Williamwood plays at the top of Ben Lomond

Twenty-five members of the Williamwood Pipe Band of Glasgow scaled the half-mile high Ben Lomond with their instruments – including a bass drum – as part of a fundraiser for the band, and then performed five sets of tunes at the summit of the celebrated Munroe.

 

The May 31st adventure was deemed a success, as the band added much needed sponsorship money from the climb, “as they try to cope with the current economic climate and continue to perform and compete at the level they have done in the past,” according to Williamwood drummer Grant McDowell.

The climb coincided with the warmest day in Scotland so far in 2009, temperatures approaching 30 degrees. Members ranged in age from 13 to the mid-60s, with varying degrees of physical fitness, making the “particularly difficult and challenging.”

 

Those on the climb took turns “sharing the burden of instruments,” hauling 10 sets of pipes, two side-drums, a tenor-drum and the bass.

Williamwood finished third in Grade 3A at the Scottish Pipe Band Championships in Dumbarton earlier in May.