Water achievement for Birnam and Dunkeld earns flood of approval

Community efforts highlighted at annual games event

Water was the theme at this weekend’s Birnam Highland Games.

The ever-popular show, which has been part of the summer calendar for more than 150 years, coincided with the community being crowned Scotland’s first water-efficient village.

Residents and businesses have been working together to save a million litres of water in just a year.

And water wasn’t in short supply at Saturday’s games, with torrential downpours hammering the showground in the early hours.

However, conditions improved as events got under way with the sun making an appearance for the traditional pipe band-led opening ceremony.

Thousands gathered at the park for a packed afternoon of heavy events, piping, dancing and races.

This year’s chieftain, Thomas Steuart Fothringham, said: “The games have been a high point of the year in Birnam for nearly one-and-a-half centuries, and continue to go from strength to strength.

“This is largely due to the year-round efforts of a dedicated committee, for whose hard work we are all grateful.”

Local SNP MSP John Swinney attended the games, partly to promote Birnam and Dunkeld’s efforts to save water which he said should be an inspiration to others.

“The people of Dunkeld and Birnam have set a great example for others all over the country, and it is only right that they are recognised for their efforts to reduce water usage,” he said.

Scottish Water and its partner, Home Energy Scotland, had set the community a challenge to reduce its daily water usage.

The area’s traditional summer games were previously held in Dunkeld, until the sixth Duke of Atholl’s death in 1864. The show was cancelled as a mark of respect to the family, but a group of local men decided to hold games in neighbouring Birnam.

These proved so successful that they eclipsed the original Dunkeld Games, which came to an end in 1872.

It is thought that the first meetings of the Birnam Games Committee were held in the shadow of the Birnam Oak, one of the last surviving trees of the woodland made famous in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

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The people of Dunkeld and Birnam have set a great example for others all over the country. JOHN SWINNEY MSP

Picture: Phil Hannah.