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Częstochowa Pipes and Drums 
 
 
 

          
 
 

 
Since 2005 the Mid Argyll Pipe Band has engaged in a successful exchange partnership with Czestochowa Pipes and  Drums  from eastern Poland.  The two bands meet annually to play engagements in both Scotland and Poland.
            
 
 
 
 

 
There is much separating the two bands; MAPB on the remote, rural, west Atlantic coast periphery of Europe  and the CPD from a large city environment in the heart of eastern Europe. However the leaders of both bands recognise there is much to gain in bridging the geographical, political, economic, social and cultural gaps to with a shared interest in pipe band music. Bringing the two groups closer together allows youth and adult members from both bands to develop both individually and collectively in partnership.  The result is an ongoing project that has created a resonant cultural bond between Scotland and Poland.           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kenneth Rybarczyk of the Sikorski Polish Club in Glasgow
August 2007
“My father was wounded at the battle of Monte Cassino at the end of the war and after a stay in hospital he was taken to Inveraray where there was a demob camp for Polish soldiers. The camp was directly adjacent to the castle and he could remember playing football on the very spot where your band and the Częstochowa musicians began to play".
....."It’s difficult to imagine the emotions that this spectacle must have evoked for him. We enjoyed the performance immensely and a very big thank you to all who took part and those who made it possible. There is definitely something invigorating and exciting about a pipe band which perhaps goes someway to explain why these Polish musicians decided to take up the bagpipes…..
but I still can’t get my head totally around it!”
                         
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Timeline
   
August 2005    The bands meet by chance at the 2005 Sychrov Highland Games in the Czech republic.
June 2006   Częstochowa Pipes and Drums host the MAPB in Krakow to perform at an international festival of military music. The two pipe bands have the onerous task of following the American Army in Europe Swing Band to the area but acquit themselves well and receive rapturous applause. The Argyll band donates 3 side drums, 3 tenor drums and 1 bass drum to their friends having had the luxury of an Award for All lottery grant to replace their 10 year old instruments.
   

November 2006  A team of six from Mid Argyll visit Częstochowa to run drumming, piping and drill workshops.  

August 2007  Fourteen Polish pipers and drummers visit Mid Argyll to perform in Lochgilphead, Ardrishaig,Tarbert,  Inveraray, Ford, Crinan and Slockavullin.  Argyll & Bute Council provide a civic reception. The community rallies with hospitality and ceilidh evenings are held in Slockavullin and Ardrishaig.  For some the Inveraray performance was particularly poignant.     

     
September 2007  Pipe Major Tom Ujma and Pipe Sergeant Ewelina Gajek visit Argyll to attend Blackwood & Hickory, the 80th Anniversary Concert from the Mid Argyll Pipe Band.
 

November 2007   Bass drummer from Mid Argyll fails to climb Poland’s highest peak, Rysy, due to high avalanche risk. But at least he tried!

 

August 2008    The Mid Argyll Pipe Band finally reaches Częstochowa.  Mayor Tadeusz Wrona officially  welcomes the band party of 21 to the city.  Performances are given in Częstochowa, Dębno, Kłodzko, Kościelec, and Pszczyna.  The Scots lose the international volleyball match by 2 sets to 1!!