Another ‘Happening’

May  is often very busy here in Rothesay and this year has been no exception.  Ten days ago we had a weekend of matters archeological, historical and a huge amount of fun.  Under the auspices of the Discover Bute Landscape Partnership there were two days crammed full of fascinating talks and a very varied programme of activities.  I kept wanting to be in two places at once.

On Saturday the weather was bright and sunny but with a cold easterly wind.  Fortunately inside  Rothesay castle where Achievement Bute were holding a medieval day of activities it was very sheltered.  As I walked up towards the castle I, and many others, were being drawn on by the evocative sounds of loud rhythmic drumming and the skirl of the pipes.  Clan Drumma were ‘geing it laldy’ – big lads and big drums.

Clan Drumma

They are fascinating to watch and in the acoustics of the centre of the castle the sound reverberated right through my body.

Clan Drumma at Rothesay Castle

I was dotting back and forth between the castle and the Museum where there was a full programme of lectures.  There were eight half hour talks ranging in time from ‘Late Glacial and Holocene Relative Sea Level Change in Bute’ to ‘Aspects of Bute in the 1930s’.  I gave the first few a miss, fascinating as they probably were, because I like my history to have people in it.

Back at the Castle there was noise, fighting, and peaceful activities all vying for attention.

A Viking ready for battle

Let Battle Commence

All around the warrior actions there were peaceful signs of domesticity.  There were demonstrations (and an opportunity to try) wool spinning, wood turning and basket making.  Hordes of children were making viking helmets and cardboard decorated shields or if they felt more comfortable with the feminine side of their personality, pretty medieval pointy hats with floating veils and ribbons.

Hard work turning wood

Everyone who attended seemed to be enjoying themselves very much.  Families leaving the Castle were particularly enthusiastic about the great free day out.

I wouldn’t argue with him

The only creatures  unperturbed by all the goings on were the Castle swans.  The two adults and ten cygnets seemed oblivious to all the activity.

A Family of Twelve

Still Fluffy

Sadly the weather deteriorated overnight and by Sunday there was a strong, bitter wind and lashing rain.  There were four different outdoor activities planned.  At least one of these went ahead and that was the Coracles on Loch Fad.  These beautiful little hand made craft had been constructed at a previous event and a few very hardy souls, in spite of the awful conditions, attempted to sail on the choppy loch.

The Signboards Saga

At the Puffer Work Week (see last post) I didn’t just swan about taking photographs and playing scrabble – I had my annual task of turning the VIC 32 name boards back into a legible form.  In the last three Springs, with a fairly steady hand, I carefully painted over the existing lettering with a new coat of white and red paint.  In March 2011 it was clear that the 14 year old boards would only stand one more summer of Scottish weather as the wood was rotten and only held together with paint.

Sun, rain, wind and salt - not termites

The decision was taken last year that the boards would be replaced.  As I am certainly no sign writer this gave me time to do some advance preparation – I traced the letters and at home in the winter made a stencil to get the placing right.  I love very old gravestones where the last few letters of the incumbents name are done sideways or on the line below when the monumental sculptor ran out of space, but VIC 32 would be a laughing stock with such a disaster on her side.

Here's One I Made Earlier

The Engineer had made new boards and painted the black background so I had a lovely blank ‘canvas’ to work on.

I had a very nice ‘work station’ – wind and water tight, not too much rubbish around and a sturdy, steady bench to work at.  My fellow workers very kindly dropped by frequently throughout the day for a chat.

Adding the Red Paint

During most of the days the light was good enough for painting accurately but late in the afternoon I was very glad of my head torch – doesn’t help the wild woman hairstyle much.  As well as making the lovely new name boards (and many, many other things too numerous to mention) the Engineer one day baked us scones for morning tea break – much assurance of hand washing first!

Scrumptious

Very Nearly Finished

Five days later the job was done and it was with great satisfaction that the number 2 had its final line of red paint.

The Smile Says It All

My back had survived all the bending over – although I did fashion myself a very comfy seat from an old oil drum topped with a big bag of soft rags.  Because there had been no hold ups during the week I managed to complete my task a day early.  There is no slacking allowed on Puffer Work Party so I was allocated another little sign writing job.

