Gatehouse of Fleet-Torchlight parade

It's Gala week in Gatehouse of Fleet,and the following was the programme of events for Wednesday the 30th July 2008.
I'll be there for the Scottish Evening and subsequent events.

Walking Tour of Gatehouse
Horse & Carriage Rides Commence
Green Bowling Tournament at end of Anne Street
Scottish Evening in Community Centre grounds with Pipe & Jazz Bands, Dancers, Singers and refreshments.
Barbecue & Jazz Band in Garries Park
Assembly of Torchlight Parade at Community Centre
The Great Gala Torchlight Parade
Bonfire & Fireworks display in Garries Park



Here at the Ship Inn the sign on the right reads 'Hostelry since 1794 Where Dorothy L. Sayers wrote Five Red Herrings'



The Dangleberries are here tonight.They're the main reason for my being here.They're giving me a Dangleberries T Shirt for putting clips of some of their performances on YouTube.

Showers were frequent throughout the evening,but spirits weren't dampened and the night and entertainment went well.


Lots of music...

...dancing

...and the pipes.Wait a minute,doesn't that come under music?

I need to make a note here of a singer by the name of Robert Shields.There's no picture of him for the blog,but i'll be putting two clips on YouTube.
He heads the band bearing his name Shields,and has recently been touring with Newton Faulkner.I think you'll hear more of him.
Hear him on
http://www.myspace.com/robertshieldsmusic



Following the end of the Scottish evening,the Torchlight Parade was soon organised and underway.
At the head of the procession the Kirkcudbright Pipe Band,with the The Stewartry Wind Band & The Galloway Pipers at the rear.I couldn't put a figure on the numbers with torches,but the procession stretched the length of Gatehouse's main thoroughfare.

Once into Garries Park torches were discarded on the bonfire.

In the contrasting light,i'm getting a lot of distorted images on my camera.
A few looking decidedly ghostly.It was that kind of night.


After a brilliant fireworks display,the Dangleberries finished off the night with their usual aplomb.
Depite the rain it was a great night.

How to keep cool-Keadby Style

Taken last Saturday 26th July on a Sony DSC-S80 somewhere in deepest North Lincolnshire,a couple of cute cool customers try to stay that way.


Not exactly Gene Kelly,more like Kelly's Heroes.


Thanks to No 1 for the pictures.

Glenkiln

I had reason to travel to Dumfries today Monday 28th of July.
Returning west i took a little detour to the Glenkiln Reservoir northwest of Shawhead to take these pictures.
Hopefully they'll cheer up a dear friend who's having a very rough time at the moment.

This is a Rodin sculpture of John the Baptist.We've always known it by my fathers name for it'The Rude Man'.Remember kids?

I could have quite easily jumped in here today.Last time there was a salmon fisherman wading in the loch.

And here is a Henry Moore sculpture that goes by the name 'King and Queen'.
There are more sculptures around,but today i only photographed these two.

RibRaid ~Portpatrick~ Lifeboat Week ~2008

I went over to PortPatrick on Sunday the 27th of July for the first day of their Lifeboat Week.
One of the highlights of the week is the Rib Raid~Rigid Inflatable Boat race from Donaghadee in County Down to Portpatrick
This has really taken off in Northern Ireland,and Rib Raids now go from Bangor and Donaghadee to Isle of Man, Portpatrick and the Island of Sanda.See http://www.ribraid.com/
I arrived early enough to see the Ribs crossing.It was a lovely sunny day.It was quite quiet early on,but got busy later.As well as all the entertainment,i also took the cliff walk to Dunskey Castle.
There were lots of Ribs,but not as many of the larger yachts i'd seen on a previous Ribs day.A lifeboatman i spoke to believes that even yacht owners are feeling the pinch from rising fuel costs.
It was nice to bump into fellow ramblers throughout the day.
I didn't stay till the Ribs left,but the pictures tell the enjoyment of the day.
Videos will follow on YouTube when i get round to it.