A Taste Of Local Culture

We made a visit to the St Andrews Highland Games yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As well as traditional Scottish events like Highland Dancing and throwing the hammer there were regular track running and cycle races. There was a good crowd in attendance and the weather stayed fine. On the catering side there was one stall that you wouldn't find south of the border, a take away kipper concession. OK I know that being Arbroath Smokies they are not really kippers but you get the idea. They looked delicious but we stuck to more traditional Scottish fare and had a couple of crepes.

The guys flinging balls on chains were enormous and could hurl them a huge distance. I imagine that they were once used as pretty deadly weapons - the balls on chains that is not the huge blokes. 

St Andrews Pipe Band provided the musical accompaniment to the event and very accomplished they were too. That's our Scouse TV aerial fitter drumming just left of centre in his immaculate regalia.

Golf purists would be amazed to see the famous Old Course which is closed to golfers on a Sunday but open to the public who take full advantage of this and wander freely across the course. Although we've got a caravan here now it won't stop us from visiting the fabulous Old Course Hotel again and we've got a few days booked to pamper ourselves there in November.

I don't do serious too often on this blog but I have to admit to being a bit worried about all the extremists creeping out of the woodwork following the Government's announcement of its new e-petition web site. The political blogger Guido Fawkes (who often talks a good deal of sense) is, sadly, pushing for the reinstatement of the death penalty. OK he's only proposing it for those who kill policemen or children but it took thousands of years to get rid of capital punishment and I hoped that we had seen the back of it for good. I don't see the people of Norway screaming out for bloodthirsty revenge and I hope that the petition sinks without trace. Perhaps the Government should have given the petition site the facility to vote against and make it necessary to have a net positive of over 100,000 voters before they consider any of the proposals. I know that some killers appear beyond redemption and there are plenty of arguments as to why they don't deserve to live but let's not stoop to their level. Rant over.