I had no advance preparation for this small board which goes under the steps from the saloon to the deck to indicate where important emergency equipment is stored.  My last day was spent in the cabin of the Duke of Normandy, tied up alongside VIC 32 trying my hand at freehand writing – scarier and not such a good result.  I don’t think I will be  admitted to the Signwriters’ Guild anytime soon!  It was a good week doing something completely different from my usual range of activities, and, of course, almost anything beats dusting.

Way beyond my abilities

The Annual Painting Job

We are just back from a week at Crinan in the joyful company of VIC 32 and her cheery Friends.  It was the annual paint the puffer time, although painting was certainly not the only activity taking place.

Reflections in Crinan Basin

We had the first of the two good weeks of weather with only one day of rain and many days warm enough for coffee breaks outside.  As I type back in Rothesay there is a freezing north easterly wind peppered with vicious, sleety squalls – back to ‘normal’ spring.  The good weather at Crinan meant an emphasis on outside painting work but there were plenty other tasks being undertaken.

Lots of rust needing covered

Some welding jobs

As always on Puffer Work Week there was much chat and laughter intermingled with all the hard work.  The Friends are a multi talented bunch with joiners, electricians, engineers, painters and general DIYers in the group – the ladies work just as hard as the men.

Joiner No 2

As well as the painting, a lot of elbow grease is required in the mammoth cleaning task resulting from the boat having been in the boatyard over the winter.  Major replating work was done involving most of the cabins being removed during the process and then refitted later.

Washing the wheelhouse before getting out the Brasso

There were a few Spring visitors about in Crinan and, of course, they were always welcomed to tour Vic 32 in the hope that they would give a donation to the much depleted Puffer funds.  Other people were also getting on with their daily jobs.

Fishing boat at Crinan Harbour

Colin had an indoor task – to replace the anti slip covering on the steep stair from the saloon down to the cabins.  Very hard work chipping off the much deteriorated old covering.

When the new lino type covering was stuck in place it had to be clamped onto each step for 24 hours.  This made the journey up or down even more hazardous than usual (it is very steep).

It was quite frustrating for Colin at times as there was a steady flow of beavering away Friends needing to go up and down all day.  Although we each tend to do a specific job somethings need more muscle power when everyone lends a hand.  The heavy wooden dinghies need turned over so that both inside and outside can be varnished.

Muscle power

Team work was again employed when the galley stores were loaded.  We do get through quite a lot of food, not to mention the occasional bottle of beer or wine.

Not quite Tesco Direct

Through all the hard work there is always time to stop and chat …

…. or even just to smile.

Say 'cheese'

I spent the week doing my ‘sign writing’ job – a bit bigger task this year – I will leave that story for the next post.

After each day’s hard work we enjoyed a delicious meal thanks to Mary and Daphne, the cooks for the week.  Evenings were spent over hard fought games of scrabble, philosophising, or reading before the overnight snoring chorus got tuned up.

Bright colours in bright sunshine

Being Tourists

Although we nip up to Glasgow approximately once every two weeks there is always an agenda that allows no time to stand and stare.  To address this we have just had a mini holiday in that most exotic of destinations – Glasgow, which can even tick the box of being ‘overseas’ for us.  It was a bit of an indulgence to stay at the luxury Blythswood Square Hotel – very glamorous and so achingly trendy that it took me a whole day to learn how to ‘go’ the complicated taps, showers and multitude of light switches in our room.  The purpose of the trip was to visit a few of the many tourist attractions instead of galloping around the shops on a tight time schedule.

On the first morning we went down by the river, firstly to see the tall ship Glenlee.  We visited her quite a few years ago but they have made huge improvements to the displays and information boards since then.  The Glenlee is now moored alongside the iconic Riverside Museum (Scotland’s Museum of Transport and Travel).  This is a complete wow of a building, designed by Zaha Hadid and only opened last summer.

The Riverside Museum, Glasgow

I loved the overall shape and especially the zig zag roofline on both the back and front.  It is a huge hanger like building, to represent the shipbuilding sheds of yore with the roofline being variously interpreted as wave form or again the outline of building yards and cranes.

Is it a Wave?

This photograph was taken from on board the Glenlee, the masts of which can be seen reflected in the museum’s glass wall.  The inside of the building is just as awesome.  It is one huge space with the walls painted an unusual bright yellow colour which surprisingly works. There are so many exhibits crammed in that at first at ground level it felt a bit crowded and overwhelming but on reflection the colossal size of some vehicles were always going to make me feel very small.  Even a six feet wide passageway between the awesome 197 tonne Locomotive 3007 who spent her working days in South Africa, and a double deck bus made me feel I was ‘squeezing’ through a wee gap.

