16th November 2025

 

           Dear All,

Five trains, six buses and quite a bit of shoe leather this week – but you have to try and be active at our age!

We had an excellent short stay in Edinburgh visiting the castle, Camera Obscura, Grassmarket, St Giles Cathedral, The Scottish Storey Telling Centre and Calton Hill the first day which was also Remembrance Day so kilts of all colours in the Royal Mile.

 

 

Edinburgh Castle

 

 

Mons Meg Cannon

 

 

Colourful Parade

 

 

Dugald Stewart Memorial

 

 

National Monument of Scotland

 

On the second day we caught a bus up to the Botanic Gardens which were alive with autumn colours the walked back via the Water of Leith Walk and Stockbridge visiting the National Portrait Gallery, George Street and the Princes Street Gardens, The weather was reasonably kind with rain on Sunday morning then fine for the rest of the stay.

 

 

Chinese garden

 

 

Colourful Bush

 

 

Earth Star fungus

 

After church group on Wednesday I planted Broad beans.

Our Thursday walk started at Barrington which has one of the largest village Greens in the country then took in Harlton including the old clunch pits. Again we were fortunate with the weather.

 

 

House on Barrington Green

 

 

Harlton Clunch Pit

 

 

Ian & Kate climbing out of Barrington

 

After the walk I had to dash to Cambridge for the second session of “Travel Writers”. We had been reading “Travels with a Tangerine” in which Tim Mackintosh-Smith traced to journeys of Ibn Battuta a 14^th century Moroccan Islamic traveller who covered 75,000 miles round the Arab world then Turkey, India and eventually China picking up 10 wives en route – but only 4 at a time! It was a good read but plenty long enough and the Arab names took some digesting – they were described as “magniloquent”. It was a longish day as in the evening I was at the Over Show AGM and Committee meeting!

On Friday the Biographies subject was “Lord Victor Rothschild” he was a British scientist, intelligence officer during World War II, and later a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell and N M Rothschild & Sons, and an advisor to the Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher governments of the UK. He was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family.

 

 

Victor Rothschild

The drought seems to have broken with 53mm in 2 days this weekend. Over Village pond has thankfully started to refill.

I watched Over 3 v 0 Wisbech St Mary Saturday afternoon in a chilly drizzle.

News from Hove Mary-Ann has risen to the top of the Allotment waiting list after only 6.5 years!

Sad news from Moldova concerning Matius a young lad of about 20 years old that I have known from nearly the beginning of my visits. He runs a football school and has been diagnosed with leukaemia which will entail expensive treatment in Turkey.

 

Best wishes

 

Mike & Kate