Show to pay tribute to Northumbrian piper

Northumberland County Show organisers have chosen to honour the memory of Lance Robson, the famous Northumbrian piper who would have been 101 years old on Northumberland Day '“ the day before the show.

At the Spring Bank Holiday Monday, May 29, event, a group of local pipers will play to visitors as they arrive at the showground.

Terry Forster, who is coordinating the pipers’ group, was taught by Lance himself.

Lance Robson with his Northumbrian pipes.

“It was 37 years ago, coincidentally at Bywell Show, when I heard this unusual music coming from one of the tents,” he said.

“I went to find out what instrument it was as I’d never heard anything like it and that was how I met Lance. We hit it off immediately, and I started to go to his house where he taught me to play the pipes and we became lifelong friends.”

Lance passed away at the age of 99 in 2015 after a fascinating life. Born in Hartburn, near Morpeth, in 1916, he took up the pipes at the age of 14, taught by Jack Armstrong, whose band he joined before forming The Border Minstrels in 1932.

When war broke out, he flew Catalina Flying Boats for the RAF. In 1945, he found himself among the crew of a stricken Halifax Bomber halfway between Ireland and Canada.