Ice House, Roslin, Midlothian.

Laat week I had a closer look at the Dryden Tower which was erected by the owners of Dryden House, by Bilston, Midlothian, (Scotland).    Dryden House was demolished during the 1930's and is now beneath the waste from the former Bilston Glen Colliery.    Within the lands and built in to the south bank of the Killburn  (named after the many who died there during the Battle of Roslin 1302)  is a superbly constructed ice house,  one of several in the Edinburgh and Midlothian area.   The stone work is still in excellent condition, both externally and internally.

Gowk Stane, Auchencorth.

Lovely afternoon,  had originally planned on a wee ride out on the Steed of Steel,  however, not quite up to it so before the rugby started I had a wee walk over the Auchencorth Moor to the Gowk Stane  (another tick in the box).  In the middle of the moor  so I wonder why?

Not a lot really known about the history of the stone.     Some views of the Pentland Hills from the stone -

Oops - hope this was not a mistake.

Had been looking forward to seeing the big bang at Cockenzie Power Station as the two chimneys were felled - took a long time to build them and demolished in a matter of seconds.  Had originally planned on getting closer to the site, but several thousand others had the same idea, so I killed two birds with one stone - did my shopping at Bookers,  Musselburgh, and then, with five minutes to spare got set up in the car park at the rear looking across the bay to the site.

So down it went, however, look at the "stoor"   ( dust)  went everywhere, so no doubt Mr Dyson's wonderful product will be well used over the next day .

Headed home, and a short time later was driving east on the A702 towards Hillend - looking over to Cockenzie, really strange not seeing the familiar landmarks any more.

Penicuik House, Midlothian - another hidden gem.

Lovely day today,  at the Grill early and then home - so took myself off for a walk up into the Penicuik Estate.      Wonderful to see how the old Penicuik House, built by Sir James Clerk in 1761, has been made safe and visitors can now really get a feel of how beautiful it was in its heyday.

There are two statues on either side of the entrance, 

Not sure if either of these are Roman  but Clerk had a fascination for Roman and Greek artefacts and bought many which came from the Roman sites / forts at Cramond, on the River Forth and Middlebie  near Dumfries.
In 1899 a fire started in the House which burned for two days,  during which the family and staff were able to safe a great deal of property and documents, although the library was totally destroyed.

 The view from this side of the house over the valley is beautiful.

  From the South side of the house there is an avenue leading out towards the River Esk, and in the hillside opposite is an obelisk erected in memory of the local poet Alan Ramsay (1686 -1758)  who lived in nearby Carlops Village and who was a friend of the family and frequent visitor to Sir James.

Midway along the South Avenue is the pets cemetery where the Clerk family buried their faithful four legged followers.

The family now live in the adjacent house which some say was the old stable block, however other documents refer to the building as the Estate Offices, built when the original house went up, 

 The "Dookit" atop the building was built by Sir James Clerk around 1761 and is a model of the Roman Temple, on the River Carron, near Falkirk,  known as Arthur's O'on which was destroyed when the Carron iron Works were built.

Nice walk, well worth making the effort and taking the time to go and see it especially when the sun is shining.

Birds of a feather

Had originally planned on a bit of rant tonight, however, instead - having had a wee run over the moor road from Penicuik to West Linton earlier this evening I found more interesting things to comment on.

First I met two blokes out with their "birds"  that is, of the feathered variety, so stopped to speak and managed a couple of snaps of their Peregrine Falcons.

Further along the road I stopped to take a closer look at one of the man made towers which can be seen from the road,

These towers can be seen across country from here to Broughton and then  Tweedsmuir, as they mark the line of the underground water tunnel which carries the water from the Meggat / Tala Reservoirs , fed by natural gravity all the way to the Glencorse Reservoir.

Quiet wander through the Powder Mill Glen, Roslin

When I first started working at Loanhead in 1966, there was still an industrial presence in the Roslin Glen area.   I can remember visiting the carpet factory which was run by Henry Widnell and Stewart who also had two other factories in Bonnyrigg and Eskbank.    On the other side of the Powder Mill Brae was the site of the old gunpowder factory which opened in 1804 and operated for around one hundred and fifty years.    There was still a magazine on the Oatslie Road and I can recall checking it out when its licence was due for renewal.
However down in the Glen the main factory was falling into ruins. I took a wander down there today,m while the sun was shining and there were still leaves on the trees.

The gunpowder factory was a number of different buildings , many built into the hillside to absorb explosions (as accidents did happen) and the main power source came from waterwheels driven by water from the Esk diverted at a weir and running through sluices and tunnels.

