Gold mining in Scotland

Having had an early run down to The Mercat Grill to do my Friday chores, home by 12 md and the sun shining  time for a run out on the Steed of Steel.  Bit of a change today as I headed West, through Biggar, to Abington, then off the beaten track to Elvanfoot where I found a former colleague busy in his front garden. Quick cuppa then over the moors to Leadhills and then onto Wanlockhead, the highest (coldest and wettest) village in Scotland.   BUT also massively interesting with a lead mining museum, a lead mine to visit and also a place where you can book a days training at gold panning> Way back in the late 1700's they were finding the purest Scottish

Gold  (used to make the Scottish Crown)  and producing gold which at modern values would be worth around £500 million.
Local narrow gauge railway in the nearby Leadhills was closed as it only runs on weekends,  so maybe a return visit soon to go into the mine and also try the wee train.    I have a sort of hazy memory of going into the mine a long time ago.    I also had a geologist friend who used to go to Wanlockhead every other weekend with his wife when they would pan for gold and reckoned they could could cover their costs with  what they found.

Having started off much later than expected I had to head homewards but even so detoured towards
Lanark , and cut back over to Biggar, then cut south onto the A 701, through Blyth Bridge, and eventually back to Penicuik.

Downton Abbey

Take the saying " grey skies are going to clear up", but not quick enough so when I saw the overcast skies this morning, and feeling a bit iffy,  an appropriate answer to what shall we do today ? was  - The CINEMA !!!   no idea the last time I was there.   So off we went and took ourselves to see the movie version of the long running TV series, Downtown Abbey,   personally, I thought it was excellent, had a nice feel good factor, some sad bits as well,  but enjoyable enough for both of to be prepared to go and watch it again.  The settings are marvelous with the location for the Abbey being Highclere Castle, Carnarvon, Welsh Wales.   Just stunning. lots of period vehicles including a number of trams which seem to be more efficient than the current fleet running (at great expense) around Edinburgh.  If successful enough, the story line left enough scope to produce a follow up. 
Pleased to discover that the sun was actually shining when we left the cinema, so a chance for a bit of fresh air before heading off to another RA installation tonight at Currie, my old stamping grounds and only yards from one of my previous childhood homes.

Representing the people, or just blowing their own trumpet.

I  know it is difficult enough when the ballot papers appear to try and decide where to put my lowly X,  mind you, for years it was pretty straight forward, you just voted for the person who had been put forward to represent the party whose politics were in line with yours.
But nowadays, our elected MP's appear to please themselves what they do as soon as they are elected into whatever Parliament they were running for.
Mind blowing, but how do a minority of MP's decide they know better than the public who elected them in?   Maybe pressure from heavy hitting financial lobbyists,  I do not know,  I just think that future elections will be very interesting and there will be a few ex - MP's around.     MEP's  just scunner me,as does the whole EU set up, run by a few folks who are feathering their own nests !!!     BUT   today I see an item about one of the "Green MSP's" who, out of the blue ( maybe out of the Green),  has decided that once Scotland becomes an Independent country, after the next referendum, he is going to suggest that the Queen is removed from Hollyrood Palace, which will become an annex to the Scottish Parliament and used for meetings and the additional admin staff needed to run our Independent State.    In all probability, the current parliament building will be falling to pieces and flooding due to the existing building faults.           Kind of losing the line of thought,  but I just thing our MP's no longer represent the People.    End of today's rant, 

Iceland is green and Greenland is mainly white

Despite health issues we did manage to get off on holiday at the end of June, again cruising with Fred Olsen on the cruise ship Balmoral ,  from Rosyth which was very handy. This was the same ship we traveled on last year to the Baltic States, so it was nice to meet a few familiar faces on board. Just unfortunate that I was not fit enough to really enjoy the trip / holiday fully.  One of the bits I do remember was during one of the talks on Iceland was that when the Island was first discovered the explorer returned to Norway and told the king of his discovery and described it as being green, so when he later went off on his travels and discovered the large mass covered in ice and called it Greenland, no wonder the King was displeased. 

  

But we went there, originally with the intention of visiting the air base where my father served with Coastal Command, but that turned out to be impracticable at this time.  

Shame the weather was so iffy, we had days when it was teeming down, other days were beautiful, and we found beautiful botanical gardens at one of our overnight stops. 

More photos and notes for another entry.

A sort of old memory comes to mind,    Many years ago one of the best carpet manufacturers in the country was based at Bonnyrigg,  Henry Widnell and Stewart, who made superb pure wool carpets.  One of their carpets was named  "Tundra" and was produced after one of the designers had flown over Greenland on his way to North America, and on looking out the aircraft window saw the barren terrain below.  Turned out to be one of their most popular products.

