Rky Pipe Band History page ?

Writings of a past member - Athol Chase.

MEMORIES OF THE ROCKHAMPTON PIPE BAND IN THE 1950S
When I first joined the band in 1952/3, we met under a fig tree at the old Livingstone Shire site just next to the northern end of the old bridge. It had a tiny room up on stilts where all the gear was kept.
Later we used a building oppositer St Pauls Cathedral owned by Jimmy Lawrence of Lawrence motors, and then later, when Mr Gray (Secretary of the Agricultural Society) was our President, we had the use of buildings in the Showgrounds. In those days we played at many country balls for a fee - Archer, Biloela, Baralaba, Bluff, and so on. These were major events each year and we usually went in a chartered rail motor to the more distant events, accompanied by Jaqueline Parker's dancers and their mothers. We usually played outside the pub on arrival and passed the hat around to get some extra funds. Dr Blackburn of Baralaba always paid us a fee to appear at the Baralaba Ball. One one occasion in 1953 when wool prices made many rural millionaires, a Longreach grazier named Muller, chartered a DC3 to fly us out to Longreach at Easter for the races and a ball. He also threw in 200 pounds, which was a lot money at that time. They were heady days for the band,at a time when it was quite strong, and I am sure Tommy Bell remembers the times well, probably with a great deal more accuracy than me.
The Findlater family contributed three brothers to the band - Alick (pipe sergeant), Bruce and Gordon. Gordon I think played the bass drum.

Other pipers of the time who were in the ranks then were firstly, that grand old man of the band, the Pipe Major Andy Tait. As well there were Bruce McLean, Cleeve Alcorn, Johnny Heyden, Arthur Gerrard, Bobby Hixon, Doug Baggely, Keith Delelande (Palings manager I think) and Alex Cameron. Arthur Gerrard in Brisbane remains a close friend. He spent some years in the 42nd Battalion Pipe Band, and was instrumental in re-forming the Mt Morgan Pipe Band.
There was a fair number of new players moving through the band at that time. Drummers were Glen Curry and Tommy Bell (side drums), Harry Nelson (tenor drum) and as mentioned, Gordon Findlater on the bass drum. There were other pipers and drummers, but my memory is faulty and maybe others can fill in gaps. Dougal Macmillan moved to Brisbane to join the police force and retired as an inspector. He was a stalwart of the Police Pipe Band for many years, and his father had bought him Andy Tait's silver mounted Henderson pipes when Andy died. I bought my Hendersons from Jimmy Alexander whom I see listed in your website. They were excellent pipes and I sold them to a young lad in Rockhampton after I married and was moving to Brisbane. All I have now is my old practice chanter, loads of book music, and a blackwood chanter for my Henderson pipes which I bought new. I see these days pipe chanters are all of a synthetic material. I sometimes get the practice chanter out to amuse the grandkids. Most of my photos of the band were lost in the 1974 Brisbane flood.

Regards and apologies for the scattered nature of my memories!

Athol Chase

Many thanks to Athol on behalf of the band for his writings and the pic below.

This photo is taken circa 1957, of Bruce McLean with me behind, piping in the haggis for the Caledonian Society at the RSL hall at the northern end of East St.

circa 1957

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