A Day Out at the Lonach Highland Gathering

I hadn't appreciated Aberlour is home to the famous Walker's Shortbread, with their HQ and four factories in the village and another two in nearby Elgin. Located here for over 100 years with a core workforce of 1200 and 450 seasonal workers their yummy Scottish shortbread is clearly an important part of the local economy. Fun fact: Aberlour House, home to Walker's HQ, was used as the headquarters for the Gordon Highlanders 51st Division during the war. More on the Gordon Highlanders later!

So why was I in Aberlour? On up to the beautifully renovated victorian Dowan's Hotel tucked away in the top of the village in a tranquil spot with one of my favourite features, a turret, to greet you as you cross the car park. Now I was invited here by Clan Forbes but this hotel is part of a few owned by the Murray family and they are understandably proud of their 2 bars which they describe as "Pure Highlands". First up is The Still, stocked with over five hundred single malt whiskies, including, for the connoisseur, a 1940 Macallan and a 1953 Glen Grant, and secondly MBar, with offers beers from local micro-breweries such as Spey Valley, WindSwept and Speyside Craft Brewery.

Anyway less distraction with food and drink....I was here to meet up with the Forbes Clan as they came to the end of their Clan Gathering and tour, long awaited given it was supposed to take place in 2020. Their President, Bart, gave me a lovely welcome and it was great to meet Clan members and hear more about the many places they had visited on their journey.

Clan Forbes are the main sponsor of the Lonach Gathering so what better way to pass a Saturday than attending the 179th Lonach Highland Gathering at Bellabeg Park? Following the The Lonach Highland and Friendly Society was founded in 1823 to preserve and celebrate the best of this heritage, and Lonach Hall has provided a hub for Strathdon life since then. The most famous element of the day and definitely the highlight for me is the march of the Lonach Highlanders, led by Sir James Forbes of Newe, patron of the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society. Armed with eight-foot long pikes and Lochaber axes, the Highlanders leave at 8am and march the 6 miles to Strathdon, with six dram stops at prominent homes along the way. At each one the health of the hosts, the society and the local area is toasted and the tradition cry of "Ho Ho Lonach" goes up. Bellabeg House is one of these stops and dates back to 1690, and is famous for being the birthplace of John Forbes, also known as Bombay Jock, who founded the international trading and banking company Forbes and Co, which is still an important business to this day.

The heavy events are my favourite and I learnt a thing or 2. Firstly why the athletes were walking rather strangely on the approach to the throwing circle? Turns out they have big long spikes or cleats to anchor themselves as they take on the Hammer Throw. And imagine my delight when George Evans broke the record and managed to fling 20kg over the 17ft8 bar. This was made doubly impressive when you saw the efforts of the judges and organisers to manage to extend the equipment to actually go that high. George made it look very easy and I am definitely going to have a go at this impressive event one of these days. I filmed the moment so you can watch George on our TikTok channel here.