Coffee break...

Took a coffee break during our Glasgow trip under glass at the impressive PrincesSquare.

Tomorrow we'll see a different view.

Lunch with CRM...

Took Mike and Liz up to Glasgow yesterday on the trail of Charles Rennie Mackintosh which included lunch at the delightful Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street.

You enter through a small gift shop ...

...with this dining room behind it.

We had lunch on the tea gallery.

One floor up is the delightful  'Room deluxe' but we were discouraged from dining there as they said it was not heated sufficiently - think it may have been to keep us on one floor thus making it easier to serve us!

It is a stunning room.

Up another level is a room that has the original doors to the tearoom on display.

You take the high road...

and we'll take the low road... Mike and Liz arrived yesterday for a short visit (their first) to Scotland.

After picking them up from the airport I took them north and we were lucky enough to get a break in the weather to get some nice shots of Loch Lomond .

Blue house under red sky...

Hard to miss this house on Ayr seafront.  

Wee dug...big stick

On Prestwick beach

Hit the beach...

Took Pauline's mum down to the seafront at Prestwick yesterday, a bit breezy but it was interesting being there as it had been years since we'd all been there. It is only a few miles along the coast but having the very good beech at Ayr makes it unnecessary to visit here. 

This is the outer wall of what used to be an outdoor salt-water pool where I can remember jumping into bitterly cold water even in the height of summer. It now contains a low level kids play area.

Too far...

Nothing wrong with a little Christmas cheer over the festive season...but consider this a step too far - devalues Santa somewhat!

Happy New Year...

All the very best to everyone for 2015...from Jim and Pauline

Ayr shots...

 Couple of pics taken here in Ayr

In the true spirit of Christmas...

The three wise men brought each of the boys gifts of Gold, Frankenstein and Murray for Christmas!

Christmas day...

The boys had the company of their gran for a few hours on Christmas Day ...made their Christmas! 

Winter's break...

Taking a winter's break from blogging...thanks for popping in - made it to 218k plus views - thanks all!

A little bit of Ayr history...

Pauline's mum had a booklet in the house 'Ayr as it was and as it is now' which showed the above photograph. It is Ayr prison built in 1822 - we didn't even know that the town ever had a prison! Apparently in May 1854 six men were hung from gallows built in front of the wall you see in the background - don't know why? The prison was demolished in 1931 and  replaced by the current county buildings below.

The fountain in the foreground was donated by a Glasgow foundry in 1892 and it sits in the renamed 'Place de St.Germaine-en -Laye' which is the French town Ayr is 'twinned' with.

Setting the scene...

On display in the Maclaurin Galleries yesterday was this view of the 'Heads of Ayr' which wasn't a million miles away from one of my recent pics... 

Art in the Park...

We took a walk over to Rozelle country park yesterday here in Ayr to view their latest exhibition in the Maclaurin Galleries.

Inside was looking rather festive...

Church on Sunday... Saint Léonard de Fougères

When we didn't get to see the fortress at Fougeres we were slightly compensated with a visit to the town's hilltop church of  Saint Leonard's. It is another church built in a variety of styles over many centuries.The religious origins for the site date back to the 12th century but today's church is firmly rooted in the 15th and 16th. The Gothic facade was added at the end of the 19th century.

The church has a wide nave flanked by two side aisles...

 ...leading to a fine ornate altar.

Looking back towards its pretty rose window.

There are some fine examples of stained glass, mainly 20th century but the church actually contains the oldest example of stained glass in Brittany (12th century) in a widow (bottom left) in the south chapel that came from the abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris, apparently 'donated' by a parishioner after the Revolution (?) 

 

Where's Joan?

Did you notice her in the window above?

 Outside the church there are some pretty gardens built into the hillside of its lofty position offering views over towards the castle  - which was closed (did I tell you that?).