Giants in the Forest Chapter 7.1 At Nethy Bridge

I arrive at Nethy Bridge in the late afternoon. I am staying in a bed and breakfast - although it turns out that I am the only occupant in the building and end up with a house all to myself. I resist the temptation to spend the entire evening in the bath, and stroll through the forest to the main part of the village.

It is small, but has a large public green, a hotel that doubles as the bar and a newsagent that doubles as the supermarket. Since the cash machine is out of order, I decide against a mad spending spree, and have a modest supper.

I sit outside the pub. It is a beautiful evening and a group of motorbike tourists are across the table from me. I try not to listen to their conversations, but find that I don't have an internet connection. I am forced to be sociable.

During this trip, I have not spoken to many people, apart from those whom I have met in connection with the Giants. I've been enjoying the solitude, the combination of sleep and reading on the trains. Human conversation, I assume, is something that I miss in the city because I am too busy on the internet. However, since arriving at Aberdeen (when I managed to snatch a few minutes on the computer in a cafe), I have not had an internet connection. I keep using my phone for emergencies (that is, a desperate look at Google Maps). This time out of the virtual world has not led to more live interaction.

It is one of the ironies that Nethy Bridge - pretty much the furthest point north on this mission - was the worst place for getting an internet connection. I think I just about managed to see the map back to the train station before I lost connection forever. It is ironic, because the village has completely linked up to the net. It has a website that is trying to write the history of every single building in the area.

(Tomorrow, I think I work out why this website is so complete. I am about to discover a great deal more about Nethy and environs than I expect).

The single main road is bounded on one side by a small forest - I'd photograph it, but there are houses dotted out between the trees, and I decide to respect their privacy. As the night comes in, and I stroll back to the bed and breakfast, I do a traditional 'getting lost in about half an acre of woodland' routine. I spend quite a bit of time looking at the large open grassland, which was laid out for the Highland Games.

Abernethy Highland Games is rumoured to be one of the oldest continuous Games in Scotland. I find out that these were instituted in the aftermath of World War II - at least in their modern format - and seem to have arrived at the same time as the Edinburgh Festival. These days, they are fairly structured, a mixture of music and events, with professional contestants arriving for 'The Heavies' (those games most associated with the Highlands).

Of course, the Games are a pull for tourists, but their timing makes me wonder whether the campaign to introduce them was more about a reiteration of local community. The participants for the Heavy games travel about between Games, and there are clear circuits through the summer. Abernethy's Games also host a clan gathering, and the need for a large open space has effectively defined the shape of the village. Nethy Bridge itself might have held onto its existence because of the Games - the space is a grand area for children to use, and it gives definition to the area.