After 15 minutes of cursing Jimmy for being late it was remembered that he was out of the country, having told us the previous week that he was planning to visit his beloved England.
The cursing then continued.
The weather was distinctly unpleasant with rain falling and the Water of Deugh (for a sassenach, this is easier to write than to pronounce) impressively in spate. After a walk of about a mile we came to a footbridge over the Benloch Burn, a tributary of the aforementioned Deugh. The footbridge was down and looked as if it had been down for some time.
This didn't matter much to Holly who merrily crossed back and forth between the banks, but for we mere humans the burn was impossible ford at this point. We followed the burn upstream, looking for a crossing point but although one or two locations appeared promising to some (to your correspondent they seemed akin to the Soldier's Leap at Killiecrankie) we finally admitted defeat.
After some deliberation it was decided to return to Bridgend and to visit the Woodhead lead mines and smelter instead.
En route we encountered the farmer at Garryhorn out with his 4 collies. Good natured as the dogs were, the farmer lacked David's mastery of the breed. As they charged about, out of control, Robert remarked "I take it you don't take them to sheepdog trials!"
Thankfully, the farmer was good natured too.
We explored the mines etc, identifying the line of the old flues up which workers were sent to scrape off the lead which had condensed on the inside. Mind you, unpleasant as it must have been, it might still have been a marginally better job than teaching 4C last period on Friday. David explored a mineshaft whilst the rest of us headed up to the final building of the village to seek shelter for lunch. A search of the web suggests that this was the old school.
The Lead Mines at their peak
In somewhat improved weather we returned to Bridgend. From there we headed for our refreshments at the Loch Doon Hotel in Dalmellington, which had reopened after modernisation. We were greeted like long-lost friends by 'Chic Murray'. Initially we sat outside in the courtyard but eventually we were driven indoors by the inclement weather. The indoor area in which we sat was notable for the water cascading down one wall - a thoughtful, impressive and novel feature of the modernisation.
1 comment:
Good report, Paul.
Very humorous as well. I haven't laughed as much since leaving the pub this afternoon.
Jimmy, the Anglophile.
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