The annual Girvan Harbour Gala happened on Sunday there and it has taken me until now to do a posting about it.  Despite attending my workload plus a bad bout of heartburn put paid to me doing anything last night.  But lets press on!

The Thinker along with his Granny and Great Aunt (bottom picture, middle and right)

The Gala actually began with a look back at last year when my good lady showed me a page of the current Carrick Gazette newspaper which you can see above.  The picture was taken last summer at the Girvan Gala 2011 during the event and you can see not only my little Thinker but also me Mum and me Aunty too!  This was nice as it was a good day and it brought the memories back to me.  It was also a nice sunny day…not like a lot of the last week here in Ayrshire.  Torrential rain caused a lot of flooding and also other problems.  While I was caught in some of it driving home I found this video on YouTube which gives you an idea as it was only up the road in Kilmarnock.

At the Harbour visiting the ‘Car Boot Stalls’.

So moving on to Sunday there the Gala kicked off just after noon and it went on until four and while the sky was overcast it was warm enough and it did not rain so that was super.  The Gala was smaller than on previous years but this is not a surprise to me since the economy is still down (despite what anyone says) and people have not got as much money to spend.   But a lot of people turned out and there was some loud live music too along with some organised events and demonstrations.  I amused myself with the ‘car boot sale’ stalls and rummaged about while the kids went to look at the pet owls, the slides and other things.

The end of the Fire Service Car Rescue Demonstration

A highlight was a demonstration by the Strathclyde Fire Service on removing a casualty from a vehicle.  The process too about fifteen minutes and involved taking a poor Volvo estate to pieces starting with the windows then the doors then the roof before finally taking the ‘injured fellow’ out on a stretcher.  Very informative and the only time I have seen this outside of watching it on TV.  After this we wandered about and then headed on home but on the way we stopped to watch the Girvan Lifeboat give some lucky people a little ride inside the limits of the habour.  The sheer noise of such a large engine echoing off the boat sheds was intense!

Lifeboat Joy Ride!

I missed the next part of the Gala as I was eating my lunch but I came out again just in time to see the Sea King Helicopter from HMS Gannet near Prestwick perform a sea rescue and then do several fly bys over the town.  Sorry for the rubbish picture but its hard to snap a helicopter in flight even though it is so big!

The Mighty Sea King!

All in all it was a good afternoon  and while not on a par with the Gala’s of 2007-9 it served Girvan well and brought a good number of people into the town.  Roll on next year!

GBS