Trustees

Chairman

Andrew Davison, OBE

I have lived all my life in Northumberland. I started to play the pipes at the age of 15 in the 1970s, taught by Roland Lofthouse on a set made by David Burleigh. I made my first set of small pipes when still at school. Since then, I have made, played and judged both small pipes and Half Longs, been a tutor on a number of courses, and made a CD. I have had the great privilege of knowing and sharing tunes with many who, like me, simply enjoy our wonderful instrument and its music. In 2022 I had the honour of being appointed as piper to his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, after serving as Richard Butler’s deputy since 1995. I am married to Nicola (an excellent piper in her own right) and we have two children, Lucy and Tom. I am a solicitor by profession (now retired). I was awarded an OBE in 2018 for services to the environment, culture and the community in the North East of England.

Email Andrew

vice Chairman

Andy May

I started to learn the pipes in the late eighties, having been introduced to the instrument by my father Stan. I have learned to play from Roland Lofthouse and Adrian Schofield, and from studying the recordings of Billy Pigg and Tom Clough. Through the 90s I entered many piping competitions and studied music at the University of York with the pipes as my chosen instrument. In 2002 I decided to become a full-time musician. Nowadays I tour with North-East band Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies, UK/Finnish/Danish ensemble Baltic Crossing, my own Andy May Trio, and various other projects. When not gigging I have become a pipemaker, again learning much from my father, and also Colin Ross. I’ve made around 30 chanters/sets of pipes so far. I have a particular interest in the study of old instruments as I believe there is still much we can learn from them. My current ongoing research project is into the pipemaking of Tom Clough and Fred Picknell.

I joined the NPS committee in 2011 and in January 2012 was made Vice-Chairman.

Email Andy

Ann Sessoms, Secretary

Contact: secretary@northumbrianpipers.org.uk

Gregory McCormick

I came back to the North East after many years in London and decided it was time to try out the Northumbrian Smallpipes. Afew months after signing up for absolute beginner lessons at the Sage I was firmly hooked. Following the lockdowns the Sage discontinued piping lessons so my fellow students and I organised our own, with teaching from Alice Robinson and now Catherine Robson. The group is still flourishing. I am currently responsible for a website which gives access to part of a collection of tapes made by the late J Forster Charlton. Via the website pipers have found recordings of some classic mid 20th century Northumbrian pipers which they feel shed new light on their artistry and techniques. The site may also be useful for local historians and vernacular scholars. https://npsforstercharltonarchive.org.uk/

Andy Lawrenson

Andrew Lawrenson is one of four siblings who play the pipes. Born in Dundee, but with a father from South Shields, his family holidays and weekends were spent in Northumberland and Newcastle. He began to play the pipes at thirteen years of age and became an enthusiastic participant in competitions. Many years down the line, the desire to learn to make reeds became overpowering. This, in turn, has led him into pipemaking and fettling. He cites his influences in playing as Tom Clough, Billy Pigg and Jack Armstrong.

Andrew’s love of northeast traditions progressed still further when, in his early twenties, he began to dance the rapper sword dance with the Newcastle Kingsmen and, more recently, High Spen Blue Diamonds of County Durham.

Pleased to be living in Newcastle once again and working as a teacher, Andrew now enjoys giving the opportunity to school students to learn the pipes.

Iain Gelston

Iain hails from South Shields at the mouth of the Tyne but started playing smallpipes whilst living in Yorkshire in the late 1980s, under the guidance of Adrian Schofield. He took up the Half-Long pipes on his return to Tyneside around 2013 and these have now become his main focus, having won all of the Northumberland trophies as well as the LBPS competitions north of the border. His repertoire and interest is centered around the older tunes of Northumberland and the borders, particular the 18th century variation sets that subsequently became the core of the early smallpipe repertoire.

Iain also plays bouzouki and mandola in the Tyneside band Lowp. He is a keen composer of tunes and has self-published two volumes of his own compositions, entitled ‘The New Shields Garland’.

Vincent Syson

Vincent spent 14 years as a church organist, having taken lessons at both Durham and Newcastle Cathedral. He is a relative newcomer to the smallpipes, having started playing in 2017, and has been involved in St. Oswalds and Beamish groups. His passion for history and heritage is matched by his passion for local food, and he plies his trade as a butcher on an organic farm in County Durham.

Helen Capes

Michael Ratliff

Alex Barrass

Raised in the Tyne Valley, Alex took up the Northumbrian smallpipes at the age of 15, under the guidance of Andy Lawrenson at Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham. After entering his first Northumbrian piping competition in 2019, he has become a regular entrant in competitions, winning his first Open title in 2022, and subsequently becoming the most decorated competitor of recent years.

Following his competition successes, Alex has performed at a range of concerts and festivals, including events hosted by the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society, the Rothbury Traditional Music Festival, and the international bagpipe festival held near Nitra, Slovakia, in 2025.

In addition to the Northumbrian smallpipes, Alex also plays Border pipes and Scottish smallpipes. He is a keen reedmaker and pipemaker in his spare time. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society committee, and he was appointed piper to the Northumbrian Jacobite Society in the same year.

Outside of piping, Alex is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Landscape Planning and Management at Newcastle University.

Alan Douglass

Originally from Alnwick in Northumberland, I have lived in East London for over 40 years.

I picked up my first set of pipes from Longramlington on New Year’s Eve 1999 – a lovely David Burley set that I still play – and have been piping since then.

I work as an IT consultant for a company I co-founded in 2000.