Competitors travelled across the UK last weekend for the first ever Highland Rubik's cube competition held at Wick Youth Club.

The event was hosted by the UK Cube Association (UKCA) and took place over the last weekend of July with the finals taking place on Sunday, July 30.

A champion Rubik's cube player who was helping at the event, Nevins Chan, said: "This weekend we're doing a competition in Wick Youth Club.

"There are competitors and sat at the side are the judges. Other people at the back are scrambling." 'Scrambling' is cube jargon for mixing up the different segments of the puzzle in a random fashion. Some competitors will scramble the cube with over 20 different moves and behind their backs so they don't utilise any recognised pattern.

Nevins held the world record for 5x5 blindfold which meant he was able to solve the puzzle on a cube measuring five squares by five squares by five squares, which is commonly known as the Professor's Cube. "That was back in 2013 and I only had [the record] for six months. You start the timing as soon as you see the puzzle; you start memorising it and then close your eyes and start solving it."

He said that 50 people had registered and many had travelled hundreds of miles to be at the event and had found local accommodation.

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Eleanor Sinnott, from UKCA, was managing the Wick event and said: "We were looking to organise the most northern competition in the UK and found that Wick Youth Club was the perfect venue."

While being interviewed, Eleanor was solving the three-dimensional puzzle with one hand but admitted she was "more of an organiser than a champion". The 18-year-old added: "We have a few high standard people here like Nevins but a lot of the best competitors couldn't make it this far north."

One of the competitors, a young boy called Xander, said: "I heard about it three months ago and this is my first competition. My personal best is around 26 seconds at home." Xander said he can also solve the cube one-handed.

Thomas had travelled from Stonehaven with his family. "It was an eight-hour train journey and we're staying at a friend's house up here in Thurso. I've not been here before so it's a nice first time." He showed his skills in solving the puzzle and completed it in under five seconds.

Hazel Hughes and Sam Shaw were awaiting their turn and said they had travelled hundreds of miles to be at the competition. Sam came from Oxfordshire and said: "I've come second in a UK clock puzzle competition before and came third in another one. "

Hazel said she was young enough to get free buses in Scotland and had travelled through the area years ago with her family. "I missed the connecting bus and had to wait two hours in Inverness though," she added. "It's a really nice part of the country that I've not seen before," said Sam.

Waiting outside the youth club was Morven Khemlani who had travelled all the way from Glasgow with her 14-year-old daughter Angelina. "She's very good and has got through to all the next rounds and has made some personal records too."

The youth club's sports hall was a hive of activity during the competition and events included solving the cube blindfolded, solving the cube with one hand, along with bigger variants such as the 6x6 cube, as well as other shapes like a dodecahedron Rubik's cube. Apart from former world record holder Nevins Chan there were some Scottish national record holders and competitors representing eight different countries.

Eleanor said: "We were very impressed with Billie Hammill because she won nine medals at the competition while Bella Campbell won six."

Billie Hammill won the competition with a 9.82 3x3 average. Bella Campbell came second with a 10.30 average. Niall Mackintosh came third with a 10.74 average. Nevins won 3x3 blindfolded with a time of 1:22.34. Billie Hammill won 3x3 One Handed with an average of 17.74 seconds.

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