Lochaber Highland Games

This morning I headed off into Fort William and came across a procession led by Jimmy Savile. I would think nobody outside the UK would have ever heard of him but as a child I remember watching him on a children’s TV program called Jim'll Fix It and later presenting Top of the Pops. On Jim’ll Fix It, children wrote in asking to meet somebody or even be like somebody for a day and he would arrange for this to happen. I used to love this and even remember writing in. Listening to the theme tune also reveals what the program was about. The procession was made up of a pipe band and banners urging people to go and see the Highland Games. Being Scottish, I had never seen them before and decided I should go and see it for myself.
I was amazed by the amount of children wearing full Highland dress and parents who were taking part in the activities offered. Walking amongst the many people there, I saw this stroller and though the pattern was funny. Now you see it... now you don't!
The Traditional Scottish Dancing was amazing to see as children of all ages took part. Up to 10 dances including the Pas de Basques, Highland Fling, Sword Dance and Hornpipe took place. It reminds me of pictures of Rachel when she was younger.
At the same time there was a stand called The Clann. They are a period authentic group of highlanders who are experts on the use of traditional weaponry. The Clann set up an encampment on the field to allow visitors to see how highlanders may have lived and to allow inspection of their armoury. Needless to say I avidly got in line behind a bunch of kids and took part in a small sword fight.

Time for a pose after battle!

Other sports taking place were the scots hammer, tossing the caber, weight over the bar and throwing the light stone. All of this was amazing to see, as both adults and children threw huge logs around.