LISTINGS DAYS OUT
DAYS OUT
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r r 1 I STEAM DAYS Sun 30 July and every Sun in Aug, Ham-«1pm. Scottish Industrial Railway Centre, Minnivey Colliery, Dalmellington. As part of the Doon Valley industrial heritage trail, the Railway Centre offers a rare Opportunity to take to the rails aboard a brake van being pulled by a steam locomotive. There are nine steam and fifteen diesel locomotives at the centre, including a rare Barkley Fireless steam loco (operating Sun 30 July and Sun 27 Aug). The Centre is associated with the Dunaskin Heritage Centre, two miles down the road in llalmellington which is open daily. Dunaskin is located on the site of an old ironworks and provides an interesting look at the industrial and social history of the Doon Valley.
This section gives details of selected events taking place in and around the Central Belt. Events are listed by area and then alphabetically. All submissions should be accompanied by a contact phone number for our information. Days Out compiled by Thom Dibdin.
This issue, Days Out covers events until Thursday September 7 because there just won’t be space to squeeze them all in during The List’s bumper coverage of the Edinburgh Festival. Get out that diary now! information for September events should be submitted by Wed 27 Aug.
I EYEMOUTH LIFEBOAT GALA Sun 27 Aug. 1 ~5pm. (iunners Green Picnic Area. l‘iyemouth. All the fun of the local fair in aid of the RNII Fire. ambulance and parachute displays. helicopter trips. stalls (with a spot of home baking). games and rides (including a steam train) for the kids and a pipe band should add up to a good day out. It‘s one to combine with a jaunt into the many nooks and crannies of the area. including St Abb's Head (famous from the Shipping forcast).
I INDIAN RALLY Fri 28—Sun 30. Traquair House. lnnerleithen. l’eebleshire. £5 (£3) per day. See photo caption.
I LAUDER KITE FESTIVAL Sat 12/Sun 13 Aug. Ham—5pm. Thirlestane Castle. by Lauder. Kite festival only: £2 (£1). car park 50p; castle and festival: £3.50. There will no doubt be a lot of whistling for the wind down Lauder way come the eleventh of August. And if you're fascinated by kites then this is the only place to be in Scotland over this weekend: kites of all sizes. shapes and temperaments will be taking to the sky with kite fiyers expected from all over the UK.
I MASSED PIPE BANDS Sun 27 Aug. 2pm. l’loors Castle. Kelso. £3.80 (£3/£l.90); grounds only: £2. More pipers than you can lit in the back of a cattle truck do their piping and marching thing on the lawns in front of the castle. Floors is open daily. 10.30am—4.30pm. and besides its Playfair architecture contains a lot of art. including paintings by Reynolds. Gainsborough and Matisse. There is also extensive parkland (with
. walks. a picnic area and kids playground). licensed restaurant in the castle and
walled flower and vegetable garden.
I NEWCASTLETON SHEEPDOG TRIALS Tue 29 Aug. 7am--7pm. lilatt Field. Newcastleton. Willi more sheep than people in Liddesdale the local border collies and their owners have to be pretty nifty. Sixty dogs with their shepherds take part in this prestige trial. it is a ‘double- lil't' event which involves handling two lots of sheep. moving iirst one then the other. bringing the two lots together and then separating them again. Tricky stuff. which is far better in real life than on the telly. On Sat 26. over the river in the showground is the Liddesdale Agricultural Show (9am—7pm; £2/£l) with a good selection of sheep. horses. dogs. pigeons and the like.
I SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP HORSE TRIALS Sat l9/Sun 20 Aug. 9am—5pm. Thirlestane Castle. by Lauder. Entry Sat: £4. Sun: £6. children and cars free. See photo caption.
I SHEEP AND WOOL DAY Sun 30 Jul. 10.30am—5.30pm. demonstrations from noon. Traquair House. lnnerleithen. Peebleshire. £3.75 (£3.20/£1.75). 01896 830785. Baah. There‘s no humbug at Traquair today. Just everything sheepish: Sheep dog demonstrations. shearing. rare breeds. spinners. weavers. dyers. crook
makers and knitters. There will also be plenty of opportunities to buy fleeces and wool products and meet with like-minded folk.
I SPIDER HUNT AND OTHER WALKS Sun 20 Aug. 2—4pm. Meet at Galashiels Swimming Pool. £1 (kids free). A chance for the arachnophiles to indulge themselves for the afternoon with isobel Baldwin ofthe National Natural History Museum. Take an old umbrella. a white plastic bag and a plant sprayer to track down our eight-legged friends. if you‘d rather poke your eyes out with a rusty spoon than face a spider. there are dozens of other walks organised by the Borders Ranger Service. from strenuous hill hikes to gentle ambles along the sea shore. A full brochure of walks is available at Tourist Centres and from the Harestanes Countryside Visitor Centre. by Ancrum. Jedburgh T88 6UQ (01835 830281).
