I was born second of six, five boys and the only one to take on the pipes.  My Father played in a country p/band in his earlier days so there was a set of pipes under the bed - Ivory Hendersons with a McDougal chanter.

Mother's brother, Colin Craig, (author of Jimmy Blue, H/P) became a noted soloist in NZ in the 40-60's, playing alongside of amongst others, William (Bill) Boyle, perhaps the most noted of NZ pipers.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to rub shoulders with him.  Father started me off at about 8 years old.  I wasn't in the circle of piping for the first ten years so missed out on professional tuition.

My grandparents on mother's side, Craigs from Arran in Scotland, were in Christchurch, 120 miles from us.  Grandfather Craig taught me a lot.  He would write out exercises and tunes by hand and post them to me.  Occasionally I got to see him and have a personal lesson.  By the time I finished high school in the country, I could play a few tunes on the pipes - pity help what it sounded like!  I was asked to play at school once and I was so nervous.

I joined my first band in Christchurch when I was 18 and I guess that is when I began to "get going".  Our P/M was a good musician so I began to learn a lot more.  I remember a 6/8 we used to play - Ballochyle.  I was only there for a year before leaving New Zealand for Sydney, Australia.

I joined a fourth grade band pretty soon and was enjoying piping.  I stayed with them while pursuing my career of nursing.for seven to eight years.  I guess my playing improved.  We were using Hardy chanters with cane drone reeds, 1960's - 1970's.  We played lots of gigs so were kept busy.

In 1976, I joined a higher grade band, the Sydney Thistle HPB with Robert Pearce as P/M.  I learnt much more and was quite challenged with the higher grade music.

Then at the end of 1976, after meeting my future wife from Western Australia, I moved west, married and set up home.  We had our family of four, now adults with their own families (no pipers but one snare drummer).  I kept piping with two bands, both lower grade.  I was P/M of our current band for several years, with occasional competitions.  Nowadays, we are not a competing band, having problems with lack of drummers.

The current P/M and I meet on Tuesdays to play together, music that the band can't handle - which keeps us motivated.  Currently, I am the honorary piper for the WA Caledonian Society which meets for a monthly ceilidh.  I play the chief in and during the evening I play for about 15-20 minutes.  Sometimes I take some band members, which is always appreciated.

A highlight for me was a trip to Scotland in 2015.  A few of us from the band, plus my wife and another son travelled over for the Pipefest.  We also went to the Crieff Highland Games and the Edinburgh Tattoo.  It was a fantastic experience and we loved Scotland.

At home, I have tuned into the World P/B Champs several times and always like to hear what's happening with piping all over.  Since joining DoJo, I've improved my playing and tuning.  I hope to continue enjoying playing pipes for sometime yet.