Trains and Trams and Cars

There has been much debate in the Glasgow press regarding ‘the wall of cars’ – many complaints that you cannot get close to this wonderful collection of vehicles to inspect them in detail, it is more art installation than museum etc etc.  My first thought was I am in a toy shop and all the Dinkie cars are on shelves out of the reach of prying fingers.  Eventually I decided I really rather liked it – I am not a motorhead and the floor area would need to be greatly increased to display the cars horizontally.

Art Installation or Museum Display?

The two photographs above were taken from a bridge which breaks up the cavernous space, crossing from side to side about halfway along the length of the building and suspended midway between floor and roof.  There was so much to see that we barely scraped the surface.  It would take many, many visits to do any sort of justice to the contents and information gathered here.  We visited on a grey early March morning but I can imagine this place will get unpleasantly busy at weekends and in summer (it is free).  Because everything (except the exhibits!) is brand new the very latest in museum information technology is employed.  Touch screens beside most displays allow you to delve ever more deeply into specific topics or simply just note the name, maker and date of the vehicle being viewed.  A large number of Glasgow’s renowned collection of model ships are now suspended from a sort of conveyor belt and glide majestically past the viewer at eye level and in slow motion.  There are two areas each arranged to depict a shopping street in a different era – appropriate vehicles are parked outside and visitors can wander in and out of the shops, pubs and businesses.  Just typing all this makes me want to go back – right now.

Looking Down River

At the moment the Riverside Museum looks to have been just dropped into a bleak post industrial landscape.  The immediate vicinity has been landscaped but the trees are still very immature, and the wider surroundings are acres of rubble strewn cleared land.  Presumably there are many redevelopment plans in place if we ever get out of recession.

PS Waverley Dwarfed by the Science Centre

This is looking across and upriver from the Museum. The square building is the BBC Scottish Headquarters and the PS Waverley looks tiny moored alongside the Science Centre.

An ‘Event’ful Weekend

Life here on Bute is never dull or boring.  Occasionally, like this weekend, it gets over exciting.  We knew from Friday lunchtime there was fun in the air.  This was the Glasgow September weekend holiday and with good weather forecast pilots, sailors, balloonists and dancers were all heading this way.  We were on the one o’clock ferry from Wemyss Bay and it was packed – a few cars left behind for the next sailing and every seat in the lounge occupied.  Mostly by very jolly groups of more mature ladies with their dancing shoes at the ready for three days of line dancing.

Crossing the Start Line

On Saturday morning I opened the curtains to this beautiful sight.  It was the Final Muster and race from Rothesay to Tarbert for the sleek yachts of the Clyde Cruising Club.  They looked very colourful as they hoisted their spinnakers in the light winds and jostled for position at the start line.  The weather was warm and sunny, a much appreciated reminder that it can be good here after such a poor, wet summer.  We did a few messages around town, enjoyed the coffee, chat and juke box music in Musicker before heading up the road to Rhubadoch.

Colintraive

To my utter delight the yachts were just passing through the narrows when we arrived.  I will only show two of the dozens of photographs I took, it was very, very picturesque.

Racing for Tarbert

We were going across on the ‘wee ferry’ to Colintraive as foot passengers as we were only going as far as the Village Hall.  As part of Cowal Studios Open Day two local artists from Bute were holding a joint exhibition.  I have long admired the paintings of Ruth Slater and for the last two weeks I have been saving junk mail and polystyrene pizza bases because we will be doing something with these when Ruth comes to talk at the Rural next week – intriguing.  The other exhibitor was the craftsman Ray Beverley who makes the most exquisite furniture.  He had on display a wonderful cabinet crafted from beautiful wood and intricately put together.  Then it was home for a quick bite of lunch before the afternoon activities.

A Busy Ettrick Bay

This was the day of the Baird of Bute Festival.  There were a number of activities designed to celebrate the life and achievements of Andrew Baird who made the first flight from this beach 101 years ago.  There were more people at Ettrick Bay than I have ever seen before – enjoying the sunshine, building sandcastles, walking the dog and flying kites.  We had gone there to see a demonstration by a Sea King rescue helicopter and a Lifeboat but unfortunately we missed it as they came an hour early because of duties elsewhere.

