Band History

Early Years

The 1st Troon Boys Brigade was formed November 1919, soon after a fund was started to raise £100 for equipment for a newly formed BB Pipe Band.

A concert was held in December 1919 by local musicians and singers at which the Band was presented with a set of drums as well as receiving all proceeds from the concert.

New years day 1920 seen the Bands first ever parade led by Company Captain Thomas Shannon through the streets of Troon with an 80 strong company marching behind the Band.

In 1945 the Band led the victory day parade the town.

In these early days the Bands main activities were local Gala days and Parades

In the late 1940's the Pipe Band had started to dwindle away. The company had started a Bugle Band and due to no instructors for the Pipe Band the Band stopped.

In 1956 after a couple of failed attempts to restart the Band finally managed to restart under the tuition of Wiiliam Laidlaw. One of the first pupils along was an 12 yr old David Bone.

After a couple of years the Band was ready for public performances again, and with William Laidlaw's son Jim returning from National Service and taking on the role as Pipe Major the Band grew from strength to strength.

After John Laidlaw moved away to for work Jack Brown would then take over as Pipe Major for a few years carrying on the good work of the Laidlaw family.

In 1970 after returning from working in South Africa David Bone then took over as Pipe Major and officer in charge and the Band really started flourish producing players with many still playing at the top level today. In 2003 David received an MBE from the Queen for services to the Boys Brigade and was still a major part of the Band until he passed away in 2021.

In the 80's and 90's the Band were producing players who would then stay on and help and teach the Band and with that David Bone could take a step back and concentrate on the background of the band.

Iain Cox became Pipe Major in the 80's through to the early 90's and would later become Pipe Major of the Troon Blackrock Pipe Band of which he still a main part of to this day.

The early 90's seen players Steven Ross, Paul Doak and Alan Donohoe take on the role as Pipe Major.

In late 1995 Chris Bone would then take on the role as Pipe Major the role he still holds to this day.

Competitions

In 1980's the Band started to enter competitions with little success. in 1990 the Band competed at the Cowal Games and finished last in their section. The Band was judged that day by a certain David Clark and advised on his crit sheet to "seek help". the Band then followed his advice and asked David if he would help and 30 yrs later David is still a part of the band.

David Clark brought years of grade one experience with him and soon started to distil a competitive disciple in the Band and after a large overhaul of members in the results started to come.

April 1998 seen the Band take its first ever 1st place in the Novice section at The Boys Brigade Scottish Band Championships. Prizes then started to follow at local competitions and in 2000 we made the prize list for the first time with a 5th place in Nov/Juv at the European Championships.

In the early 2000s after years of short term drumming instructors Bert Boyd became the drumming instructor assisted by John Bell. This seen a change in fortune for the Bands drumming and in 2002 the drummers were crowned Best Drum Corp at the European Championships in Nov/Juv. This was followed by another Best Drum Corp prize in 2004 at the Scottish Championships.

May 2005 the Band finally won their first ever Major Championship winning the Scottish Championships in Nov/Juv.

2012 seen the most successful year in the Bands history winning the Scottish Championships, British Championships and European Championships.

After years of trying and it seemingly just being out of our grasp the Band finally won the World Championships in 2016 at Glasgow green 60 years after the Band was restarted.

2018 seen the Band finally win the missing piece in the full set of RSPBA majors when they won the UK Championships ( formerly the Cowal Championships) in Belfast.

All of these successes achieved by groups of boys all members of the Boys Brigade taught from scratch by instructors and living in a 3 mile radius of each other.

Notable Performances

The Boys Brigade and Pipe Bands open many doors to many exciting opportunities and here are a few memorable ones from over the last 100 years.

1945 - VE Day

Possibly one of the most poignant moments in British history the Band were asked to lead a victory parade through Troon to mark the occasion.

1983 - Boys Brigade Centenary Celebrations, Ibrox Stadium.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boys Brigade a service was held in Ibrox Stadium featuring Boys Brigade Bands from all over Great Britain.

1990 - Glasgow European City of Culture.

As part of the celebrations to celebrate Glasgow becoming European city of culture events were held throughout Glasgow with the Band performing at the Garden festival.

2002 - Queens Golden Jubilee Celebrations, London.

To commemorate the Queens Jubilee the Boys Brigade organised a day of performances around London City centre with a number of BB Bands participating.

Throughout the day the Band performed at The Tate Modern, Trafalgar Square, St Katherine's Dock and completed the memorable day participating in the Massed Pipe Band leading a parade up the Royal Mall then finishing off with a tune at the Gates of Buckingham Palace.

2008 - Boys Brigade 125th Anniversary Tattoo, Braehead Arena.

As part of the 125th anniversary of the BBs a Tattoo was held at Braehead Arena with 1st Troon one of the Bands in the Massed Bands.

Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, Royal Glasgow Concert Hall

The Band has accompanied the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra a number of times at their sell out Concerts at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall the last of which had HRH Princess Anne present.

2011 - Band Album

After many years of being asked if we had a CD we decided to record one ! A percentage of all sales was donated to the Ayrshire Hospice and we were delighted to present them with a cheque for £500.

2013 - Water Festival, Liuzhou, China

After accepting an invitation from the Chinese government to participate in the Liuzhou Water festival the Band embarked on a 9 day all expenses paid trip to China.

We joined a parade through the streets of the City and then performed at a concert on a floating stage. Other highlights included a visit to Shanghai and Bangkok visiting Tienanmen Square, The Forbidden city, Birds Nest stadium and finally a visit to the Great Wall where a few members gave a tune standing on the wall.

2014 - Opening of the Gardens at Dumfries House

The Band was asked to play at the opening of the Gardens at Dumfries which is owned by HRH Price Charles. The Gardens were opened by HM the Queen accompanied by Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Band played for the arrival of the Royal entourage and then provided a guard of honour on their inspection.

Other notable Band events include Piping the worlds largest haggis into the worlds largest Burns Supper, playing as a full Band in full uniform at the top of Goatfell in Arran, appearing live on National Breakfast TV and a number of our own concerts showcasing the talent within the Band.