KSLD BBQ 2017 - We had a blast!

KSLD held their annual BBQ on 23 June 2017 at Cramond Beach in North Edinburgh. Staff, both former and current, and their families joined together to celebrate a year well done.

The weather was the best it's been in years, with blue skies and a not insane wind (even for the Forth). Warm and pleasant, the breeze knotted the balloons around the table, but didn't cause any big problems.

This year, the activity was shooting off water-bottle-rockets. You can buy the kit yourself from Rocket. It's simple, but effective: take a an empty plastic bottle, decorate it, fill it 1/3 with water, add the adapter, then attach to a bike pump and inflate until lift off!

We had a variety of bottles available: 1.5L, 2L and even some 3L. We found that the 1.5L and 2L bottles worked best. They flew with a height and distance that would have tired out even the most marshmallow-filled child. 

The 3L bottle, while it did eventually fly, tended to be more unpredictable in its flight as the water would shift the rocket in different directions, and it would have packed quite a punch if it had connected with anyone. Perhaps more experimentation is needed to see about add-ons to increase stability.


It was a smaller get-together than usual, but the weather was nice, the food delicious, and the rockets dynamic.

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KSLD BBQ 2015 - A Festival of Flame

KSLD held their annual BBQ on 19 June 2015 at Longniddry. Some 20-odd guests arrived to grill up some burgers, sausages, peppers and other delights. Three dogs, multiple children, and several different companies represented (including but not limited to Mike Stoane Lighting, Kelvin Lighting, and Speirs & Major), we created flammable sculptures out of cardboard and scrap wood and burned them on the beach.

KSLD arrived to set up the grill, and guests were arriving before the coals were even ready. The wind may have been blowing a bit, but it made for fine kite weather. The dogs didn’t mind at all, and the children running around were just glad it wasn’t raining. After the coals were finally ready everyone helped themselves to the bounty of food. 

The main event was the creation and destruction of the flammable sculptures. Mike Stoane Lighting had brought scrap wood for the bonfire, KSLD had brought some piles of newspaper and cardboard, and some other guests had brought their own cardboard boxes and tubes. The end results were varied, from a modernist Rocking Horse, to an anthropomorphic Bob in A Box, to a minimalist giraffe, to the towering rocket ship, to the perplexing and potentially political “Caution Hot” incorporating a sign reading the same, a birdhouse, and what can only be described as “Olympic” rings.


After the sculptures were made, they were brought out to the beach and one by one were lit on fire, to different results. Even though the Rocket was lit first, Bob in A Box quickly caught up to it, and both were eclipsed by the Newspaper FlagPole which burned at a fantastic rate. The Giraffe was finally sacrificed to the Rocket’s fire, as it refused to light. But in the end, all sculptures were a wonderful display of fire and flame.

Once the fires dimmed on the beach, everyone returned to the bonfire to roast marshmallows, eat biscuits and nibble on chocolate. As the sun set over the Longniddry coast, all agreed it was an excellent way to celebrate the solstice.

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