Game on as Glenfinnan
Alistair Gibson surveys the games field at Glenfinnan, nodding in satisfaction to himself at the impressive improvements carried out this year by him and his team from the estate.
Like all the local residents of this famous tiny village, the manager of Glenfinnan Estate takes great pride in the history and significance attached to its annual gathering and Highland games.
For on that one special day each August when the Glenfinnan Highland Gathering is held, it is possible to stand on the shore of Loch Shiel and, if you can let the sound of the pipes drown out the noise of the tourist traffic as the clan flags flutter in the breeze, it is almost possible to be transported back to that distant day in the August of 1745 when a young prince raised his standard and sparked a rising that would set the western Highlands ablaze. The reason the gathering is held every year on the Saturday closest to August 19 is because that was the date in 1745 when Charles Edward Stuart raised the royal standard to ‘gather’ the clans to his cause.
The bicentennial celebration held on VJ Day in 1945, marking the 200th anniversary of the raising of the standard, was meant to be a one-off event.
But it proved so popular that it was agreed to host a gathering annually. It has continued every year since, with all but two years seeing the gathering’s games and competitions held on the same site by Loch Shiel.
And it is why it is still referred to as a ‘gathering’, although it features very prestigious Highland games, including piping and dancing events. Pipers travel from around the world, all desperate to add a gathering trophy to their collection.
And with new drainage pipes installed by Alistair and his staff, along with a new gravelled track around the field, together with a new raised dance floor complete with replacement roof, everything is almost in place for what promises to be a very special gathering on August 18.
The games field now belongs to the estate, until recently having belonged to the MacKellaig family for almost 70 years.
A deal was worked out that saw the estate, owned by Ian Leith of the well-known quarrying and civil engineering business, acquire the games field.
It is clear Mr Leith sees the estate having a vital and important role to play as part of the local community at Glenfinnan.
Alistair, also a member of the games’ organising committee, built the previous dance floor in the mid-1980s.
‘It replaced the previous wooden structure which the late Mrs Cameron-Head [of Lochailort] would have been involved with. She would have been involved with the replacement as well,’ he explained.
It was Mrs Cameron-Head’s husband Francis, who along with Archie MacKellaig, thought it would be a good idea to continue the 1945 event as an annual event.
Alistair continued: ‘The dance floor canopy came to the end of its life this past winter when it collapsed. For the past three years, I wouldn’t let anyone up onto the roof except me as it was looking a bit tired.
‘Now that Glenfinnan Estate owns it, Mr Leith wanted to replace it with