Scotch pies, caramel cakes, haggis and chips; it must be the Nairn Highland Games

I have been up in Scotland, eating for England; at a wedding and the Nairn Highland Games.

My diet for three days consisted of cake, pies and haggis, followed by macaroni pie, cake and then more cake and some Scottish tablet.

It was good, but I have come home with a renewed love of all things green on the food front.

The Nairn games are special for me, as they are set in my ancestral home, and because I can't resist a piper, preferably in a massed pipe band.

Marching to the highland games in Nairn

If you want to make me cry, just make me listen to the Scots Dragoon Guards playing Amazing Grace. It works every time.




The games are traditional; you know exactly what will happen as every year it is the same. Steeped in tradition. Tossing the caber, highland dancing, tug of war, pipers, and plenty tartan and kilts.

In full regalia before the procession commences

technology and tartan

Nairn Games 2014

Nairn Games 2014 at the Links

Right next to the show ground are the 'showies' -  a funfair for those less attracted to traditional pursuits. The contrast within a hundred yards is quite surreal. Blaring music and people having fun spending money on the penny falls and dodgems. All you need to do is walk past the toilets and you enter a completely different world. Not everyone seems that happy to be there.

all the fun of the fair

no softy cissys or cry baby's

I met Darth Vader in a kilt

he seemed quite pleased to see me

And a levitating child running with her eyes closed.......

levitating child

The most popular ride is the 'limbo dancer' which bears no resemblance whatsoever to its title.

the Limbo Dancer

more fun at the showies; waiting for the ride...........

a happy punter

stall holders have very traditional prams for their children

There is no shortage of food at the games, day or night.

jumbo hot dogs

Burger palace

Burger

But I limit myself to Ashers cakes, as they are what I have eaten for the last 40 years and more.

Ashers cakes

Mine is the one on the top. A caramel tart.

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red - poppies in the moat

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red by Paul Cummins © Caroline Fraser

Other Half (OH) and I made a rare weekend foray to town today.

We went on the DLR; which was entertaining. We had only been on the train for about 5 seconds when a very polite gentleman asked us if we would take part in a satisfaction questionnaire.

Having no reason to refuse, we answered his questions..........

How clean did we think the train was?

What about the information signs on the train? How comfortable?



And how valued did we feel?

Hmmmm.

How valued do you feel on a train?

£2.30 worth?

Well if it had been a free ride we might have felt very valued. Or if we had been offered free entertainment perhaps that would have helped. We were honest, and said it was difficult to answer after only 5 seconds on the train.

So why were we travelling?

And where from?

Income?
Postcode?
Phone number?
Age?

What were they trying to achieve?

We will never know.

Which questions did we decline to answer?

You can probably guess.

We visited the 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' at the Tower of London; the ceramic installation by Paul Cummins.

Poppies © Caroline Fraser

888,246 ceramic poppies will be planted and then sold in memory of the British and Commonwealth dead of the first world war.

Quite a feat, and very moving.

The title was inspired by a line in the will of a Derbyshire man who joined up in the earliest days of the war and died in Flanders.

Ceramic poppies in the moat at the Tower of London © Caroline Fraser

Walking back past the 'gherkin' we came across some of the benches from 'Books about Town'


I was tempted to photograph the  Dr Zeuss bench featuring "The cat in the Hat ", one of my favourite books from childhood, but given the serious nature of our visit felt that the "War Horse"  by Michael Morpurgo one was probably more fitting for today.

War Horse bench © Caroline Fraser

If you would like it, you can bid for it .

Stuck on earth ?

Just had to share this app produced by Trey Ratcliff and entitled "Stuck on Earth"

Planning a trip?

Want to see where the best images might be found?

Want to get ideas about where to visit in a specific location and enjoy fabulous images by other photographer's to whet your appetite?

It is easy to use and I am currently busy trying to decide where to go for my next photography trip.

Lofotens?

Iceland round trip?

Hebrides?

As you can see, I am not one for a sunbed by a pool.

Just wish it would tell me which to choose and where the weather is guaranteed to be perfect........ for photography that is......

Got that Trey? I am sure you can fix it.

You can see more about it and lots more on Trey's website "Stuck in Customs"