I really needed more time to explore as there are ruins of a barrel factory further into the glen and nearer Auchendinny,  maybe another day.

Peter Ritchie - Where No Shadows Fall"

Had a chat to Peter Ritchie , former colleague from Dalkeith, now writing crime thriller novels.   He had already had a trilogy featuring Detective Grace Den Herder published,  so after much badgering from friends and fans has written a fourth book in the series,  "WHERE NO SHADOWS FALL" , which has just been released by Amazon today. Next download for my Kindle when I get this item on post.

A day out on on the coast of Berwickshire.

Keep running out of time to catch up with the Blog.    Wednesday night was fisrt of the season at Bonnyrigg for the Star.  Thursday, working during the day and then back down in the late afternoon to help with a small wedding party, followed by a Whiskey tasting for students from the local college (went very well) and another big group of diners.    However,  had decided that Friday was mine after my office work was done at the Grill.
Headed off East to Dunbar, stopped off at the the harbour where the tide was out and the local

fishermen were

getting some work done on their boats.    On my way out of Dunbar stopped to speak to a former Penicuik man who I knew from Penicuik Rugby Club days,  John Kirkhope.    Onwards alon the A1, and cut of to the tiny harbour at Cove, which is not all that easy to get to, so headed down in to Pease Bay where there is a caravan / holiday home site,  very nice in the sunshine.

Through the ford and then up the single track steep hill and turned left along towards Siccar Point, where in 1788 "Hutton's Unconformity" was discovered which proved the theories of the movement of the Earths various underlying plates - here at the point there is dramatic evidence of the plates coming together and being forced in different directions.  The cliffs here are a Geologists dream and they come from all parts of the world to see them.

  Near to the car park is the ruin of St Helen,s Chapel

Eventually found my way back onto the main road (  sat nav not working on the Steed of Steel,  wee wiring fault.
Lovely day by now so onwards through Coldingham and down into Eyemouth  where I stopped at the harbour for a roll and coffee.   Met a telephone engineer who originally lived in Penicuik, and whose father had been a manager in the former Valleyfield paper Mill until it closed.

Without the tide it kind of changes the look of things,  but a very interesting placeto visit , nice fresh seafood to be found everywhere along the harbour front.

Time pressing so onwards, into the countryside,  Ayton, Chirnside, and down to Duns where it was another roll and coffee at Border Bikes with Andy Mimms and his father at the workshop.   Big change in the weather compared to last week so I took the Westruther Road over the moors , through to Lauder, over the hill to Stow, south on the A7 to Bowland and then over onto the Galashiels - Glasgow road making for home via Walkerburn, Innerleithen and Peebles.   Home, feet up , jiggered.

Bit more history of Penicuik - Greenlaw Barracks.

Another bit of historical trivia about Penicuik and its environs.   Having passed Glencourse Barracks almost daily for the past forty odd years I was scanning an old map,  circa 1865 and discovered that where the barracks stood it was named Greenlaw Barracks and Military Prison.  Bit of enquiry and I found that in 1803 the grounds of Greenlaw House were given over for the construction of an army barracks and a few years later a military prison.   The only part of the original building left standing is the stone Keep which has been integrated into the design of the current garrison layout.
The Prison was finished in 1813 when it was then used for a number of years to house up to 6000 French prisoners of  war.
Penicuik must have been a very busy place during that period as the nearby Valleyfield Paper Mill was also converted in 1813 to house a further 6000 prisoners of war.  With a statue erected in the grounds of the new Valleyfield  housing estate in memory the 300 prisoners who died there.

Dryden Tower and Curling in Roslin.

Yesterday I took a walk over the fields to the Dryden Tower, Bilston, which - despite having worked and lived in the area for forty plus years, I have never visited .

I have heard a couple of stories over the years but still do not have the true story .  We are led to believe that the Tower was built as a "folley" by the owner of Dryden House,  but from the lay out of the building there are rooms, with fireplaces, and a suggestion that it was used as living quarters for staff from the big house.   Dryden House itself fell into disrepair and the remains are buried beneath the waste from the now defunct Bilston Glen Colliery.    Another story about Dryden House suggests that the owner was forced to put it up as a stake whilst gambling and lost, however the stake was the house, not the grounds or access so the winner had a house which he could not gain entry to so the place became a ruin.     It is possible to see as far as the Firth of Forth at North Berwick from the top of the tower so it might have been possible for staff with a telescope to see ships in the Forth, bringing the Master home  !!!!!!!! ( another tale).

At the opposite end of Roslin, in the woods beside the roundabout on the A701  at Gowkleymoss and beside the entrance to the walkway past the old Moat Pit, is the site of the Roslin Curling pond. 