Part of the Flypast

Still it was very pleasant strolling on the beach whilst waiting for the fly past of light aircraft.  Over twenty of these wee ‘toy’ planes had congregated at the island airstrip all morning and flew over Ettrick Bay as they left for home again.  It was difficult to take photographs as the breeze caused them to keep quite high and the sun made it hard to see in the cameras’ screens.

Half Inflated

Next stop on our itinerary was Mount Stewart where a number of different activities were taking place.  Most of the crowds there had been drawn by the advertised spectacle of a hot air balloon which would purportedly give rides.  Well the balloon was certainly stretched out limply on the lawn in front of the big house.  Seemingly it had been too windy to inflate earlier but they were getting started at last.  The balloon and crew were from Edinburgh University Balloon Club.

A Petrol Driven Hot Air Balloon?

In spite of all the jokes around it was only fuel for the generator providing some of the hot air for the inflation process.  There were various activities for children involving science workshops, art work and puppet shows with one of the most enthusiastically supported being the glider competition.

Getting Ready for Take Off

Every youngster in the place had a wee balsa wood glider propelled by an elastic band and all took a turn in trying to get the longest flight.  Before the balloon was finally erect the crowd was treated to an exciting aerobatic display by  Jim McTaggart in a small plane.  I really enjoyed watching this daredevil performance.  Had to hold on to my stomach (with feet firmly on the ground) as he swooped about, looping the loop and flying upside down.

Out of a Clear Blue Sky

Again, too many pictures to show you them all.

Meanwhile the great blue ball of the balloon was filling up and the strain on the retaining ropes was visible.  The balloon was tethered to two Land Rovers and a tractor.

Edinburgh University Balloon Club

Once the inflation was complete and the balloon still firmly attached to the ground, three children were loaded into the basket and raised about twenty feet up in the air.  These kids had been waiting about all day as they were prize winners in a competition from earlier in the week.

Not Going Far

This was as far as the balloon went, and after all the hype a number of people voiced disappointment, but thinking about it later I realised that they couldn’t really fly a hot air balloon from Bute – not a lot of land and surrounded by much cold, wet sea.  A few years ago I had the magical experience of a balloon flight from just outside Edinburgh down over East Lothian which concluded with a not too bumpy landing and a glass of champagne.

Mount Stuart

Saturday was quite an exceptional day here on Bute – visitors and locals alike enjoyed brilliant weather, small planes, helicopters and lifeboats, elegant yachts, a hot air balloon and, especially, lots of friendship and laughter.

The weather on Sunday took a serious reality check and returned to its more normal wet and windy – but our great weekend continued with a lunch outing with our 32 intrepid companions from the Striders and Strollers.  The laughter here was uproarious.  It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place amidst  such a vibrant community.

More About the Games

When I was leaving the Highland Games in the middle of the afternoon there were still many events taking place, and one of the most important is the 10K road race  which starts and ends on the running track.  The track had been well used earlier for all the various shorter length races for different age groups.

Start of the 10K

Nearly 70 runners set off past the wrestlers and dancers, once round the track and then off down into the town and out along the front to Port Bannatyne before having to retrace their steps.

The leaders coming up the High Street

This chap in the Clown outfit turns up every year (and to many other races and events throughout the summer) and raises large amounts for charity.

'Tommy Fae Greenock'

As well as the great crowds at the Highland Games the whole town was busy, in some way helped by a large proportion of the over 900 passengers on the Waverley who had come down from Glasgow.  Not all were interested in the Games.

'Hen Party' from the Waverley

I hope that when the ladies disembarked they had time to glance up at the stunning hanging baskets adorning the Cabbies Rest shelter on the pier.

Rothesay in Bloom

Because of the very large numbers of day trippers on this special day Calmac boost their carrying capacity by borrowing the Saturn from her summer run between Ardrossan and Brodick.  This always triggers much nostalgia as these ‘Streakers’ were much loved.

Saturn

In the late afternoon we walked back into town to watch the parade of pipe bands and dancers down through Rothesay from the sports ground all the way to the front.  For various reasons we have never managed to catch this wonderful spectacle before.  The 2011 Rothesay Highland Games parade was a classic, mainly due to the wonderful sunny weather.

Wave after wave of pipers and drummers came swinging down the High Street and squeezed through the crowds spilling over from the pavements.  I admire their energy as most of them would have had a very early start to get to Rothesay before 10.00 am.

Trophies aloft

If a band had won any of the trophies these would be paraded in front of the players, proud youngsters holding the cups and shields as high as possible.

