Battles and bets as crowds return

WE may still be in the grip of the pandemic, but a degree of normality was certainly back with a bang yesterday.

Muskets flashed in some late summer sunshine as crowds saw a re-enactment of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans.

‘Soldiers’ in full costume staged a scaled-down version of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite victory over government commander Sir John Cope and his Redcoat troops in the East Lothian town.

Elsewhere, racegoers gathered for a day watching the action at the Ayr Gold Cup, enjoying a flutter and sipping champagne at the sold out fixture.

And in Glasgow’s West End, social distancing was far from people’s minds as hundreds enjoyed an open-air ceilidh in Vinicombe Street.

JOY: A Glasgow street ceilidh, above, and races fan at Ayr, right

FIRE!: Government troops entertain the crowds yesterday as the Battle of Prestonpans was re-enacted in the late September sunshire