Housing stock...

As I have been walking around Ayr one thing that strikes me is the diversity of its housing stock...the following photographs were taken within a square mile of Pauline's mum's house.

This is the immediate neighbour and like her mum's it is an ex-mansion house which has been sub-divided into flats.

This is her next but one neighbour...a new build in the grounds of an older house, which is a modern mansion house not converted.

Walking down her road takes you on to the seafront where the blue house sits on your left looking out to sea. The houses above are to your right and although built much later have the same sea views and balconies.

As you head back inshore you are met by rows of town houses in both red and grey sandstone.

Plus Ayr and nearby Prestwick's most prolific style of house the red-sandstone bungalow.

There then follows amix of styles all competing for their position within Ayr's social society...

 ...both old

 ...and newer

Plus a variety of styles.

The house below is a modern house built beween two older houses but in a sympathetic style...which is admirable. The owners are obviously very proud of it and why shouldn't they be?

So much so that they often leave the front rooms lit up with curtains open when not in use...very nice. Sadly they also leave their front door side lights on 24/7...a step too far...maybe their house was built on shares of utility companies!

Planes,trains but no automobiles...

...and an unexpected travel companion 

On Friday night Pauline and I were up in Glasgow to go to a couple of 'gigs' (how cool are we) One. to listen to 'Kid Canaveral' the band Michael has now joined after leaving 'Cancel the Astronauts' as part of the 'Celtic Connections' winter music festival. It was in the 'Arches' under Central station, a great venue where KC gave us their wall of sound.

After they finished their set we headed along Argyle St. to catch another sibling ,Mark,doing his improvisation in the'Avant Guarde'.Another great evening of 'family' entertainment.

Pauline's sister Eileen is up from London flew into Glasgow but too late to join us...although she eventually did - she was on the same train as us back to Ayr. She should have been back in Ayr with her hire car but when she tried to pick it up she discovered that she had actually booked it from Gatwick on Sunday!!! 

You would never catch me doing anything as silly as that.

Electric Brae...

Just down the road from us here in Ayr is a small length of road with a phenomenon that for years was thought to be caused by some sinister force or electric or magnetic attraction within the road - cars, indeed ever thing apparently rolls up the brae (hill) of its own accord. You can see the 'phenomenon' in action in the video below - though you might want to turn off the sound as a few expletives are used to describe their reaction.

As it happens it is just an optical illusion as the configuration of the land on either side of the road makes it look as if the slope is going the other way - but even knowing this it is still not easy to understand...I'm sure just as I was as a child that it is in fact 'Electric'

Footnote: 

The sign above is no longer there as the local council got fed up replacing it as it was apparently stolen so many times. There is now a cairn in the lay-by in the middle of the slope explaining the 'phenominum',Mike has a photo, but if you weren't aware of it you would easily drive past and miss the experience...which would be a shame!

Castles in the Ayr...

When Mike and Liz were up for a visit recently we took them 'down the coast' here in Ayrshire past the ruins of Doohfoot...

...and Dunure castles.

Plus they caught a glimpse of Culzean castle as we took them to the local phenominum that is the 'Electric Brae'- more on that later.

Another Burns supper...

He is also known to overcook the haggis...an uninspiring name for the fish & chip shop on Ayr seafront.

Wee dram...

There would have been many a whisky drank on Sunday night toasting our bard Robert Burns - and where better to drink it than Scotland where you are spoilt for choice for both malt and blended varieties. The pic above is from a wee speciallist shop in Ayr  'Robbie's Whisky Merchants'

BTW...you probably already know this but Scotland is the only place in the world where whisky is made everywhere else make whiskey,

Burns night...

*The perfect supper setting?

It is Burns night tonight when our national bard's poems and songs will be celebrated the world over. Hard to believe it is a year since we had our first Burns Supper in France with friends at David and Jane's.

At the Burns Heritage Centre in Alloway just outside of Ayr there is this great painting of Rabbie with some great cronies...what a supper that would be!

Here is my homage to the great man (a steal on of his 'The Bonnie Lass o' Ballochmyle') to describe a particularily bad round of golf there.

The Grass O’Ballochmyle

That morn the dew lay oe’r the greens,

On every blade a pearl did hang.

The course I knew it could be mean,

Every hole, both short and lang.

T’wards every rough I boldly strade,

Yet did it wae a sense o’style.

A couldna seem to fin’ a ba’

Among the grass o’Ballochmyle

With careless swipes I onward swayed

A couldna seem to fin’ ma swing

There wis nae joy among the glade

Ma gemme it was an awfu thing.

Yet way friens today a couldna care

Ma cronies helped me raise a smile

No so mony miles frae Ayr

Among the grass o’Ballochmyle

Jim Craig,

*Footnote: The table setting is from a shop in Newmarket Street in Ayr 'Table Toppers' who always have wonderful window displays.

French connection...

Looking forward to getting back to France...a bit more work to do here but aim to be in Barrou for 16th February. Touched on this before but Ayr has its very own French connection - it is twinned with St.Germaine-en -Laye just outside of Paris.

At 'Place de St.Germaine-en -Laye' you could be forgiven for thinking you just might be in France!

Love the bandstand there.

The towns have been 'twinned' since 1984 and last year there was a 30th aniversary 'Burns Supper' attended by 300 people in France to celebrate the occation. 

A winter's walk...

Last Sunday Pauline and I did one of our local walks along the shore-front and into Belleisle and Rozelle parks.

There was a slight flurry of snow which added a different dimension to our walk.

These pieces of stone artwork are in Rozelle

We are all under the same sky...

The best things about our move to France has to be meeting new people, guests at our holiday rental Les Balcons from different parts of the world plus all the new friends we have made among the ex-pats and our French neighbours. We have a few things to tie up here before returning early next month but it is somewhat reassuring to know that we are all really close and under the one sky wherever we are. A good example of this is yesterdays photo of our sunset in Ayr and Colin and Elizabeth's who took their shot while visiting Colin's mum in Clitheroe.

In search of the bard...

Friends Mike and Liz will be attending their first Burns Supper soon  (Burns night is 25th January) so we had to take them along to his birthplace and scene of  one of his most famous poems in nearby Alloway 

His humble origins were probably not as nice as this but they have tried to show how the house might have looked and still have some original pieces of his and his parents furniture on display in the nearby heritage centre.

 While we were there the BBC were filming an interview with Ricky Ross (Deacon Blue) on the poet. He insisted on being photographed with me!

We also took them along to the brig o' Doon which features in Burns' 'Tam o'Shanter'

You can read more re this neck of the woods on a previous post here

 Plus more on Rabbie here