Harpenden Highland Gathering

[ChubRock]

Nice photos. Have any of the delicious food sold by vendors?

[Chas]

Nice photos. Have any of the delicious food sold by vendors?

I had something called a 'Steak-wich'. The taste was divine - it must have come from a very happy cow. I also had something new to me 'frozen yoghurt' - real fruit, puréed in frozen yoghurt. What can I tell you - they were so good, I had 3 during the day.

Regards

Chas

[Chas]

The forth and last pipe band - The Somme Battlefield Pipe Band

These are all French people from a small village, Peronne, near the Somme. You will notice that they all wear different uniforms. In fact they are the uniforms of the Scottish regiments that fought at the Somme. Some of you will know the tartans better than me - one of the Gordon Kilts is an actual kilt worn by the bandsman's grandfather at the Somme.








All the bands now lined up and the Gathering officially opened by the Mayor of Harpenden







The bands move off the field. CLICK TO VIEW




That's our 10 - More to come

[Chas]

Last band leaving the field



Next Up - The Black Watch



The Black Watch gave a rousing display of drill manoeuvres with live firing. That took every body by surprise.






I was really impressed with their rate of fire. They did a lot of charging at the crowds with fixed bayonets. There was one casualty - a 25 year old male fainted when they charged in his direction. He was revived by his girlfriend, so no damage done.






More to come

[Chas]

A Sheepdog display - well a chickendog display really

The shepherds have trained their sheepdogs to herd anything. They couldn't get a herd of cattle in the arena so they used a small flock of geese instead. (I missed this because I was watching the hammer throwing (sorry.)) But I got pictures of next bit the chicken herding.

The dog, waiting for the release of the chicken.



The chicken.



Dog and chicken eye to eye.



The chicken backs down and runs back to the safety of the hutch.



It might not look like much to you, but it was pretty dramatic at the time.

The Band Ring

Off the main arena there was a band ring for each band to give an individual performance. Milton Keynes with their jackets off - it was a hot day.




Note the belts through the belt loops.



This is the most animated drummer I have ever seen - how she never killed all those around her I will never know!



More to Come

[Highlander31]

Great photos Chas. Looks like a beautiful day for the games.

[Chas]

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band in the display area







Some other stuff before the final

You might have noticed that there have been no pictures of the heavy games. There is a reason for this - the standard was very poor, even I could see that. The other thing is I think possibly more important, half the competitors didn't wear kilts. Or as in the case of the overall winner, put a kilt on to receive the trophy. I thought it was wrong so didn't photograph it.

Moving swiftly on.

The winning Solo Piper.



And the piper who came second.



Just for the record, the piper father of the boy in the "Sporran bites Woman" thread came nowhere.

Picture of a very dapper gentleman. Note the belt through the sporran loops, but the sporran belt not.



The Parade Marshal. Wearing a Prince Charlie that was too small and a long tie. He smoked the foulest smelling roll-ups. When I was in the RAF we used to call it "Camel $h1t and Cannabis". It smelled awful. Although he was Parade Marshal, no one took a blind bit of notice of his directions all day.



I suppose really I should have a picture of me just to prove I was there. This is me with a young man from Kenya, whose name is (this is no lie - he showed me his passport) Peter Myfatherhasthebiggestpotatoes. It's a cultural thing - I don't understand it either.

[Chas]

Closing Ceremony

Unfortunately the Somme Battlefield Pipe Band had to leave early; they had a ferry to catch, back to France.

The final was a bit chaotic. Everybody wanted the massed bands to have a final all together. So in the end the massed bands held a final parade off to one side while the lack lustre caber tossing was going on in the main arena.

The Bedford and the Somme Battlefield Pipe Bands.




The Bedford Band had sponsored and hosted the Frenchmen for the duration.

The final parade.








The Official Finish

Note the 'Black Watch' has joined the parade to make up for the missing Somme Battlefield Pipe Band.




Well that concludes the day at the Harpenden Highland Gathering.

On the way home there was a small incident. I stopped at a Motorway services for a bite to eat. As I walked through the food hall I passed a table of 20somethings. One of their number burst out laughing and pointed at me. I stopped in mid stride and stared him down. Suddenly the rest of the table erupted with apologies and were begging me to forgive the idiot in their midst (their words). I did so and they bought my a huge meal and I am happy the say we all parted in good spirits (even the idiot).

THE END