Global Warming

Might as well jump on the bandwagon.    After all,  according to some (including El Trumpo of the USA), just fake news designed to upset the general populas.   So the USA has 5% of the World population and produces 25% of the carbon pollution and as non believers have pulled out of the International treaty on pollution control, while small nations like ourselves are attempting to do everything possible to reverse global warming, the term "p***ing against the wind" comes to mind. With incredible hurricanes, record heatwaves, forest fires, melting icecaps and rising sea levels  -  as old Jones in Dad's Army would say "Don't panic , don't panic".   What a legacy we are leaving future generations.    I spotted a small item in the paper a few weeks ago about some islands on the north coast of Russia which are now being mapped as they have appeared since their ice covering has gone.
 I missed the item on the news tonight but there are concerns that tonnage of recycling waste appears to be falling, so does that mean that despite all the publicity,there is still public apathy, and folks losing interest.   Just wait and see what happens when our respective governments implement the cash deposit and return scheme for drinks cans and bottles, tonnage of high value items will fall for one thing, then there will be a real hoo haa in shops , bars, etc when people want their 20 p deposit back.  Next thing, we will be having our recycling bins raided at night, bairns will be tipping up at the corner shop with sack loads of coke cans,  I am sure the shop keepers with be anything but amused!!

Obviously lots more on this topic,  maybe another time.

Just like Eastenders, miss six months and you can still follow the story.

Big leap of faith for me tonight, fist blog since January, so how do I kick off again ?

In my last blog I commented on the  Brexit situation, so what's new there,  still ongoing, although we now have Boris in charge, causing a lot of upset in many quarters, however, he is only doing what the majority of the public voted to do . LEAVE.   I could say I am at a loss as why there is so much opposition, however being rather cynical, I would think that a lot of pressure is being directed by folks who may well be losing a lot of EU sourced money, which is no doubt coming from the British Taxpayers in the first place.   If the pundits are right there are several EU economies on the teeter, and if the UK pulls out they may be worse off than us. Suppose we just need to wait and see what happens, especially as the opposition is attempting to get the Courts to turn Political,  enough said meantime.

Maybe motorbikes are a more neutral subject, still in possession of the Steed of Steel and the Time Machine, however the Steed was off the road for a couple of months from May till this months,  just wonder if it was off in sympathy with me !!  Both of us in "dock" at the same time,    however back on the road again since Andy at Border bikes applied his magic touch.  Just need to hope the current reasonable weather holds for a bit longer.

Suppose that leads nicely into "the weather", which in Scotland has not been all that clever, whilst below the invisible divide , those "down South" have been getting plenty sunshine,  BUT,  BUT, I have been known to suggest that the South is drying out too fast, and this week I heard that the Environmental Agency are concerned about low rainfall figures which mean low reservoirs and rivers, so maybe a hose pipe ban at some point. AND that is after earlier flooding , dams on the verge of bursting, flash floods, etc.       Time to stop,  next  episode in the pipeline   (Global warming)

Petang in the cold!! Wrap up warm.

Call them foolhardy or truely dedicated but the Penicuik Petang Club has resumed their training on a Saturday afternoon Using there purpose built rink on the site of the old putting green in the public park.  I popped along to watch on Saturday where a few hardy, and well wrapped up souls were playing.  Bit chilly and certainly makes a change from playing on a beach on the sunshine or in a shady town square in the South of France.  Used to enjoy playing when visiting Penicuik,s Twin Town in L’Isle Sur La Sorgue.     our own folks take it very seriously and there are a number of teams playing in Scotland.  A couple of players from Tweeddale stopped by to say hello.
Been very busy so my wee runs out on the motorbikes are kind of short and not too far from home, and with a cold snap forecast for the coming weeks are likely to be curtailed.  Both bikes coupled up to optimisers to avoid flat batteries.
Hate to say it but still seriously fed up with the Brexit carry on,  and as for Ms Sturgeon, she appears to be totally obsessed with this Indy carry on,  bad enough that she and her cohorts are allowing the place to go to rack and ruin, ie, Police Scotland and the NHS, for starters.
Fun in the USA with Mr Trump still at loggerheads with his Senate over his wish to build a wall between the USA and Mexico.  Certainly a massive problem with their illegals,  which is very similar to our own woes with hundreds trying to get over the Chanel from France.  
Sort of occurred to me that our Community Councillors get some sort of expenses, our local councillors get expenses and more, our MSP,s get paid, our MP,s get paid and our MEP,s get bloody well looked after, all from our rates and taxes!!   And still our MP,s cannot do what they were elect3d to do, carry out the will of and for the interest of the people.
Suppose it makes a change from moaning about cyclists,  but Prince Philip has stirred things up following his recent car accident down South.   I listened to another of the band wagon so and sos on the TV during the week suggesting that there be compulsory driving tests for the over 65’s,   Might not be long before someone else suggests compulsory euthanasia for the over 80’s !!  The nanny state is getting worse, we have the Vegan brigade trying to make us reduce our meat intake,  folks with all sorts of strange dietary habits.  
RA 500 tomorrow night with a new candidate joining us, hopefully the first of several.