I am deeply saddened to have to report that I have just received a phone call from a fellow piper informing me that Dave Williams, pipemaker was killed in a car crash yesterday.
I have no further details, but will post them as and when I find out more
I don’t know what else to say
I would like to pay tribute to a great and generous man, a wonderful human being and a great maker of pipes.
Dave, you’ll be sadly missed!
John
This is really terrible news. I was just thinking I should visite him again next month when I’m over in England.
I shall remember him every time I play the wonderful chanter he made me.
Evertjan 't Hart
Very sad; I knew the man through his pipes, and had a lot of respect for him.
I guess this thread is going to be a necrological article for a so well considered man and artist.
I am very saddened by this news. I didn’t know Dave very well but I spent time with him. He was a wonderful bloke.I know he will be missed by a lot of people.
Very sad news. Thanks for letting us all know Becky.
Ben
The only professional piper that I personally know owns a set of Dave’s pipes, so I’ll be sure to pass on this very sad news to him.
Thank you, Becky, for alerting us all to this news. I guess there is nothing much one can say at a time like this, especially when the passing is so sudden and unexpected. It just goes to show that life is so very fragile, and so very fleeting.
Rest In Peace, Dave Williams.
Terrible, terrible news. My prayers go out to him, his friends and family.
I only found this forum a few days ago, little did I think my first post would be on this thread.
20 years ago Dave made me a chanter, a year later I had a set of drone. Six months on, having spent all my savings, I was digging his garden in exchange for a baritone regulator.
We kept in touch, meeting at sessions, his workshop or when he was teaching reed making at piper’s meetings.
3 months ago he made me new chanter reed as my old one was feeling tired (it has played for 15 years). After all this time I am still in awe of how good that chanter is.
Dave was always generous with his time, skills, enthusiasm, compliments and encouragement.
My life would of been very different if I had never met him.
I am deeply saddened
David Lim
i got a call from my mother in manchester and i cant believe it, dave was a good man, and friend, and a great pipemaker and flute player. i got my set of pipes of him last year, and i spent time with him at diffrent music events. He always let me stay in his hotel room when i had no money and i had some great laughs with him. R.I.P DAVE YOU WILL BE MISSED.
I just received this terrible news. I have known Dave since I was thirteen years of age and a kinder more modest man I have yet to encounter. I spoke to him only three days ago.
Goodbye Dave we miss you and will keep your family in our thoughts.
Brendan Ring
I didn’t know Dave very well but it is a sad day.
Rest in peace
Dave was a giving man. A gentleman. And a great maker. He will be greatly missed. Strength to his family and his memory.
Alan
Sad news and a terrible loss to the piping community. Does anyone have a picture of Dave or a sound file of him playing they can share?
Here’s a link to some beautiful sets made by Dave:
http://www.uilleann.nl/pipes/pictureGallery/daveWilliamsSets/
i have a picture of him and the set he made for me www.dannymclaughlin.com
This is very sad indeed. I didn’t know Dave, but from all I’ve heard, I wish I had. Dave was friend and family to all in the piping community. We lost a great one.
From www.uilleann.nl Paul Elliasberg’s website.
Thanks for the picture, Danny. I figured Dave to be a an older guy, but he wasn’t at all. Much too young to go so soon, so suddenly. Damn!
I started learning on a Dave Williams boxwood chanter that I bought from Brendan Ring… so I know about Dave’s work first hand. A beginner’s first hand, of course. But my sympathies go out to all the people that knew him and loved him also as a person, (and not just a great pipemaker…) I didn’t have that privilage. I knew him only by his reputation, and by my pipe, and I am saddened.
He is a major figure in history of the Uilleann Pipes, that’s for sure.
Add: Thanks, Evertjan, good one!
Terrible sad news about Dave. He was one of those guys I always wished to meet but sadly never had the chance. May he rest in peace.
Patrick.
I only knew Dave over the phone. He consulted me about staple dimentions for Paddy Keenan’s chanter when he got his new set. A few days ago he called again to ask about some cane. I wish I had gotten to meet him in person. He will be sorely missed.
Ted
I didn’t get the chance ever to meet Dave but heard about him and his quality instruments..very sad news 
Prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family, friends..
upiper71
Montreal