hell!" Well done Brian.

As always, one month late (for the pipers), RAF Halton Pipes and Drums had its' Burns Supper at the Sergeant's Mess, RAF Halton. The function was well attended.

All the usual events took place - the band played, there was the 'whisky roll', annual prizegiving, etc. This year was the last for outgoing Band President Roger Dixon and the first for incoming Lieutenant Commander Brian Chittick.

The band dirk was awarded to Ricky for his amazing progress and enthusiasm throughout his first year.

As part of our commitment to charity, the band played at a football match in support of SSAFA. Col.(Retd.) Pepper of SSAFA asked the band if they would play at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes, to which we agreed. The event was attended by our Station Cdr, the Lord Lieutenant, local M.P. etc.

It was also the debut of John Campbell (red kilt) as our newest piper. His partner Louise managed to take a few photos and sell some RAF Halton AD Astra! CDs too. Louise hopes to be playing with the band this coming season.

The result: Milton Keynes Dons 3 - Wycombe Wanderers 1. Izale McLeod's brace secured MK Dons the honours in this first ever Buckinghamshire derby against 10-man Wycombe. The band played brilliantly!

RAF Pipe Band Champions 2006

RAF Halton Pipes and Drums won the Royal Air Force Pipe Band Championships 2006. The RAFPBA contest includes a grade IV and III contest, Drum Majors, solo MSR, March, Piobreachd and Drumming. All the solo events are held on the Friday and band contests on Saturday. As can be seen from the silverware and smiling faces Halton did very well. Congratulations to all who took part. Full results can be seen on the RAFPBA web site.

Band win again at Chatsworth Country Fair

The band did it again at Chatsworth in September! Having had no opportunity to compete all season (due to other commitments), the band had a fantastic day out at Chatsworth.

Fraser came back from France, Ross, Andy and Kenny from work, Finlay (PM of RAF Waddington who also competed), and two new members - Pete and Ricky in their first contest! A huge effort on everybody's part which really paid off.

The band came second in grade III (beaten by Beeston, the Champion of Champions or league winners). We also played well in grade II beating everybody to win the contest.

The band's efforts can be seen and heard on Graham's pages and also on YouTube!

Halton piper up on the ramparts!

There is nothing quite like the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. August saw a sizable contingent from Halton taking part again as part of the RAF Pipes and Drums.

The band had pipers and drummers as well as the Drum Major throughout the month. During this period we stayed at HMS Caledonia in Rosyth, where we were looked after by the Navy.

The first day is full of meetings where all information is distributed and the accomodation needs sorted out. This is followed by three days solid of rehearsals at Redford Barracks under the direction of instructors from the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming.

Part of the contingent from Halton was the Westgate family (Brian, Andrew and Iain). Iain is the Pipe Sergeant and Secretary at Halton and was selected as one of two RAF pipers to be given the privelege of playing 'high on the ramparts'!

Again, the effort from members of the band is colossal in terms of learning tunes, extra drill, and of course the time commitment. The whole experience is none the less both rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable. This is a good example of the opportunities available to pipers and drummers in this band that are unique to the RAF voluntary pipe bands.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Third Annual Chiltern Show

On the weekend 15th 16th July, 2006, RAF Halton Pipes and Drums played at the 3rd annual Chiltern Show at Great Missenden. Set in the picturesque valley in the Chiltern Hills the increasingly popular show was blessed with fine weather, cloudless sky and temperatures in the eighties; hot for piping!

The Band played at various times throughout the two days at different parts of the showground giving the final performance on the stage at the end of the day.

Highlights of the weekend were Ricky's TV interview by Alan Dunn, (to be broadcast later this year we believe), the visit to a local Indian restaurant, where Alan performed magic tricks for the staff and other customers and we all (including the entire restaurant) sang 'happy birthday' to Lenny, and of course the belly dancers.

The Band gave fine and polished performances over the two days in spite of the heat and was very well received by the public as a whole. The organisers have already booked the band for 2007!

Article by Brian Westgate