Concentrate on the Cobbles at the Corner

As well as the Pipe Bands some of the dancers also marched along showing off their medals and trophies, and their allegiance to particular dance schools.  This is one of the local ones.

In Front of the Home Crowd

This was our third year of attending the Highland Games and I think it was the best so far.  Some people were saying that the numbers of entrants was a bit down on previous years.  A sad reflection on the economic times as it is very costly to transport an entire pipe band to a competition every Saturday throughout the summer.

Argyle and Saturn

Last Day in the Bustling Metropolis

Sunday was just as hot and sunny as the previous two days and because of predicted traffic snarl ups due to the rehearsal for the Olympic Cycling Road Race we opted to escape.  Boarding a river bus at the Embankment it was a pleasant 30 minute ride down the ‘mighty’ Thames to Greenwich.  I must admit I think the Thames looks just like any other muddy city river but it is lined by some of the most iconic buildings and skylines.

Tower Bridge

The latest London landmark, the ‘Shard’, is on the left in the photograph above and you can see HMS Belfast moored just through the central span of the bridge.

Greenwich was very busy but the Maritime Museum is so big that it never felt crowded.  We have been here before and I think it is one of the best museums I have visited.  For my taste they have got the displays and information signage spot on.  Unfortunately there were so many children about my family would not let me stay and play in the education rooms – a fantastic collection of buttons to press,machinery to operate, things to measure, and much more.

The Royal Barge

I can see why the Queen prefers the Hebridean Princess to this, even with its overwhelming goldness it didn’t look terribly comfy.  The big new wing built onto the old original Georgian house, although very modern, works  well beside the classical formal lines.  The large scale sea paintings are magnificent and this time I much enjoyed the refurbished stained glass from the old Baltic Exchange.

Then out into the fresh air again and a gentle stroll up the hill to the Royal Observatory.  It was very, very busy here with an enormous queue to be allowed to take photographs of your companions astride the Prime Meridien Line.  This is what Jane wanted to do but fortunately she agreed it was not really worth the wait so instead we enjoyed the excellent displays and explanations of the importance of accurate time keeping for navigation.

Harrison Clock

The intricately exquisite movements of this series of  clocks built by John Harrison in the mid 18th century are beautiful and fascinating as is the whole story of how accurate time keeping was essential in finding longitude.  When we started back down the path from the Observatory I was lucky enough to notice that the Meridien Line continued from the courtyard down over a wall – so Jane got her photograph after all.

One foot in the east and one in the west

It was then a very pleasant stroll back down the hill to board the river bus for the return journey back to central London.  We had a wonderful mini holiday in the big city but as always were glad to get back to our own wee town.

Looking from Greenwich Observatory

More Summer Happenings

…. and we’ve had the summer weather to go with it.  We have been exhausting another visitor with showing off this beautiful island.  My cousin was here as part of a trip from New Zealand.  We can now adapt ‘our tour’ to fit with our guest’s time available and stamina.  So this time we managed to include a drive around all the most picturesque beauty spots, a trip on the Waverley, a drive over to Portavadie for lunch at the marina (delicious), coffees and meals out in favourite cafes and restaurants (Port Bannatyne Post Office, Ettrick Bay Diner, Cannon House etc).  There was too much talking and not enough photographs taken. On Saturday our sail round to Tighnabruaich on the Waverley was in glorious warm sunshine.  The traditional inebriated Glaswegians all poured off the old lady to spend a couple of hours on Rothesay keeping the local police on their toes, having left Glasgow about four drinking hours earlier.  As we waited to board it was very entertaining watching a large hen party negotiating the gang plank in six inch heels and very short skirts.

With it being Glasgow Fair Fortnight there was the annual visit of the ‘Fair’ to Rothesay.  I never actually managed along this year but judging by the screams as we went past everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Since we came to Bute Colin has taken to supporting the local shinty team.  They had reached the Final of the Balliemor Cup which took place at Portree in Skye against Caberfeidh last Saturday.  It was tempting to join the great exodus of supporters travelling north to cheer the team on but we had too many other things to do.  One of which was going along to the Pavilion to enjoy Bute Players‘ latest production of Para Handy.  This was a very ambitious show with an intriguing multi level stage set.  It was also uproariously funny, both in the planned and the unrehearsed senses.  At the interval the word spread around the audience that the shinty team had managed to win the Balliemor Cup up in Portree (2 – 1) and a grand welcome was being hurriedly arranged.  This included being allowed to march off the vehicle ramp of the ferry led by a pipe band (well, really a trio) and a ride in the open top bus.  (see Zak’s photographs here)

Unfortunately we didn’t get to be part of the welcome home as we had another ‘summer event’ to attend.  With around 80 other Christians we climbed up to St Blane’s Chapel for an evening service.  This was the best weather I have experienced up there – tee shirts, sun glasses and sun hats to enjoy a cloudless blue sky, with only a slight breeze just enough to discourage too many midgies joining in.

