The Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park, Braemar
Otherwise known as the Games Park. The Braemar Games is always held on the first Saturday in September.
There have been highland gatherings in Braemar for over 900 years, but The Games, as it is today, has been on the go since 1832. Since 1848 it has been attended by the reigning monarch.
The Queen however did not attend last year, due to her ill health, and this year will be the first year that King Charles will attend as reigning monarch - although he's not a stranger to the games.
The building that you see here is a fairly recent addition to the park, the Games Centre, which houses a small museum and a cafe. The colours and style are in keeping with the Royal Box on the other side of the park, where the monarch and entourage sit on Games Day. The archway you can see was erected for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
On Games Day, the royal cortege will arrive through the archway and drive anti-clockwise around the outside of the circular park to the Royal Box (always 3pm). When they depart (always 4pm), they drive the rest of the way around the circular park, exiting at the same place, allowing everyone a glimpse of the royal party. Every year we wonder who will attend - it's always kept very hush hush until the last minute.
What a lovely shot of this historical park, interesting narrative too. On occasion we have seen some of the fun games on tv. It certainly will be very interesting for all this year.
A well tended area for the games. Will you be attending? Such fun the time I attended a local version of Highland Games. Prior to me, my husband tried his hand at tossing the caber.
Not a very long visit then…. Is there cabre tossing? We used to go to the games at Glenfinnan & loved that the best. This looks a lovely ground & very special to all the local people.
@christinav The park is referred to locally as 'the hallowed ground' and it's not really used for much other than the annual Games. Although that is gradually changing with the occasional event there which is not related to the Games.
@happypat Oh, yes, plenty of caber tossing, and there is, of course, the Braemar caber, which is more challenging than the others, being a bit heavier and longer. The Royals have always done the 3-4 pm visit. Certain events are staged to take place at that time, in front of the Royal Box. They love to watch the tug of war, as the Balmoral team always enters. At 4pm, after they leave, everyone starts to wander off home.
@randystreat We will be going this year, as we have guests coming to stay and it's a great spectacle for them. I've been more often than I care to count however, as I used to dance at all the local games, and dad was President of the Braemar Games for years. Brother Steve still works there as a steward. So, it's quite a commonplace event for me, but it's always fun!