I TRAOUAIR FAIR Sat 5/Sun 6.
l 1am—6pm. Traquair House. lnnerleithen Peebleshire. £9/£5 (£7.50/£4 in advance). 01896 830785. See photo caption.
CENTRAL 8: TAYSIDE
I LIVING HISTORY IN STIRLING Daily (not Mon). various times and venues. Stirling. See photo caption.
I WINGS AND WHEELS EXTRAVAGANIA Sat 29/Sun 30 July. 11am—6pm. Scone Aerodrome, Perth. £3 (£2). A weekend dedicated to all mechanical things with wings or wheels, surprisingly enough. From vintage vehicles to custom and kit cars. From a Messerschrnitt Me 108. Red Baron-type World War 1 SE53 and Airfield Attack to pleasure flights and model aircraft. There will also be an auto and aerojumble. funfair and stalls. Free car parking but no pets.
DUMFRIES 8r GALLOWAY
I CREAM 0’ GALLOWAY Daily.
1 1am—6pm. Cream 0' Galloway Dairy, Rainton. Gatehouse-of-Fleet. Castle Douglas. 01557 814040. Free. lfyour penchant is for ice-cream. then this is a Day Out for you. There is the opportunity to wander round the dairy watching the ice-cream and frozen yoghurt being made before taking a walk round one ofthe farm’s nature trails. This is non-intensive farming. which allows both a commercial product and a place for wildlife to persist. I PALNACKIE FLOUNDER TROMPIHG CHAMPIONSHIPS Sat 29 July, low tide. Urr Estuary. Palnackie. One of the prime Days Out of the year. and one looked forward to with high excitement at List Mansions. The event involves wading out into the receding waters of the estuary as low tide draws near in your bare feet. wriggling your bare tootsies to emulate the ebbing waters until you tread, by skill or luck. on
a hapless flounder. The trick then is not to scream and run for the hills. but to capture your wriggling. tickling and very much alive fish under your foot before removing it from the water and placing it ashore for weighing. This was once the way that folk around estuaries caught their flounders — a bony but very flavoursome fish.
I SANOUHAR RIDING OF THE MAROHES Fri il—Sun 20 Aug. Various venues around Sanquhar (35 miles south of Kilmarnock on the A76). A week of horse ride-outs and local events. The big day is Sat 19 when the Cornet and his followers leave to ride the Marches of Sanquhar at 8.20am. returning to Queensbury Square for 11.45am. At 12.30pm a fancy dress parade and pageant leave the Square for the High Street and there‘s a fair with entertainments all afternoon in the Primary School Field. Finally. at 9.30pm, at torchlight procession leaves the School. I PARTON’S ANNUAL GAMES Sun 6 Aug. l—5pm. Loch Ken Holiday Park. Parton. near Castle Douglas. £2.50 ((£l.50). Car park £1. it's that time of year again when the folks at Loch Ken get out the Herd's Bunnet and dust off the Curlin' Stane for Parton's Annual Games (formerly the Scottish Alternative Games). Although the attitude is frivolous. most of the sports stem from games played in school playgrounds over the years. Well, some of them do. There’s Peevers and Spinnin‘ the Peerie. Skipping and Gird'n‘Cleek (for which this is the world championship event). For the macho and muscle-bound there is Tossing the Sheaf and Swee-Tree while side events include snail racing and Balrnaclellen Skittles. All events are open to all-corners. but make sure that you're there for the practice sessions which last from 1—2pm. There’s a haggis for the winner. a clootie durnpling for second place and a Scotch pie for third. There will, of course. be plenty of refreshments available including that all—important beer tent.
LOTHIANS 8: FIFE ’
I ABERDOUR FESTIVAL Sat 29 July—Sun 6 Aug. Various venues around Aberdour. Fife. Full details from the Festival Box Office on 01383 860450. A small but perfectly formed festival that manages to think global but act local. The week sets up on Sat 29 with a Sandcastle competition (9.30—10.30am) on Blacksands Beach. with a raft race there in the afternoon (3.30pm). Between times. the Gala Day parade heads along the High Street for Aberdour Castle where the Opening Ceremony and entertainments take place. During the week the likes of Wolfestone and the Edinburgh Jazz Orchestra perform in the Festival Marquee. Two lains: Grant and Banks also do their things — the former on Sun
l INDIAN RALLY Fri 28—Sun 30. Traquair House, lnnerleithen, Peebleshlre. £5 (£3) per day. Further details from 0131 557 4580. Over 300 sleek, powerful, glittering Indian motorbikes gather at Traquair for the weekend. The rally includes field events, a concours, dealers and private lndian stalls, on-slte catering, live entertainment, bonfire, fire sculpture and even a pipe band. Throbbing.
The List 28 .lul- 10 Aug 1995 73