Bishopton day 2012

by | Jun 16, 2012 | 0 comments

Ruffles and I go to the 40th Bishopton Gala!

As a kid I used to always go to Bishopton day but haven’t been in years and felt a real need to visit this year, after all it’s the 40th anniversary!

When I was young I remember it being so sunny and busy with bikers jumping through burning hoops, massive inflatable sumo wrestlers and the occasional celeb like Johnny Beattie who my friends and I annoyed one time!

My friends and I (and other local kids) used to help out after the event picking up the rubbish and putting the chairs back in the vans then standing in the back of the vans as if we were surf boarding as we tried to keep our balance amongst the crashing chairs as we took them back to wherever they came from.  Afterwards when all the tents were down and everything was back to how it was we and the organisers would all get stuck into chippies…ahh memories!

So now all grown up and not having attended in years I decided to go while dog walking Erskine pup Ruffles the Lhasa apso along!  Ruffles is now around 8 months old and while not really a puppy anymore this is still great experience for the wee chappy…the crowds…live music….chainsaws etc, all new stuff…and all good!

For some reason it always rains on Bishopton day which has affected crowds over the years and it seems that what was once a very large event has dwindled somewhat.  The weather forecasts were predicting heavy rain all day but while it rained in the morning the two hours Ruffles and myself attended Bishopton day it remained dry until we left, then poured and has done so for the rest of the day.

There were some interesting events taking place today that I was keen on attending, which included the Gleniffer dog agility display, Peter Bowsher chainsaw carving and eh..the beer tent!  I’ve done some chainsaw carving before when my uncle, sister and I had a stall at the Langbank gala day last year.  It’s quite fun, of course I’m not nearly as good as Peter who made an eagle that was to be raffled off – I didn’t win, but they were many people who bought a raffle ticket so Peter did impress loads!

The day started with the Grand parade but the float carrying the Bishopton Princess Sara Uslu broke down so they had to walk..still the rest of the floats managed to attend although they weren’t allowed into the field cause last time they did the drainage pipes the rugby club had put under the pitch had broke under the weight of the trucks!

While the gala was warming up and people were arriving there was a music band playing and they were actually surprisingly good!  After the music Bishopton Princess Sarah opened the gala.

The dog agility classes held by Gleniffer dog agility were excellent and Ruffles was keen to go over and play with the collies!  In fact they were quite a lot of dogs there and a gorgeous 12 week old German shepherd which was massive.  The event held by the Glasgow Vikings was also quite interesting and before they all started fighting we were given a wee history lesson about how the vikings have actually had a role in Scotland’s history…which I never knew!

Anyway, after being there for quite a while I was in the mood for a pint of lager but was sadly surprised to see that the once great beer tent that Bishopton day was famous for had now been replaced by a very small open tent at the far corner, hidden out of the way with only enough room for the barmen!  This tent was situated inside a fenced caged area so you had to drink inside the designated area with guards personnel wearing high visibility waistcoats standing at the entrance!  Hmmm…made it look as if the few inside were being ostracised and should be jabbed with sticks with dog doo at the end!  So like most I didn’t bother and got a coffee and cake at the tea tent.

Anyway, it was a decent enough day with a decent turnout considering it wasn’t the best weather today!

Some pics…

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By Jamie Shanks

BDWS is owned and run by me, Jamie Shanks. I’ve been a professional dog walker since 2010. When I’m not walking dogs, I’m usually at home entertaining my three dogs and attending to five hens and my vegetable garden. 

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