SWANS

Why do you think it is so peaceful to watch swans?

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at Calendar Park. It was 76F. WOW!

EDINBURGH ROYAL TATTOO

This was a spectacle of unheralded proportions! HONEST. Performers from 4 continents including China. They had drum corps, pipes and bands, dancers, Air Force rifle honor guard and intricate formations and military drills with hundreds of people. It was more than amazing.

Edinburgh Castle is right at the top. These stadium seats that go up from A to Z were being put up when Jamie and Family was here in March. We were in the 3rd section row W in the middle, great seats. This is the 66th annual Tattoo. It was filled with great performances, fireworks and excitement.

OBAN

This is the harbor of Oban. It is a quaint, picturesque village of about 9,000 inhabitants.

This was called McCaig's TOWER. He died before it was finished. After his death, his children had him
declared incompetent so it was never finished. It would have been used for plays, performances, the arts. Now the inside is a garden. Because of the court ruling the children received the money that would have gone to complete the structure.

Oban is known for its beautiful white beaches.

FORT GEORGE

Ft. George is an 18th century fortress built in Inverness. It is considered one of the most outstanding fortresses of Europe. It was built in the wake of the battle of Culloden as a base for King George II's army.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

It housed a 1,600 strong infantry garrison and is still used by the military.

Ft. George never fired a shot in anger.

                                                                                                                                     This fired a 200 lb ball using 9lbs of black powder. It could travel 2,900 yards. It was fixed at a 45 degree angle.

They had 80 guns, 2,300 gunpowder barrels, ordinance and provision stores, a  brew house and a chapel. The guns covered every angle.







The enactment was something to behold.

Bridges on the Firth of Forth

 

On the left is the Forth Road Bridge and on the right is the Forth Bridge which services the railroad. The Forth Bridge was built in 1890 and is 8,296' long. It is made of steel and actually expands to 3' longer in the summer than the winter.
It is twice as strong as it needs to be because the previous bridge, the TAY Bridge collapsed killing 100 people aboard the train as it traversed the bridge in 1879.
It took 5,000 men 7 years to complete the bridge and 57 men lost their lives while working on it. 51,000 pounds of steel and 6.5 million rivets were used to complete the 365' structure. 

Some boats have to wait until low tide to cross under the bridge. The white house in the middle of the
picture was used originally to let ships know if they could pass through. There was a blind area so 2 green lights
meant GO and 2 red lights STOP, now they have a better system.

The poles are 12' in diameter. 

This bridge currently has steel beams that are breaking inside the poles. They have attached microphones inside to help them identify any problems. They periodically check inside the poles
for damage.



This bridge will be ready for use in fall of 2016 all things being equal. It will take over the traffic from the Forth Road Bridge which then will only travel by buses.

Incholm Abbey

This wonderful 12th century Abbey sits on an island in the Firth of Forth. A firth is an estuary and the Forth is a river.

Careful is the key word here, up and down.

The monks in the abbey began their day at 1:30am with prayer and continued until 6pm.

                   I would imagine they knew their Heavenly Father well because of their devotion.

This is the sanctuary where the monks would have eaten in total silence. It was only
broken by the reading of scripture.

What a beautiful, peaceful bay. We loved sitting on the bench and hearing the
sea gulls ad watching the water.

This is where the young woman lived 5 of the 7 days that she works. No TV, or internet access. So she loves Family History!

Wanlockhead Lead Mining Museum

 

Equipped to go in to the mine. The tour guide gave me her sweatshirt to cover my white coat. What a sweetie she was.

Plants only grow where there is light. They do have lights on the walls that are turned on when a tour group is there.

More wee plants. One month ago a person was panning for gold and actually found a nugget that was valued at 10,000 pounds.

The miners would carry candles to see what the oxygen content was in the cave. When the candles went out or flickered the miner would retreat. The young men were paid one penny a day during the winter and two pennies a day during the summer because of  more daylight hours. The young men ages 7-16 went to school 1/2 day and then worked in the mines the other 1/2. When they turned 16 if they could not read and write they were not allowed to work in the mines. The young men would teach their fathers to read and then the dads would teach their wives and the wives their daughters. The miners established a library and were great readers.

In the back of the picture is a triangle hill of residual left after mining that the Earl sells of periodically to maintain the roads.

This depicts three different time periods. The Earl allowed the workers to build their own houses and then when they were completed the Earl charged them rent. Previous to this time they lived in tents in the summer and then because of the harsh winters they went home and no work was done in the mines.

In the 1700s this half of the room was for the humans and at night the other half of the room was for their animals so keep them from being taken.

                                                                The roof was made of thatch on the top but underneath were twigs and branches that were open to the outside. Many times seeking warmth, dogs and cats would crawl in. Thus the term, Raining Cats and Dogs. The mattresses were filled with heather stems which are not very soft.



                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                       The 1800s brought nicer walls and housing accessories. The animals were moved out now.

                                                              




                                                                                

1900's brought many more of the niceties that we expect now. Women were typically 5 feet tall and men 5 feet 5-6 inches. So in the mines, they didn't always have to bend over.




They were concerned about witches flying by and coming in. So they hung in the windows a witches globe which would reflect their appearance as they flew by looking for some house to inhabit. They would fly by and see their reflection and think another witch was already in this house.
The furnishings were ordered in and the boxes that they were shipped in were fashioned into other necessities of life.

These were curling stones.

                         Examples of days gone by. Shetland ponies worked in mines pulling the carts.

Purpose of the sheep is to catch ticks.