Once we found the itinerary for the Guisachan Week we extended
our holiday an extra day, to be able to include "The Big
Picture".
When we went looking for the old house on Tuesday, we missed
the turning but found the wonderful Plodda Falls.
Today we're more organised and knew where to turn . . . but
then it was just a case of following the crowds !
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The reason that the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland
had chosen this place to celebrate the breed
was that it was here on this estate
that his lordship first bred the dog
that was to become known as
The Golden Retriever.
The 150th Anniversary was five years ago
and during the Gathering that year
they had such a good response
that they decided to repeat the event five years on.
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We found the "Kennel Field" and joined
the others in an orderly queue.
There was now a short mile walk along the track
to the old house.
Overnight rain had filled the puddles but the
forecast was reasonable for the day.
We still brought waterproofs . . . just in case.
The old house, a mere shadow of its former self,
suffered the same fate as Lowther Castle in Cumbria.
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When the old family wealth had gone,
the house had became
too expensive to run and the tax rules
of the day said
that if your property had no roof then
it wasn't liable to tax.
The contents were sold, but with the
roof removed the structure
soon fell into decay. A fundraising
effort five years
back by the Friends of Guisachan enabled
the site
to be partially cleared of invasive
trees
but the structure was deemed too far
gone to be
economically and safely repaired.
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Anyone got a small fortune they wish
to be parted from ?
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The Club had arrived early and set up a coffee
trailer and sales table where you could buy all things Guisachan.
The crowd started to grow, as did the number
of retriever dogs.
By the appointed time most people had arrived.
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Eyes look
skyward as a shower of rain passed overhead . . . |
. . . but it was not
a great problem for enthusiasts. |
After the rain, even standing back it needed
the panorama feature on the camera to capture the scene properly.
The afternoon was not just the chance of the
photo . . . there were also events and games.
The first event was for the dogs . . . to show
off their retrieving skills . . . fetching a toy thrown in the
air from the other side of the arena.
Some dogs were better than others . . . but
there was no pressure and great humour was had when some didn't
perform quite according to plan.
There were "games" for humans too
. . .
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Tossing
the haggis (shot-put style) fortified by a free shot
of whiskey ! |
Tug of war against the
Scotts . . . that's my red jacket fourth along. |
The Scottish ladies versus the English Ladies.
These competitions were meant to be a friendly
but they turned out to be serious competitions, despite the
fun had by all.
Time for the main event . . . the organisers
wanted a picture of all the dogs . . . without their humans
in the photo !!
The instruction was to settle your dog on the
lawn in front of the old house.
[ If you couldn't be certain they would 'sit
and stay' then bring a lead and a peg to keep them in the picture.]
With so many on the field we all got asked to
move closer together and nearer to the official camera, so my
two ended up sitting close to the front.
On the given command would all the people please
exit the field.
All the hands in the air were other owners also
holding cameras high, in order to photograph the dogs.
Dougal (blue collar/lead) and Dylan (red collar/lead)
are standing either side of the two front-and-centre lighter
coloured retrievers.
What's the collective noun for a large group
of dogs like this . . . a pack doesn't seem right somehow.
At the time I guessed at a figure between 350 and 450.
It seems that not all dogs present made the
picture, as there were officially 466 blue tags given out, one
to each dog who left the field that day.
That's got to be a record for the number of
retrievers gathered here at Guisachan, the "home"
of the breed !
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On leaving
the field ours were counted out as numbers 83 and 84. |
Time to be heading back
after a successful afternoon. |
That evening pictures were already circulating.
Thanks to Bill Reyna who presumably flew the
photo drone for the 'club' photo.
[ I tried to count how many of them made the
picture, but so many looked like sheep that I fell asleep !]
The event even made the BBC News that evening
. . . this was the picture on our hotel TV whilst we got changed
to go out.
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Sadly we had to leave Scotland next
day
so missed out on the formal "Dog
Show"
held back on the Shinty Field next
to the marquee.
I gather it was a great success.
[ Thanks to Des Glyn for this lovely
photo of "Secret"
in the Parade of Champions next day.]
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Our Friday journey home was down Loch Ness to Fort William
. . .
This one was taken by Loes whilst we crossed the Ballachulish
Bridge.
By the time we drove up Glencoe the weather had started to
turn.
A brief respite over Rannoch Moor so we stopped to give the
dogs a first 'outing' of the day.
They enjoyed the briefest of runs up onto the heather moorland
alongside the main road.
Sadly all the impressive mountains are missing from the background
of this photo, due to the low cloud today.
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A brief diversion south of Glasgow, with refreshments
at Strathaven
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. . . then a horrible
motorway drive in the wet brought us back home. |
Back to Loweswater and the reality of everyday life after
six nights, seven days in Scotland, an experience not to be
forgotten.
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Subsequent photos and videos made it to 'YouTube'
including this one showing my two lining up to sit quietly.
.
Click
here or on the picture above for another short video.
[ Thanks to 'Lakebrook Golden
Retrievers' for posting this one.]
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For those that enjoy tracing back ancestry
. . .