The stone hut on site was probably the original store room for the stones, and curlers, and a larger building was built on the north side of it, however it has since fallen down and only the foundation remains.  There was an active curling club in Roslin for many years, certainly from the late 1816 when the Curling Club was formed, but a curling stone was found with the date 1613 thereon suggesting that curlers have played in the area for much longer.    It is a pity that mother nature has reclaimed the site -  it was cleared many years ago when a new roof was put on the hut, so perhaps it might be cleared out again in the future.  

Battle of Roslin 1303.

Seven days since my last bit of input,  been fairly busy - what with work, trying to get back to my swimming again so four sessions in the pool - but only for long enough to get wet !!!!

Masonic meetings on Tuesday , Wednesday and Friday - but not feeling too good on Wednesday so my visit to Esk 42 was brief.

Thursday attended the "Scottish Pubwatch Summit 2015" held in the lecture theater, Scottish National Galley, The Mound , Edinburgh ,   Lots of work done to organise the event by the staff at the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, Stirling and the Diageo who were the main sponsors. Kind of disappointed with the numbers attending, however, from previous experience of such events - not surprised by the general apathy.   Hopefully the next one will be better attended.

Wednesday was fairly eventful, with Queen Elizabeth opening the newly completed Waverley Line through the Scottish Borders from Edinburgh to Tweedbank,  a lovely scenic route.  Just a shame that someone has already stolen two panels from the Great Tapestry of Scotland which is on display in Kirkcaldy but which will soon be at Tweedbank so the journey will be well worth it.  The missing panels relate to the wonderful Roslyn Chapel right here on my doorstep.

Was reading about the battle of Roslin, 28th February 1303, where an army of 8000 Scots faced up to a total of 30000 English soldiers in three battles in and around Roslin,  fortunately the English split up into three groups which proved to be their downfall,  In total some thirty five thousand souls lost their lives, with bodies piled high in the nearby burn, now known as Killburn, and  the remains of bodies being ploughed up by farmers in the "Shinbain field"for years afterwards.

And all this because the English General, former Commander of Edinburgh Castle was shunned by lady Margaret of Dalhousie  who married the Earl of Roslin,  Lord Sinclair instead of him.

I find it strange that there is not a great deal more done to publicise this event which I am sure would be of interest to the many visitors who come to Roslin to visit the Roslyn Chapel.  There is so much of interest  in and around Roslin.

Two wheeled menaces.

Made it to the Installation at RA Dundas on Friday night, start of the season, congratulations to the Installation team and the new Office bearers.

Have had several moments !! steam coming out my ears this week with cyclist on the roads, holding up traffic and causing mayhem, as far as I am concerned if they ride on the road they should pay road tax !!   Crawling along the road from Dalkeith to Whitecraig, three groups of twenty plus cyclists, and with double white lines no way to overtake.   heading home as an oncoming car had to swerve to miss a cyclist and had I not taken to the verge he would have had me .

Diddies of Scotland football team being beaten in Georgia, went there as favourites, laid back, played rubbish and are now in deep mire -   in the meantime Edinburgh Rugby, great game on Friday -  and Andy Murray  doing well,  even managing to invest some of his winnings in the Cromlix Hotel - might even let us in for a coffee next we pass/
.
Question  ?  why do folks think that wearing baseball caps back to front is fashionable ?

Cheryle Cole, or whatever her new name is, looks awful since she lost weight - not, NOT a good role model.

In case you never got the chance to taste this, really scrumptious -  a wee present from Mrs b to a friend about to get hitched.

The Waverly Line - Edinburgh to Tweedbank.

Sunday again, sun has been shining and even clear blue skies this afternoon.  SO, took myself off on the Steed of Steel, for a wee run,  Peebles, Innerleithen, and ended up at Stow railway station to watch the trains running between Tweedbank and Edinburgh on the newly opened Waverley line.

Very interesting standing waiting for the trains, and talking to the locals,  one elderly chap could tell me about the time when the Flying Scotsman went down the line, and also the Royal train with one of the chefs waving at the crowds, ladle in hand.
Should really have found a better vantage point on the A7 as there are some superb sections along the line for good photos,  the line should be popular with tourists as it is a nice scenic route out of Edinburgh and only a fifty five minute run.

The Queen will be in a steam train on this line on Wednesday, and even going to The Mining museum at the Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange,  The day when she takes over as the longest reigning Monarch since Queen Victoria,
Just by pure chance this bloke passed on his "flying machine" and apologies but this is the best I get at short notice - not sure if he was racing the train,  but marvelous to see this bike still in use.