boghall and bathgate caledonia pipe band

In 1972 a group of Boghall residents including Bob Austin (the band’s first president), James Galloway (the local butchery manager) and Minnie Waddell met to discuss the possibilities of forming a local pipe band. Shortly afterwards they formed the first committee of the band with other members including Mr & Mrs J Latta, Mr & Mrs I MacKay and Mr & Mrs I Reid. The committee then recruited their first pipe major, Bobby Allan, a former piper with Torphichen & Bathgate Pipe Band who resided in Boghall. They subsequently advertised in the local Courier paper looking for children to join the band and before long practices were underway in the annex classrooms of St Mary’s Academy in Bathgate.

After a short spell in charge P/M Bobby Allan’s work commitments increased and he was unable to continue running band practices. As such Kenny Watson, also a former member of Torphichen & Bathgate, took over as Pipe Major. Kenny also had a short stay in the role with P/M Bob Martin taking over in 1972. Bob had accumulated many years of sterling service to the Torphichen band and proved to be a fantastic servant to Boghall in the years to come. As Bob took over the need for tutors also increased and Bob was ably assisted by Clem Sim and Ian McNamee. During this founding year numerous committee members carried out significant work behind the scenes to establish a structure for the band and to begin fundraising. They were very grateful for the support they received from the local community and received notable contributions from local businessman John Hardie and publican James Boyle of the Volunteer Arms in Bathgate