A RECORD crowd gathered for the Helmsdale and District Highland Games on Saturday, August 20, as the event celebrated its 40th anniversary.
The event, which was held for the first time since 2019, began with a performance from “Clanadonia” in the village square, followed by a spectacular chieftains parade on the way to the games park. Massed pipe bands of Tain, Wick, Thurso and Sutherland Schools led the fifteen new chieftains, past chieftains and families, followed by a large crowd of visitors and locals.
The fifteen chieftains were all children from Helmsdale Primary School year 1985 from primaries one and two – each of whom would have turned forty in 2020.
As spokesperson for the group, Annalee Robertson, thanked the committee for giving them all the opportunity to reconnect with each other. She talked about the strong community spirit within the village, and particularly during the pandemic. She went on thank their former primary school teachers for such a wonderful start in life.
She said: “Our class has now produced joiners, a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, a solicitor, it specialist, entrepreneurs, volunteers and even an olympic gold medallist! Some have moved away from the village, and some remain close to home.”
Standard bearers this year were Sinead Denoon, Aaron Grant and Finbar Plass, each of whom had been senior school pupils two years ago when the event was originally planned.
Chairman Andrew Sutherland welcomed and thanked everyone for their ongoing support over the past two years, particularly the dance bands and special guests who rolled over bookings from 2020.
A full programme of traditional highland Games Events, fly casting, novelty events and childrens races took place throughout the day, with the crowds well entertained by the Massed PipeBand Parades, and special guests Clanadonia, and Lord and Lady MacNeep ( stilt walking specialists) throughout the afternoon.
Records were broken in several track and field events – Stuart Clarke (Stonehaven) broke track records in the 200m and 800m sprints. Tony Dafron (Wishaw) broke his own track records from 2017 in long jump and hop, step and leap.
The RSHGA Hill Race Championship was won by Eoghan Gollan from Edderton in a time of 25 minutes 15.3 seconds. Finbar Plass was the first senior local home and the first lady was Bethan Nadin.
Jamie Gunn (Halkirk) was the leading heavyweight competitor.
The tug of war was held as a charity event this year, with the winners and runners up choosing to donate their winnings to the Helmsdale Space Play Park Fund.
To round the day off the early evening ceilidh with Carnan, a lively young duo from Skye. Torridon played at the main marquee dance at night to complement a lively atmosphere.
A spokesperson for the event said: “The committee would like to thank all who contributed to making the day such a successful event, particularly thanks to the willing volunteers who worked throughout the week and on games day, which very much contributed to the smooth running of events .
“Special thanks to the “clear up squad” on Sunday, who broke all records with the speed the park was cleared on Sunday.”
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