The clergy and the organist

The Rev Andrew Barrie, the Rev Owen Jones, Deacon Raymond Deans and Father Michael Hutson led the worship and singing accompanied by the wonderful Kist O’ Whistles.

Ancient walls instead of pews

Of course, all good church services end with a cup of tea.

Well on Their Way

It is a week since the elegant Tall Ships left Greenock for Shetland.  Unfortunately I’ve had no time to describe our last view of them until now.   We decided it would be too crowded to go over to the mainland and therefore opted to take the long panoramic view rather than trying to get up close.

Looking over past Toward Point

The vantage point we chose was at the edge of the golf course up on Canada Hill.  From here with binoculars we could see from the Cloch lighthouse to the southern end of Cumbrae.  We were, of course, many miles from the action hence the rather poor quality of the photographs – even Colin’s super zoom lens couldn’t cope with the lack of quality light and the distance.

Passing Hunterston B Power Station

The official Parade of Sail was from the James Watt Dock in Greenock to the Cloch Lighthouse, after that the ships could do their own thing until they were due in Shetland four days later.  By the time they were passing down Bute they were well strung out and very few actually had sail up.

Passing Inverkip chimney

The disappointment of being unable to see much detail was easily outweighed by the fantastic panorama before us.  At one point using the binoculars I tried to count how many vessels I could see.  Starting at Cumbrae and gradually looking upriver I gave up at over 300 before it became too difficult up by the Cloch.  I think every marina and yacht club on the Clyde must have been empty on Tuesday as there were so many yachts and cruisers accompanying the Tall Ships.

It was very pleasant standing in the warm afternoon sunshine watching all this activity, enlivened by our own ferries, Argyle and Bute, criss – crossing back and forwards to Wemyss Bay.  And, of course, there was the ubiquitous PS Waverley paddling down through the yachts and Tall Ships.  We would have loved to have been on her but £99 each for a ticket was a step too far (I understand all 300 tickets were sold which will be a big help for Waverley’s faltering finances.)

TS Royalist

The Royalist was the only ship I could name at that distance – because she is my favourite ‘pirate ship’.  We learned later that someone important in the crew was ill and Royalist didn’t actually set off for Orkney.  She turned up in Rothesay Bay on Saturday evening and spent Sunday practising manoeuvres and sail changes in the mouth of Loch Striven.

Layers of Sails

It has been a delight having these elegant Tall Ships amongst us for a few days – just wish I was a little bit younger and could run away to sea for a life before the mast – or perhaps I’ll just stay in my cosy, comfy rut.

Tractors and Tall Ships

Unfortunately not together.  On Saturday Colin was over in Greenock helping at the Rotary stall at The Tall Ships event while I had the glamour of the Vintage Tractor Rally here on Bute.  The weather was excellent in both places.  The sun had brought people in their thousands to the James Watt Dock in Greenock – to the point of being overcrowded and verging on unpleasant.  Colin had a good day but was frustrated at the difficulties of taking photographs – but I think these two are good.

Tall Ships at Greenock

Greenock - not Monte Carlo

We had crowds in Rothesay too, but on a much friendlier scale.  The Vintage Tractor Charity Run marshalled on the Esplanade, a change from previous years in Guildford Square.  This was better as there was more space to line up the 80 or so tractors.

Plenty of space on the Esplanade

There was a good mix of locals and holiday makers – babies in prams, kids on bikes, dogs on leads, many, many ice cream cones, and a buzz of chatter and laughter.

CalMac always get in the picture

I know nothing about tractors but even I could see the amount of loving attention that is lavished on these quirky old machines.

Much elbow grease used here

As in previous years, Johnnie Beattie wielded the chequered flag with great panache to set the lengthy convoy off on its journey around the island.  This time there was a stop at  Mount Stuart included in the itinerary.

Leaving the Esplanade