The weekend (Part 1)

Way back in 1984 I bought my first property – a flat in Ealing. The London flat was sold in 2002 when we finally made the move to our present home in Edinburgh. You may imagine the sense of dread I had a few weeks ago when I received a letter from the London Borough of Ealing. My God, it’s something to do with the Council Tax, I thought. Maybe the new owner hadn’t coughed up and somehow I was liable. Well, it was about the Council Tax but it turned out that a subsequent resident of the old abode had successfully appealed against the tax banding and, consequently, I was entitled to a sizable rebate for most of my period of ownership. I must say that I was very impressed that the LBE had sought me out in this way and I therefore decided that here was a sign that I should now invest the proceeds in a digital SLR camera.

Last Sunday we went on a trip to Haddington to try out the new machine. Sadly, the weather was somewhat cloudy and windy and I had a bit of a cold.

Yesterday I went over to Ayrshire, but I had neglected to establish that the west coast forecast didn’t include the sun that was shining brightly in Edinburgh. After taking a few shots in a murky Ayr I decided it was time for a pint and ended up in this establishment:

Ayr - 24 September 2005
Originally uploaded by David Farrer.

For those of who don’t know, Ayrshire is Covenanting country. That means that locals tend to be of the Rangers persuasion, as I had noticed on previous pub visits when the Huns were on TV. (I vaguely recall a friend at Ayr Academy who supported Celtic and who was considered odd in the extreme.) Anyway, I had completely forgotten that Rangers were playing Hearts on Saturday, and yes the game was on TV in the Black Bull. I began to think that I should hide my copy of the Scotsman in case I was outed as a Jambo. Sure enough, a local asked me which team I supported. "Kilmarnock", I blurted out, quite forgetting that Killie is the deadly enemy of Ayr United. Fortunately it turned out that the “local” was really a tourist and was actually from Kilmarnock himself – all of ten miles away. Conviviality ensued.

After consuming the customary fish supper I set off back to the East Coast. While passing through the rather rundown mining village of Muirkirk I noticed this sign and pulled over:

Muirkirk - 24 September 2005
Originally uploaded by David Farrer.

I must say that I have a soft spot for the Covenanters and would like someday to visit the various battlefields of that period.

Here are the signs on the monument at the west end of Muirkirk. (CLICK photos to enlarge):

Muirkirk - 24 September 2005
Originally uploaded by David Farrer.

Muirkirk - 24 September 2005
Originally uploaded by David Farrer.

Muirkirk - 24 September 2005
Originally uploaded by David Farrer.

Muirkirk - 24 September 2005
Originally uploaded by David Farrer.