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  1. #1
    Join Date
    5th August 08
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    Lancashire, England
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    After a quick spruce up, We dressed for dinner.



    I thought I'd push the boat out so I went for Black Watch Weathered with a nice jacket in Stonewash Blue. It WAS a bit parky out.



    I was also a bit thirsty after all that driving, as you can imagine.



    It was a romantic candle-lit dinner for two, and the Kids... and half the population of the South of England,
    "It'll be 40 minutes for a table Sir, sorry, we're a bit busy tonight".
    "Y' don't say"... Strewth!



    There were chairs in the restaurant, honest. It's just the my daughter has ants in her pants and my wife and I are constantly up and down retrieving “the bits” my son continually casts about himself.



    Eventually everyone decided to sit on Dad. Good job my Kilt pin wasn't too sharp.

  2. #2
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    5th August 08
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    So the next morning we were up bright and early and went down to a sumptuous, full British brekkers which took about an hour and a half to finally get served. No complaints, my Sunday schedule is not their emergency... obviously, but it did set us back a bit in terms of timing. We eventually got all the Kids accoutrements and paraphernalia into the car and poddled off to the Main Event.

    The Harpenden Highland Gathering 2012.


    The 'Dogs and Ducks' Show was the first event we came to. (We were late for the opening ceremony and massed bands).


    The show consisted of two highly trained Border Collies, one a sheep dog, in that he normally works with sheep and one a duck dog, in that she has duck round up, down to a tee. It was marvellous to see two wonderfully intelligent animals working the herd... gaggle... flock... waddling? What is the collective for ducks? These were Indian Runner Ducks and were mostly a kind of muddy brown colour, so perhaps in this case, it's a 'Khaki' of Ducks

    Where was I? Oh yeah... so the dogs were awesome as was the running commentary given by the shepherd... (that's not the right word either... Duckerd?) At one point he told the dogs to lie still while he gave a brilliant description of the natural canine hunting instinct which is controlled by the 'alpha male' (man) to get the dogs to work the herd, rather than devour it. Unfortunately this doggie pause resulted in a momentary lapse of duck control and in less than a couple of seconds they were out of the arena and off round the park. Hugely amusing to see Bloke chasing ducks through the trees and bushes while dogs obediently sat in the middle of the Arena, watching the spectacle unfold and waiting for the command "Fetch" or "Seize" or "Kill" or whatever it is you are supposed to shout at duck-dogs when the 'waddle' is a'waddling. I could almost hear them laughing at him. Once the ducks were back in the paddock, as it were, if dogs could talk they'd be saying something like.
    “Would you like us to look after this lot now? 'Cause alpha male or not, you're clearly useless at it.”
    Once the intricacies of Man-Dog comms were sorted out though, it was staggering to see the two of them reacting instantly to single word commands as well as unspoken shoulder dips and other physical gestures. Don't wish to make light of the man really but it was one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. He does have some incredibly well trained animals though. The ducks on the other hand...

    As this unfolded...


    Our mate Sue (Kineticat) was mixing it with the big boys in the 'chucking stones about' section. She did extremely well it must be said and came FIRST in all the Ladies events.


    I did have what I thought were cracking action shots of Sue doing her thing but unfortunately my happy-snaps camera and (dare I say) iffy light only produced vaguely blue blurs. (Sorry Sue)

    My daughter was soon bored with the “Cummon darlin', lets watch these people chuck heavy stuff about” tactic and insisted she have a go on the Climbing Wall.


    Here she is, helmeted, harnessed and waiting with summer dress loin-clothed to protect her modesty. Not that SHE was bothered.


    Assaulting the North Face...


    I believe this is called 'Fear'... sorry 'No Fear'.
    Last edited by English Bloke; 15th July 12 at 10:13 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    5th August 08
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    Fortunately she was off the wall when the Black Watch (42nd of Foot) Waterloo Division entered the Arena.


    They marched on with colours flying and Pipes a' Skirling and Drums a' rat-a-tatatin' Very impressive. You could almost feel the fear in the French Imperial Guard. (They were so scared, they didn't even show up.)


    They loosed off a couple of fusillades at the Frenchy... I think they were actually firing at the Air Cadets who were massed to their front... but either way, it was nicely loud.


    Then got themselves into a hasty all round defence. Presumably to protect the colours from my Randonnée Bretonne (Brittany Walking/Hunting) Kilt that I had opted to wear.


