Alan’s shop was at 25 Grant Street, Inverness until 1996. He was born in Dundee in 1944 and had been in the Scots Guards under P.M. Angus MacDonald. He had worked at some point at Bert Gillanders’ shop. His personal bagpipe was a Henderson with ivory mounts and plain silver and the bores on his bagpipes were said to be “Henderson”. He made half-sized, 3/4 sized, and full sized GHB’s, Uilleann pipes, and Scottish smallpipes. Alan ran the Swedish School of Piping in Stockholm from 1976 before returning to Scotland in 1984 with his Swedish wife, Maire-Louise.
I have read that, although a skilled craftsman, he tended to “fly by the seat of his pants” and that his products were inconsistent. The good ones are said to be very good. Former world champion piper Mr Iain MacFadyen, was quoted as saying, ”Alan is a superb instrument maker. His workshop is the only place in the Highlands where good quality bagpipe supplies are available.”
