London to Guildtown
Having decided to go to the Scottish Bluegrass festival I got on the plane on a hot Thursday morning and flew to London Stanstead airport. Imagine my surprise to find I'd landed in the middle of the hottest day so far! When I finally got to the hotel dripping wet from rides on the train and the Underground I thought how nice it would be to have a cold shower. But no, the water in the cold tap was hotter than the Hot tap! No air conditioning in the hotel either but got a fan from reception which eased the situation a bit.
Got on the train next day at 9 o'clock, oh so glad to be able to sit in air-conditioned luxury after the hot sticky streets of Bayswater. The train follows the route of "The Flying Scotsman" (though it's no longer called that) and is a lot quicker - only about 5 hours from Euston. Had a very enjoyable trip to Edinburgh, chatting with other passengers and seeing some sights - the city wall at York, The Angel of The North on the just before Newcastle, Berwick & The Tweed, the island of Lindisfarne and then the coast of Scotland where the rails go down by the sea. Changed at Edinburgh for Stirling then again for Perth. Where it was STILL mighty hot, though not as bad as down south.
As it was getting late I stayed the night at a hotel near the station and had time for a wander around before getting on the bus to Guildtown. Perth is still grey stone but now has a very smart pedestrian mall where I bought a whole lot of postcards to send home. (I can't find them now). The Tay is really beautiful, it was nice walking along the bank up to North Inch but oh so dreadfully hot. 
Got on the bus then for the short trip to Guildtown, a village strung out along either side of the road. It seems to be a central point for salmon fishermen, the local hotel is called The Fisherman's Inn and the famous Tay salmon fishing spot called Campsie is an easy walk about 1½ miles away. I walked over to see it - lots of (boat) sheds nearby and the river running over rapids.

The Festival, the Fisherman's Inn and the Village Hall
 Our festival was held at the Village Hall and the Fisherman's Inn. The hall has showers, kitchen & toilets for the nearby camping ground and sports field. There were lots of tents and caravans - it's very popular to camp at these events, almost the only way to get near everything in fact. I bought a blow-up air mattress which weighs very little and fits quite neatly into my suitcase along with a nice big pillow. Not having a tent I had to camp at the back of the hall. You can get a nice cooked breakfast at the Inn and other supplies at the village shop. We spent most of the time during the day wandering around and having spontaneous jam sessions with other musicians. I met one very nice couple who had a very smart caravan and invited me in for a drink and lunch. Everyone was very friendly. Takes your ear a while to get used to everyone saying "Aye, aye", and then it sounds quite natural. There was another Hamish there, a bit older than me who just could not get over me being called Hamish Sutherland but talking with an Aussie accent and living in Sweden. Not logical, is it!
There were almost continuous jam sessions in a big tent out the back of the Fishermans Inn and I had so much fun my fingers nearly fell off!  Met an amazing feller who could play any bluegrass tune you could think of on his banjo. (And all the others as well, no doubt).
There were concerts in the hall each night with Scottish, English, American and Czech bands. There was supposed to be a Swedish band too but they couldn't come as one of them got ill at the last moment. After the concert finished at about midnight everyone headed up to the inn and spent most of the rest of the night in one huge jam session with everybody playing together. I tried to stay for a while but it was enormously noisy and smoky so I didn't stay very long. My poor little dobro wouldn't have made itself heard anyway.

By and large the festival was extremely well organized, the atmosphere relaxed and friendly.
The only thing I really missed were the workshops. Seem to be almost de rigeur these days.

This is what Bluegrass Festivals are all about for most of us. Up until all hours of the night, with the sound level so high you couldn't hear a enraged dobro player smashing a banjo... Beer, cigarette smoke and lots of music. Everyone can join in and play along, though it's doubtful if you (or anyone else) will hear what you're playing. Unless you've got a banjo of course!

click here for the
Scottish Bluegrass Association website