A protester walks past police in Auchterarder.
Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
Auchterarder, the nearest town to the Gleneagles Hotel, has picked up a reputation as the place where all the shops are boarded up, and also as the safest town in Scotland - where there are rather more police officers than one on every corner. The road-blocked journey here does little to dispel that, and Auchterarder is only approachable by small mountain roads. But pass the auspiciously named Path of Condie, and you do start to feel you are closing in on some of the most powerful people in the world.
There are also protesters here, but the road closures and heavy congestion around Stirling after the clashes there this morning mean there are perhaps a few less than expected. The G8 Alternatives march to the perimetre fence was cancelled, but none of those ariving had heard, and a steady stream of people in ones and twos or small groups walked through the town on a chilly day, until a column of coaches bringing the bulk hit town. A column of police vans was soon on its tail. Eventually the police relented and the march is now back on, although police say they will turn any new arrivals away.
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