Army Cadet Morgan (17) all set to bang the drum for Dingwall!
A YOUNG cadet will enjoy a special return to her home town next week when she will play a leading role in an annual procession which attracts a large crowd.
Dingwall will once again play host to the massed pipes and drums of the Army Cadet Force on Friday, April 14.
Morgan Danks (17) has been selected as the leading drum major in the parade, which starts at 2.30pm from the Cadet Training Centre on Ferry Road.
Morgan, who now lives in Bellshill but lived in Dingwall until she was six, will ask for permission from the Lord Lieutenant to march off during the parade.
Amongst the spectators lining the street will be Morgan’s grandparents Peter and Jennifer Angus who live in Dingwall’s Millcraig Road.
Morgan’s mother Lorna was born and bred in the town, where she was taught to play the pipes by James Mackenzie, and is now an adult instructor with the cadets.
Grandmother Jennifer is delighted with Morgan’s achievements.
“We are very proud of her,” she said.
“She absolutely loves drumming and has been in the cadets since she was 12 and this will be her last year.”
Morgan is also a member of the Hamilton Fire and Rescue Pipe Band.
The first Beat the Retreat event took place in 2006 and has become an annual event in the town’s calendar.
This year’s parade will take the usual route along Ferry Road to the High Street and will stop outside the Royal British Legion, where Lord Lieutenant Janet Bowen or one of her deputies will take the salute.
The event marks the end of a course of tuition for cadet pipers and drummers from all over the UK at the Cameron Barracks in Inverness – the original home of Army piping.
Each year an eight-day course of instruction is held at the barracks during the Easter holidays and attracts upwards of 200 cadets.
The culmination of the week is the public performance in Dingwall, followed by a second at the Ironworks in Inverness on Saturday, April 15 at 7pm.
