History of Galas at Penpont (1898 -2011)
The Galloway Standard reported a first gala at Penpont on 29th August 1891. It was billed as Penpont Sports and it was noted that it had been the first community gathering since the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 .
The 18th July 1892 edition of the paper reported on Sports at Penpont. n the article it was reported that this was the second year running when the occasion had been celebrated with a local holiday. The weather had been fine until near the close when there was ‘a little rain but not sufficient to cause any cessation in the games and dancing’. Music was provided by the Wanlockhead Brass Band.
From June 1893 to June 1898, the event was advertised as ‘Gala Day at Penpont’ -including athletic sports, ploughing match, five-a-side football, horse competitions, horse races etc., with music from the ever popular Wanlockhead Pipe Band. (Information from Dumfries & Galloway Standard)
From 1898 to 1948 a yearly ploughing match and sports were a feature of the event.
From 1948 to 1952 Gala days featured sporting events, fancy dress competitions and ending with dancing.
From 1953 to 1977 a ‘Gala Day’ was held every second year, with a village day trip being organised in the intervening years. In 1977, to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, a special gala was arranged by the community. This took the form of a week of activities closing with a fireworks and fancy dress dance.
This marked the start of a week of gala events at Penpont – again every second year.
1981 saw the introduction of a ‘Gala Queen’. The Gala Queen was crowned on the first day of the week’s events immediately after the Parish Church fete.
Since 1983, the Gala Week has been a feature of village life.
In 2000, to celebrate the millennium, past ’Queens’ were invited to join the Millennium Queen for the celebration. Twelve of the past eighteen ‘Queens’ were present. For this event the Joseph Thomson Group prepared a display depicting the history of Penpont Gala.
The thirtieth Gala Queen was crowned on the 26th June 2011 with 14 previous Penpont Gala Queens attending the Saturday event. Each of the 14 Queens received a celebration scroll courtesy of Penpont Community Council. Again the Joseph Thomson Group was responsible for a display of the history of the gala.
2011 and 1981 Queen
14 Penpont Queens with Scrolls
(Photos by G Cuttle : Information from Dumfries & Galloway Standard)
Researched by G Cuttle