We headed up the road back to Daviot at around 9.30 a.m and hung around before the off. Our route this morning was to take us over General Wade’s Road all the way into Inverness. We were then joined by Caley Fifer, who was busy compiling footage for his web site. Laughter and reflection ensued as we waited for battle to commence.
A rendezvous was planned with various folk as we headed into town. The trudge along the path was riddled with ambushes from members of the advanced party. Contact was made with reinforcements ahead in the form of the drummer boys and also there to greet us was, about three miles out of town, Lyndsay, the MFR reporter. Colin was also on hand again with the bus and supplies. From our meeting point the city could be seen and a general sense of achievement came over all of us. Magnificent.
Our entry to the outskirts of town was very noisy as the horns and drums sounded. We were told to call in at Dow’s pub for a beer - we didn’t need telling twice. A strong band of ICT supporters were there to celebrate the occasion.
From here it was just a blur as we strolled along the Old Edinburgh Road into the city centre with our mass following behind us. Many shoppers seemed to be bemused as to what was happening as we proudly walked through. The noise was amazing.
The Innes bar was then about to be taken but we had been beaten to it by the thirsty regular (and not so regular) supporters.
On leaving here we were ‘piped’ to the ground to be greeted by the club chairman and other board members. A champagne reception was held before we were given permission to walk around the pitch to take the applause of the fans. Truly magnificent, I will never forget that. The chants of “Gringo, Gringo, show us yer bum” was particularly amazing !! and the “You’re not English anymore..” chant, always brings a lump to my throat.
The team performed on the pitch too and clinched the title and made this one of the most memorable weeks of my life.
It wasn’t over then though as the evening progressed we attended the supporters club function at the Chieften Hotel where the players received their various awards. The championship trophy arrived too and just about everyone had a picture taken with it. The HMII walkers then had a photo taken with the team.
The evening was finished off back at the Innes where it was rather more peaceful. This gave me time to reflect and I shed a tear at the joy of it all.
Ped Reading was 8.7 miles 17044 steps
Total Ped’ Reading 148.62 miles and 290920 steps.