Highland high times at Rosneath

Fiona Howard • Published 23 Jul 2010 09:30 0 Comments

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Its game on at Luss

TORRENTIAL rain overnight on Saturday was a real worry for the organisers of Rosneath Peninsula Highland Gathering, but by 10am on Sunday the sun was out and the visitors to the 31st annual games basked in glorious sunshine throughout the event.

Thousands flocked to the field to see the truly traditional games and to enjoy a huge range of stalls and side shows designed to provide a full afternoon of entertainment for the whole family.

Some 220 of Scotland's finest solo pipers congregated in the little lochside village to compete in the most prestigious piping competition in the country . . . and that is official.

The main judge for the day told organisers: "This is undoubtedly the most prestigious competition in the country and you have Scotland's best pipers all here competing."

And such was the overwhelming entry in the piping event that they were still competing long after the last of the field events was over and the field stewards were beginning the clear up.

Some of the best of the international heavyweight competitors made their way to Rosneath and although it is not yet confirmed, it is thought that the Scottish games shot putt record was well and truly broken by Londoner Scott Rider.

Polish strongmen Lucasz Wenta and his brother Sebastian were also competing at Rosneath and the international element did not end there for Aussie heavyweight Aaron Neighbour was testing his not inconsiderable skills on the village games field alongside former Scottish Games Champion and Scotland's strongest man Gregor Edmunds from Glasgow. Also competing was Steven King from Inveraray, a well kent figure on the circuit, and local heavyweight David Calderwood.

In the strictly local heavy section, David was joined by four other hopefuls, including newcomer Thomas Wilson trying his skills at the games for the first time.

Cyclists and runners joined the fray and four teams of tug o'war hopefuls tussled it out on the field with the honours going eventually to the lads from Moffat Builders. The committee would like to thank Luss Highland Games committee for lending them the tug o'war rope for the day.

One of Rosneath's most popular "regulars" was Tommy Armstrong from Greenock who takes part in well over 50 running events every year despite being in his 60s, and his fund raising record to date is an incredible £127,000 for charity.

This year he was running the gruelling Rosneath Hill Race to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation wearing the clown outfit that has made him a popular sight and a welcome guest on games fields around the country.

The Chieftain for the day was Commodore Clyde, Commodore Chris Hockley, who said that he considered it an honour to have been invited to be Chieftain.

He and games chairman Robert MacIntyre led the parade through the village and into the field where the Commodore declared the games open and welcomed everyone to the event. The parade included the pipes and drums of the Central Police Pipe Band and Rosneath's own Argyll Peninsula Pipe Band, "the wee band".

In his introduction for the programme Commodore Hockley wrote: "The Royal Navy and our partner Babcock Marine Clyde are proud to be part of this community. We are also grateful for the support and friendship that our neighbours continue to extend to us.

"By working together we can and will ensure that our community spirit remains alive and well and events like the Rosneath Peninsula Highland Gathering can continue well in to the future."

The Commodore was presented with a specially engraved quaich to mark the occasion and his wife received flowers.

Highland dancers from all over the West of Scotland took part in the competitions and they were joined by a group of 20 Canadian dancers who came over from Edinburgh to take part.

The local politicians turned out in force with visits from MP Alan Reid, MSP Jackie Baillie and Argyll and Bute Councillors Danny Kelly, George Freeman, Vivien Dance and Provost Billy Petrie. There was even a light-heated suggestion that there were enough politicians to make up their own tug o'war team!

The team of intrepid travellers planning to set out for Mongolia in a fire engine brought the vehicle to Rosneath for the day and the kids had a great time exploring the fire engine and a couple of the tug o'war teams tested their strength by pulling the huge machine along the car park.

Stalls and side shows kept whole families amused with fairground rides, bouncy castles and slides, the hamster ball walking on water attraction, pony rides and a chance to try your hand at archery.

Brave men tested their strength by hoisting the Rosneath St Modan's Manhood Stone.

There were plenty of other games and side shows and a number of charity stalls including the Helensburgh Garelochside Rotary Club, CHAS and Cancer Research.

Food stalls galore provided snacks to suit all tastes and tastebuds and the beer tent did a roaring trade.

Garelochhead woman Lesley Macdonald brought an international flavour to the day with her Kashmir Connection stall featuring wonderful crafts and clothes from Kashmir including some which were used recently for an episode of River City.

And just outside the field, in the garden at Easter Garth, the Fryer family were serving cream teas to raise money for the games.

Mr MacIntyre said: "It was a really good day and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I was really delighted with the response from the village and with the number of young people who turned out to help setting up the field, working throughout the day and taking it all down again afterwards. They were a real credit to the village.

"That so many youngsters were prepared to come out and give up their time for nothing to do something for the community is really encouraging."

Mr MacIntyre also thanked all the committee members who work all year round to ensure that the games happen, the boys from Addict Audio whose sound system ensured that everyone knew what was going on on the field, Ronnie, Irene and the catering team, the judges, commentator and the team of very enthusiastic and extremely hard working volunteers from the Helensburgh Timebank who gave up their Sunday to help and of course to the team at Easter Garth.

And finally the committee's thanks go to the sponsors and in particular the main sponsors Rosneath Castle Caravan Park, Babcock Marine, Lomond and Clyde Tourist Association, Argyll and Bute Council, the two local community councils and the Rosneath and Clynder Community Action Trust.

This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 22 Jul 10

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