The Ordinary versus the Extraordinary – A year of travelling with three children: 7 August 2015 - Farewell Banbury, Hiya Kirkton of Rayne, Aberdeenshire

An early start was necessary to make the long journey north from Banbury via Dumfries to Kirkton of Rayne.

Once upon a time, in another lifetime, I lived in Dumfries (1986 -1988). How I came to live there was as follows. From a young age, I had always wanted to live in Scotland, possibly influenced by a pair of dear old spinster sisters, the “Misses Sturdy’s” who lived across the road – but that another story! I had heard about the possibility of undertaking Midwifery studies in Scotland as being a prestigious sort of nursing career move. I seriously found an old Midwifery journal under a bed at home, which must have been my mother’s and wrote to a few of the hospitals advertising for staff! After a fair bit of administration and preparation, long before the days of the internet let alone fax machines, I had my visa and the starting date for the Midwifery course at the Dumfries and Galloway Cqollege of Nursing and Midwifery which sounded awfully grand, but in fact, wasn’t! In summary, the Dumfries’ Scots, were an insular group who all seemed to marry their brother’s best friend and if it hadn’t been for Delwyn, from New Zealand, and Fiona from Manchester, I fear I would have been quite lonely. In fact, when we finished our course, we were all pretty keen to move out of Dumfries and all ended up in London.

167 Church Street Dumfries - my home from 1986 to early 1988

Having said all of that, I made good use of my time there to explore Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides and the Orkney Islands and I still do have a great fondness for Scotland! So, here we are, back in Bonnie Scotland. It was funny approaching the Scottish border as we watched the temperature gauge plummet and the grey clouds come over but the change of weather was only temporary and when we finally arrived in Aberdeenshire at 8PM, it was still 18 C and a fine evening.

Our number one tourist attraction for our guests whilst we lived there!

Recycled historic red sandstone - gargoyles, etc

Our journey from Banbury to Kirkton of Rayne was estimated to be 9 hours straight driving but despite paying the Motorway Toll (5.50 Pounds), usually a forbidden expense in our books, the M6 was creeping along very slowly at many points due to incessant roadworks. However, we stuck to our schedule and did in fact arrive exactly, as predicted, at 8PM, where Mel and Lillias, our Airbnb hosts, were waiting to welcome us at their very lovely cottage in the Aberdeenshire countryside.

Heading up to the Camera Obscura

At this point, I’ll backtrack a little to our lunch break in Dumfries on the banks of the River Nith. Without too much difficulty we found 167 Church Street, Dumfries, where Delwyn and I shared a small, poor insulated flat with two tiny open fireplaces as our source of heating in the -18 C winter. The locals laughed at us as our pipes froze, we had falls from our push bikes on black ice, and we struggled through the winter. No sympathy at all, nor offers of assistance. In fact, one morning, I arrived at work early to use a bathroom in the Nurses’ Home there to have a bath (no showers around in those days!) and arrived to a study day with wet hair and was reprimanded for using the hospital’s water. We had NO running water at our flat and our frozen pipes had burst! I certainly wasn’t homesick for Dumfries when we left. And, yes, we could have moved back to the Nurses’ Home but it was on top of the hospital and everyone reported on our comings and goings and we had no privacy. Having said all of that, I do have some fond memories of Dumfries and certainly the history of the place is interesting. Both my parents and my sister, Ali, visited me there and those were good times. Delwyn and I had plenty of adventures and have tales to tell so it wasn’t all completely miserable!

The Camera Obscura - an old mill

Today, we parked our car near 167 Church Street and the old red stone building was as I remembered it, still with the blue painted corridor, where I parked my bikes (one of which was stolen L), leading upstairs. Opposite, up a steep hill, is the Dumfries Museum and the Camera Obscura. I had wanted to show my family the Camera Obscura and the rain held off so we had the chance to see the 20 minute presentation by a fast talking knowledgeable Glaswegian, Michael. The Camera Obscura, housed in an old stone windmill, was installed in 1836 by the Astronomical Society to view solar eclipses. In a darkened room, the outside light passes through a small hole and reflects downwards via a 45 degree mirror, through a lens which enlarges the image and projects it on the round concave screen/table below – like a periscope view of the street below. The table is moved up and down to focus the image. It is simple but fascinating and we could see cars and birds moving on the streets below. Michael gave us a potted history of Dumfries by moving the device around to see all over Dumfries and beyond!

Looking down to my old house.

Pictures from the Camera Obscura

Dumfries, south west Scotland, known as Queen of the South with the locals known as Doonhamers! The name Dumfries possibly originates from the Scottish Gaelic name Dún Phris which means "Fort of the Thicket". There was a heavy Roman presence in Dumfries until 4 AD with coins and other artefacts found and some are exhibited in the Museum. The Anglo-Saxons and Norse tribes (Dumfries was subjected to the Crown of Norway for 180 years!) then occupied the area. Situated either side of the River Nith and only 14 kms from the Solway Firth it was used for transport. I remember the salmon fishermen standing in waders as salmon jump up stream.

Pictures from the Camera Obscura

In the upper room

Over the course of history, there have been links with William the Conqueror, Alexander III(1264). In late 13^th Century, William Wallace chased the English through Dumfries and along the Nith Valley. A bit later on, Robert the Bruce, began his campaign for the independence of Scotland, which some may say, still continues to this day!

Roman stones - 180 AD

Running in the gardens

Back down to the car, view down Church Street

Very typical of this area - very freezing in winter, remembering frozen waterpipes!

Having a bit of fun after 4 1/2 hours drive

The Nith

And then there’s the history of trials for witchcraft and witches being burnt at the stake on Whitesands in 1659 – a gruesome past!

Luke looking over to Whitesands

The Old Bridge

Salmon jump up this river and fishermen stand in waders hoping for a catch!

The beautiful Nith looking over to Whitesands

The darling of Dumfriesshire is the poet, Robert Burns and there is even a museum dedicated to him! He lived there from 1791 – 1796 and he is buried in the Burns Mausoleum in St Michael’s Churchyard.

Church Street, looking up the hill

One other famous person who lived in Dumfries wasp J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, which we were coincidentally listening to in the car as an audio book!

Court House

I was wondering if I’d come across any famous names I’d encountered as a student midwife in the Dumfries’ list of notables that I recognised…famous soccer players etc. I do remember one dear little premature baby of a local soccer star, but as soccer stars tend to pair up with skinny petite women, the genetics are not in their favour to have burly sons! His name was not mentioned!

Robert Burns

So after a picnic by the River Nith looking towards the Old Bridge, we said: “for Auld Lang Syne”, we hopped back into the car and headed north. The roads were much less crowded as we passed Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. We would have loved to spend longer but we were bound for Aberdeenshire and we can explore later!

Ah, encouraging sign! We are heading in the right direction

Evening clouds, Aberdeenshire

We had a lovely welcome and we are all impressed with our accommodation. It is lovely, very comfortable and quiet with plenty of space and home comforts. We will love staying here.