Northumberland piper's roaring support during Clap for Carers tribute

Piper Andy Grant paraded through South Charlton, near Alnwick, for the Clap for Carers tribute on Thursday night – and even got people dancing in the streets

“It was excellent,” said Andy. “The whole village was out in force once again and some residents actually dressed up in tartan holding whisky and toasting as I marched on past them.”

It was the second successive week he has paraded through the village playing Scotland the Brave having previously played from his garden.

“It’s all been done keeping social distancing in mind – which isn’t that hard in a small village like mine,” said Andy.

“There’s been a great response from the local residents,” he added. “I really was taken aback the first time I did it.

“There are quite a lot who are haven’t ventured out of their house for some time now so my idea was to march through the village and play a tune for them.

“Even those who didn’t come out watched from their windows which was marvellous to see. There was lots of cheering and applause. It really was quite emotional.

“I’m not doing any of this for myself. I just wanted to do something to help lift the doom and gloom.”

He is also proud of the way communities across Northumberland have supported the Clap for Carers tribute.

“I did wonder whether rural areas would get behind it the way they have done in the cities but I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of people taking part,” he said.

“It shows that Northumberland is a wonderful place.”

Andy, who runs the Pipers Pitch catering van in Craster, has had more time to play the pipes in recent weeks since he was forced to temporarily close down due to coronavirus.

Last week he did an online concert in his back garden which raised £120 for Captain Tom's Moore’s NHS fund-raiser which now stands at over £28million.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you