It was Janet's birthday the week after mine, though as she keeps reminding me, she's younger than me! Well, Janet, you haven't got that many years to catch up with till you're my age!!!! To celebrate her birthday she and hubbie Ray drove down from Inverness to Peebles for the weekend, before heading off to Darlington where Ray comes from, to spend a few days there seeing his family. Hope you both had a great time!
Janet and I were at the same school in Edinburgh, though several years apart, but the reason we met was that I, being quite squeamish, used to turn green when we had to dissect things in biology classes, and had to leave the room! Eventually Mrs B. got quite fed up with the situation and suggested to the head teacher that I be removed from the class permanently and found something else to do! I was sent to help out in the primary department, which is where I met Janet. I wish I could find a photo I have of her and a few other friends at school! Actually we may not have kept touch at all if it hadn't been for the fact that at teacher's training college (another follow on from the expulsion from the biology classes), I met up with Janet's cousin, from Fort William. So she and I wrote to each other, even after she left Edinburgh and school and moved south with her family.
By the time I moved to the Yorkshire Dales, Janet had left school altogether and was living in Darlington, where she met and married Ray. Darlo wasn't that far away of course, so we were able to renew our friendship in person, they visiting me and I them. I can't remember who moved back north again first, but Janet and Ray eventually moved up to Inverness, and I to Peebles. Again the letter writing continued, progressing to email as time and technology moved on!
Visiting my cousin Moira up in the far north west every so often, meant a stop-over for me in Inverness to see them, so our friendship has grown stronger over the years! Sadly Moira has gone now, but I still take a trip to Inverness now and again, and they come south sometimes too, and of course we still email!
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Janet and Ray eventually joined me in the maze, Ray taking the cheat's way, but Janet did the full tour, even if I did have to stand in the centre and shout her directions! ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDzgSdSmMQVAGLBgzIJX_5kyg2dPdN7V3ge37_gkmNPXNG9vrkOOfDMYBM4MoIUafpBv9HunVlZO2RNtfTdT8SOUNDGYvgQUfvdPxY-JhDB_ZualD_RQyZ7Lw74VDDUsOH6Rb5WrFD4s/s320/traquair+ray+centre+of+maze.jpg)
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Here are Ray, looking smug, and Janet as she arrived in the centre!
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Another view, of the opposite end of the restaurant. That was our table behind the desk there.
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This is the restaurant exterior. It looks like a small shop but in fact stretches back behind the shop next door, which I am sure is now the kitchens for the restaurant.
Just up the main street a bit is the village bookshop, run by Derek, who, it turns out, went to school with my friend Chris, in Dumbarton. It was Chris who told me that a dy or two later! Honestly, what a small world! That box outside contains bargain books, to entice people into the shop, I guess!
Just up the main street a bit is the village bookshop, run by Derek, who, it turns out, went to school with my friend Chris, in Dumbarton. It was Chris who told me that a dy or two later! Honestly, what a small world! That box outside contains bargain books, to entice people into the shop, I guess!
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I've said before that West Linton is a quaint village with a narrow winding main street with squares and lanes off to left and right.
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This little row of cottages was probably on the main road once upon a time, but is now in a little cul de sac. I'd love a house here!
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Now look at this.....
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It was a lovely warm day, so the roof slates were probably quite warm, and this little sparrow was really enjoying a spot of sunbathing!
Here's a rather lovely front door - rather Art Nouveau but more modern that that. It really pays to explore the nooks and crannies of West Linton!
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James Gifford also sculpted a monument to his wife, Lady Gifford, around the same time. Her statue now adorns the village clock tower which looks like it has been built above an old well, and in 1995 a copy was made to take the place of the original which was getting very worn. She now has a home indoors, and this is her alter ego, standing between the two lamps.
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At the bottom of the village is the church, dating back a good number of centuries, and what was once the toll house, as anyone passing this way had to pay to come into, or through, the village. It was on the route to the cattle fairs and to avoid paying, cattle drovers often used a track over the Pentland Hills instead, which was then nicknamed the Thieves' Road! The toll house is now a very pleasant little tearoom!
So, there we are! A brief tour of West Linton! Janet, I bet you never realised the place was so interesting!
So, there we are! A brief tour of West Linton! Janet, I bet you never realised the place was so interesting!
Talk again soon.
I read right down to the bottom on this opage Evee. I felt like I was away on vacation. I enjoyed your blog very much!
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