Baden-Powell Council BSA
at the
2010 Blair Atholl Patrol Jamborette

Day 6 - July 18th - Kingdom of Fife
























We started our day by walking up the waterfront path to the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, then drove south to Crail for a walk on the beach. Then, we drove a few miles inland to Scotland's Secret Bunker, an underground complex built during the Cold War to house government officials and fallout-tracking personnel. It did seem somewhat strange to see road signs pointing the way to the "Secret Bunker", but there they were, and, eventually, there we were.  

Above ground, there's nothing to see but a farmhouse and a few military vehicles parked here and there.

Underground, though, you walk down a long tunnel and find a multi-story complex of bunkrooms, operations centers, electronics and all of the rest of the necessities of life after the unthinkable.


Brad seemed to enjoy the opportunity to defend the bunker...


If Scotland had been the victim of an atomic attack, the fallout patterns would have been plotted on this board.

 


The exhibits did make you wonder just where the RAF was recruiting its staff from, though...

The Highland Games at Thornton was our next stop. Highland Games are always interesting, and each village puts its own spin on the events. All of the community took part, with competitions including a short race for the under five's. 


The Scottish Dancing competition ran all day, with back-to-back competitions for different aged dancers dancing to the same piper. 


The Heavy Events were impressive - the Hammer Throw uses a real sledge hammer, or its nearest equivalent. 

One of our Scouts, Theo, is a competitive runner back home. We suggested that he talk to the judges to see if he could enter a race. They put him in the two-mile run, competing against runners several times his age, and we cheered him on as he ran...

He came in sixth, and won a five-pound prize, which wasn't bad at all...


The last stop for the day was Deep Sea World, an aquarium built into a flooded quarry under the Forth Rail Bridge (above). 

Deep Sea World boasts one of the longest underwater tunnels, with a moving slidewalk to glide you amongst the sharks (left). 

We stayed with the 88th Haymarket Scout Group for the next two nights. 

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