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Many of you may not know that Barry Ashby retired as Pipe Major of the RAF Lossiemouth Pipe & Drums in February 2026. During the Nimrod era, as Pipe Major of the RAF Kinloss Pipes & Drums, Barry gave tremendous support to 201 Squadron, particularly during all the Guernsey visits and when Exercising the Privilege of Guernsey with Pipers Piping, Drums Beating whist Bayonets were Fixed and the Standard Flying. He resumed this role during the Poseidon/Lossiemouth era. For over 35 years, Barry has also been a stalwart supporter of all the Nimrod & Poseidon squadrons, but he felt it was now time to step back. The Association and Squadron decided the occasion should be marked in a special way. So, long after Barry thought he had finished all his farewells, he was invited to the recent Squadron Commander handover as a guest to mark the occasion. Meanwhile, Chris Birks had sourced a bagpipe chanter and had it mounted with the inscription: To Pipe Major Barry Ashby from all past and present members of No 201 ‘Guernsey’s Own’ Squadron. Hic et Ubique. The chanter was a unique antique ( a bit like Barry!). It was created by Henderson’s of Glasgow in 1927, is hallmarked silver and has an ivory end to it, which is very rare amongst chanters. Chris and outgoing OC 201 Sqn, Rob McCartney, handed over the chanter to Barry, along with a personalized bottle of Sqn whisky. A video of the presentation is below.
