The Championship will bring together seven of Scotland’s finest Intermediate players under the age of 22 to compete in a Piobaireachd and March, Strathspey and Reel competition: Ruairidh Brown, Andrew Ferguson, Luke Kennedy, Gregor MacDonald, Angus MacPhee, Cameron May and Brodie Watson-Massey.
The event will be held on Saturday 22nd October at the chapel in Lochnell Castle with the kind permission of the Earl of Dundonald and hosted by his son Lord Archie Cochrane. The judges will be John Wilson, Derek Fraser and Niall Matheson.
We are delighted to announce the presentation of two new trophies for the Championship. The first is the Jimmy McIntosh MBE Memorial Trophy for Piobaireachd presented by Mrs Joyce McIntosh. Mr McIntosh was a former Oban Gold medallist and teacher of renown. The second trophy is for the MSR and is presented by McCallum Bagpipes in memory of Mr Willie McCallum Snr. of Campbeltown, a man who dedicated his life to promoting piping in his native town and in wider Argyll. In addition to these trophies the Champion Piper receives a Bronze Star presented by the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society.
Robert Wallace, the fear an tighe for this year's event, Judge of the 2021 Lochnell Championship and President of the Piobaireachd Society said: “We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Lochnell for the second annual Intermediate Youth Championship. This competition fills a gap in the calendar for the young aspiring professional piper and encourages them on to even greater effort and success.”
John Wilson, Senior Adjudicator at this year’s Championship adds, “The Argyllshire Gathering Trust is to be congratulated on having the foresight to organise a competition such as this which provides our young, high-achieving pipers with the experience of competing in an invitational event at an exclusive venue in a format which reflects that of the Glenfiddich Piping Championship”.
The Argyllshire Gathering Trust would like to thank their sponsors: Alik Campbell, the Duncan Louis Stewart Foundation, Andrew Holman, the Piobaireachd Society and the Royal Scottish Pipers Society, plus wonderful support from the community through the Trust's JustGiving Page - thank you to everyone. If you would like to support the Lochnell Championship please visit our JustGiving Page www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/argyllshire-gatheringtrust-lochnellchampionship.
The event has limited capacity and is by invitation only. If you would like to attend, please get in touch with argyllshiregatheringtrust@gmail.com.
