Saturday 4 August

An overcast, non-descript day in terms of weather. The sunshine that we were promised in yesterday's forecast never materialised. Today being the first Saturday in August meant that the Stornoway Carnival was on. The lack of floats in the procession was made up for by the hundreds of people thronging the town centre. As per usual, the floats are very topical, reflecting recent events in the island. I share a few pictures to underscore that fact.

The third image deserves an explanation. There is usually a funfair during Carnival week, lasting from Tuesday until Saturday night. This year, the council have stipulated that South Beach carpark, where the funfair usually stands, can only be occupied by anything other than parked cars, for one day. <sarcasm>There is such a lack of carparking spaces in the town centre that we can't have any removed from use for any length of time</sarcasm>. Recently, councillors have been issued with their own iPads for council use - hence the vitriolic reference to the machines on the banner.