Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Lockdown week 4 - Tuesday (with added drama)


We decided on the golf courses again for our walk. It's so beautiful up there, and once everything starts up again, including the golfers, we won't have the freedom to go there. Mind you, Scots law is different from English, and here we have "the right to roam", though this doesn't include "sports or playing fields (where exercising access rights would interfere with their use.)"  Which it wouldn't at the moment. Anyway, I looked at the upstairs bay window of the club house, where I had coffee with friends a few short weeks ago, and wondered when I'd be there next, in a comfy armchair, looking out at the course and chatting with my friends.


There's such a lot of space here and very few walkers.


The sun shone, the sky was blue...


and the trees made interesting shadows. We went out of the gate and across the little lane to the other part of the course...


and looked over the water to Fife beyond.


We had a little rest in this handy bench...


and admired the daffodils.



Then we started walking back...


looking at Edinburgh's hilly skyline.


We came to the wall, which is what we Scots call a dry stane dyke - dry, because they're made without mortar, just by fitting together stones dug out from the fields.

And THEN! - drum roll!!!!! -


We found that someone had put a padlock on the big gate into the other part of the course...


and plastic ties on the other one. This was the gate we'd come through half an hour beforehand.

Well!

It's a moot point, I suppose. We're allowed to roam on the golf course but maybe they're allowed to padlock their gates in the middle of the course? Mr L had his Swiss Army knife on him but... maybe not.

He's a big chap, so swung his legs over the wall without too much difficulty, but I chickened out. I could get up on top of it, but I was worried about doing myself damage by jumping down on to the other side, which was lower than the side I was on. By the same token, Mr L would have found it difficult to get back.

Separated!


However, there's another way out of the course, so I walked back a bit and down this lane.


And he walked round to meet me.


And on the way home, we looked at this house, which was built a few years ago after the (million pound) house which was there before was knocked down to make room for it. Yes, this is one single house. It doesn't exactly fit in with the surrounding architecture, but there it is. Sadly, although there's a big garden, it's just rough grass - a missed opportunity.

There - that was a little bit a drama in our otherwise dull lives. I bet someone (not us) will cut those plastic ties before the end of the week... .

6 comments:

  1. I love how green it is there! Perhaps that's why so many Scots settled in the PacNW. A padlock!! That's very unsportsmanlike of them. I remember our guide showing us those walls, but I don't recall her mentioning the name of them. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Does Mr. Trump own that golf course by any chance?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unleash your inner anarchist! Property is theft and all that .... that house is really really ugly, what goes through their minds?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank heavens there was another way out! But I might not have hesitated to cut the plastic to let me get out. I must be a sort of rebel!

    ReplyDelete
  5. We are walking a lot now, too, but your walks are much more interesting to me! Thanks for posting your adventures. So glad you could get out. Let us know if those gates "get unlocked."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ohmygosh -- I'll bet that little locked gate surprise got the adrenalin going! Glad you found an easier way out!

    ReplyDelete