Parting Of The Ways
Having eaten and drank in a Hawick last night it was time to explore the town and shop. Any border town is bound to have a fascinating history. In Hawick's case it is all about the ride. Lots of the border towns around here have annual "rides" but Hawick is the first of the season and commemorates the fact a group of young boys stumbled upon a battle weary English brigade in 1514 and captured their standard and brought it successfully back to Hawick. This is not only commemorated in the annual ride but also recently in two bronze statues at either end of the high street. Here's one.
The shop windows are all bedecked with the blue and yellow ribbons of the ride, despite it still being nearly a month away. Oh and Hawick boasts an impressive town hall.
One thing we didn't photograph was the clock which seems to strike at odd times but the strike is accompanied by a mechanical figure display like the finest Swiss clocks. Of course in this case the figures are riders on their horses.
I liked Hawick. Despite it appearing to have fallen on hard times because of its dependency on wollen goods it is remarkably upbeat and trying hard to reinvent itself. I hope it does well!
Time to move on though. The destination is the Girlguide centre at Netherud where Liz and I part company for a few days, she attending a Girlguiding archivist course whilst I go on to Edinburgh. Before we get to Netherud on this horribly camp day we have just one more port of call Peebles. We're in real Scotland now. I'm not sure if it is the taciturness of the people or the pride which makes buying from charity shops a shameful act. Whatever it is, it is definitely weird - every charity shop we go into we are studiously ignored. No cheery greeting, no "Bye" or "Thank You" as we leave. It is as if we had never entered the door! Strange!
Anyway this is definitely not England, as evinced by the street name above Costa.
The rest of the day is boring. We find Netherurd, we drive to Edinburgh and find the campsite. Liz showers and sorts or her stuff. We drive back to Netherud. Liz gets shown her room. We hug. I drive back to Edinburgh. I have dinner, try the site bar for 1 pint (surprisingly it has 3 real ales) and read the paper, book, surf the internet. Anything other than write this blog!!!