Thank you all for the warm welcome!

Yes, I recognise the wooden sign, it's the same one I saw in Harpenden.

I'm not really brave to start out on an 18oz weight, it's just that I managed to get yards of very high quality unissued Seaforth military fabric at a very silly price. It had been bought for use in the Highlanders regiment, but with the Highlanders being absorbed into the new Royal Regiment of Scotland, the fabric became surplus. I got enough to make two kilts and a full plaid very cheaply. It wasn't easy to sew, but I just did a litle bit each day till they were finished.
The kilt I had been wearing previously in the band was a box pleated Seaforth 20oz fabric, so the 18oz seemed comparatively light, (at first!)

Hamish, Chesham is not a bad place at all to live, fairly rural, but London is within easy commuting distance. I am starting a piping school in London in September, and on November 1st the SPSL are hosting the London piping competition in Kensington. I'm also trying to get the Queen's Parks departments to get interested in reviving the old London Highland Games, which used to be held in parks like Richmond and Chiswick, and attract crowds of up to 25,000. What a boost for SE kilt wearers that would be!
Cheers for now!