    As the smell of cordite and the smoke of battle drifted across the field, incidental light music was provided by the Luton Youth Jazz Orchestra. Most entertaining, if not a little surreal.

    And meanwhile...


    Les Bandes écossais a également joués …

  4. #4
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    And then there was the Meet-up. 14:00 / 15:00 / turn up when you want / can... It all went swimmingly and we all found each other at some point or other. Mainly helped by Chas and his unstinting dedication to information and a good hearty wave of the Xmarks Banner (not to mention a couple of decent sized saltires in pukker 'new blue'


    A bevy of fine Xmarkers all in their finery (I had my sun hat on again... sorry.) Hamish you will note, who we know would have loved to have been there, was attending in thought if not in person.


    And again... Once more with feeling!



    'Chewing the fat'... Catching up with old friends, most of which I haven't actually met, although I must admit, it didn't feel like it. It was like a reunion with old friends.



    This Bloke, and Sue, and her Bloke...


    Freddie (Andy) joins in.


    Paul Henry in his Kilt of many offcuts. A superb creation if I may make so bold...



    Grizzly (Simon) and exceptionally large dawg!


    Simon and Mrs Simon...


    Dougle and I (sharing a sniffter... I suspect we have a common interest).

    And meanwhile...


    The Bands played on...

  5. #5
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    And while we are all 'sharing the lurve' … my daughter, who is not at all interested in friendships and bonding, is getting a bit of Pro Golf tuition on the sly.


    Tishhhk... another expensive hobby in the making.


    Small Bloke on the other hand, seems more than happy to look as appealing as possible while partying on down with frozen yoghurt.

    After the golf?


    Off for a cup of tea.


    We then wandered away to watch the falconry display. One very impressive bit of swooping and diving from a cheeky Diva of a bird who teased the crowd with a spot of hide and seek in the trees (I'm not coming down till I'm good and ready Mr Demille) before slamming in for the kill and taking mid-air, a mouse on a string (I think). Took the Falconer a bit by surprise (and half her hair with it) as said mouse ended up in amongst the crowd and in the the ripping and tearing grip of an angry falcon. Nothing if not dramatic. VERY impressive.


    I'd watch that again... Pure aerial acrobatics.

    So what did the Show-ground look like?


    Big field really. We're up by the classic cars here. Some beautiful vehicles from yesteryear. All polished and waxed to restored lovliness.


    You can see the heavy's arena (note the throwing cage) on the right and to the left of that is the dog-duck / Waterloo / Falcon display area. An enormously well organised event if you want the spectators opinion.


    Bit of ZOOM on here, but you can see Chas's twin Saltires flying valiantly over the rest of the attractions.



    And here I am trying to look desperately Kewl, while trying not to bulge over the top of my Kilt belt.
    Last edited by English Bloke; 16th July 12 at 02:07 AM.

  6. #6
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    WHAAAAAAAAAT?! Where is the mud?! Don't all English events have mud up past my ar...?

    Yeah, sure, 1/4 of the men look droolicious and I love the bands and pipes but oh my word, the ducks! I love ducks and this was absolutely hilarious! I love falcons too and hope to meet one in person some day.

    But this photo of Big Squeeze and Little Squeeze is simply precious.



    Small Bloke on the other hand, seems more than happy to look as appealing as possible while partying on down with frozen yoghurt.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    16th August 11
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    Thoroughly enjoyed this pictorial trip - feel as if I were there! Great pictures, thanks for sharing!
    "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days." Benjamin Franklin

  8. #8
    Join Date
    15th March 06
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    Thanks for the pics, John.
    Looks like a good time was had by all!
    A_Hay!
    Tom

  9. #9
    Join Date
    11th March 06
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    Near Birmingham U.K.
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    [QUOTE=weepeskythistle;1110129]WHAAAAAAAAAT?! Where is the mud?! Don't all English events have mud up past my ar...?

    If you wanted mud then you should have seen the bar area (sorry no pics). Now that was MUD !
    The Kilt is my delight !

  10. #10
    Join Date
    1st August 11
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    Romsey Nr Southampton UK
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    Ahh that explains where you were Morris. Shame I didn't know that or I would have Been there too.
    Last edited by Grizzly; 22nd July 12 at 02:41 PM.
    Friends stay in touch on FB simon Taylor-dando
    Best regards
    Simon

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