Back in Edinburgh for a few days

Following on from the recent post describing our minor adventure at Exeter Airport, here are a few photographs taken whilst we were out and about in Edinburgh. We lived just south of the city, in the metropolis (?) of Penicuik, between 1974 and 1976 and, my, how things have changed since then. And I don't just mean that we are over 40 years older. But the old centre remains just as attractive as it ever was. A truly delightful city.

We spent a little time at the coastal village of Cramond. This lady was, apparently, having a sponsored dip in the cold waters of the Firth of Forth.

We had visited Rosslyn Chapel a long time ago, it must have been 1975, when it was in a rather dilapidated state. It barely registered with us at the time but it has seen extensive renovation and conservation since then. And it is also featured in Dan Brown's blockbuster 'The Da Vinci Code'. It is now firmly anchored on the 'must see when in Edinburgh' trail. It's been there for some 550 years and is an architectural gem. But, and it is a big but, it's not a 'warm' place. It doesn't have the spiritual feel of smaller, simpler places such as Tremaine Church near us in Cornwall.

Taking photographs inside was forbidden 'for the convenience of other visitors' but I did manage a few surreptitious shots with the camera slung around my waist. Not particularly good but it does show the ornate roof and carved columns.

The chapel is famous for its gargoyles and carvings. Here are a few from the outside, including a camel, a man playing a horn and a women said to be protescting a bird from the predations of a fox.

Stained glass window in the Lower Chapel or Sacristy. This is dedicated to the long-times owners (and, indeed, founders) of the Chapel, the Sinclair family.

This carving, supposedly of Indian Corn, was made before the 'discovery' of America by Columbus. Of course, it could be of something completely different and far more prosaic (my bet is on some sort of corn dolly).

 

Looking up the Royal Mile with the dome of St Giles Cathedral just visible off-centre.

St Giles Cathedral: looking over the rather simple main altar up the aisle towards the west window. Here are two unusual things about St Giles. Firstly,  the nave and the chancel are roughly the same length, so the ‘crossing’ – the part where the north-south and east-west arms of a church meet – lies in the centre rather than towards the eastern end. Secondly,  the term ‘cathedral’ cannot really be applied to St Giles, because after the Reformation the notion of bishops, dioceses and cathedrals was rejected by the Church of Scotland.  It is more correctly known by its earlier name, which is the High Kirk of Edinburgh.My photos really don’t do St Giles justice, especially the internal shots, as I am still learning about long-exposure photography. I do a good line in ‘dark, brooding and atmospheric’, but this doesn’t bring out the detail!

St Giles was born in Athens, and it is thought he came from a noble family.   He gave away his wealth to the poor, and eventually settled in rural France where he lived a simple life of solitude.  One day, a hind ran to him for protection from huntsmen who were pursuing it;    some stories say that St Giles was wounded by accident, but he refused offers of compensation.  He became the patron saint of cripples and lepers, and his popularity spread across France and England to Scotland during the time of the Crusades.

Like the portrait of St Giles, this one of St David featured in a stained glass window dedicated to the early Christian saints of Scotland. It turns out that this is not THE St David. You know, the proper one: St David of Wales. This St David was the youngest son of Scotland's virtuous queen, (Saint) Margaret, who succeeded his brother to the Scottish throne in 1124. David's friend, (Saint) Aelred, abbot of the English monastery of Rievaulx, was later to recount David's religious devotion and his generosity to the poor. From his riches he also endowed the founding of several dioceses and many monasteries in Scotland.

New West Porch stained glass panel by Morris and Steedman which is underneath the Burns Window designed by the Icelandic artist, Leifur Breidfjord.

The ornate carved surrounding of the south door.

Christ stilling the waters, Christ walking upon the water
This window was installed in 1922 and the artist/designer was Douglas Strachan. A rather fine window, in my humble opinion.

Every stained glass window has a story to tell. Sometimes it's fun to make your own up. With this one, I imagined that the women on the left was saying about the preacher "Oh no! He's not going to tell his fart joke again is he?".

And this one? "If you swipe to the left, you'll see your e-mail icon".

Lift up your eyes and you'll see the cranes of the new shopping centre at the bottom of Princes Street.

Lift up your eyes and look in another direction and you'll see just one of the many church spires. They build their churches high in Edinburgh.

The spirit of Princess Di is alive and well in the Royal Mile and being put to good use - flogging souvenir tartans.



Call me a wee softie (you're a wee softie, Parsons) but I succumbed. I now have several pairs of Princess Di Memorial Tartan underpants. Her memory is safe with me and I shall wear them with pride.

Vote, vote, vote.

The big scientific news this week is that researchers in the USA have succeeded in restoring some brain function to the brains of decapitated pigs which have been dead for several hours. This is the best news that the British government has had for quite some time, as it means that Theresa May will now be able to find some Conservative candidates for the slaughter that her party is going to face in the forthcoming European elections.

It’s looking extremely likely that the UK is going to have European elections on May 23rd. Theresa May still thinks that it’s possible for some version of her deal to pass through the Commons before May 22nd and thus avoid the poll. But then it’s also possible that she might make a public statement that this entire Brexit mess is entirely her own fault. However 'possible' is not the same as 'probable'. Denial of the probable is this British government’s stock in trade. It’s the closest thing that they have to a strategy. We’ve now reached the point where British policy towards the EU consists of foot stamping and temper tantrums and the insistence that up is down, black is white, and David Davies serves a useful purpose.

The Conservatives are handicapped in launching a campaign for the elections because of their insistence that the vote might not take place, that if it does then we’ll be leaving the EU within a couple of weeks anyway, and their utter inability to come up with some coherent policy that everyone in the party can agree with. Meanwhile Labour is keeping its head down and hoping that no one will notice that it’s trying to make out that a second referendum is an option while at the same time trying to prevent one from coming about.

The other parties have the advantage of a coherent message. It’s a pretty tragic state of affairs for mainstream British politics when David Coburn is more coherent than they are. David has resigned from Ukip and is now a supporter of Nigel Farage’s Nigel Farage Vote Nigel Farage As Seen on the BBC Party. Nigel’s new Brexit party is doing unfortunately well in the polls, having eclipsed a Ukip which has now tacked very firmly to the far right. The two swivel-eyed Brexit parties are now spending much of their energy slagging one another off, putting to very good use the reservoirs of hatred that they’ve built up over the years. Effectively these EU elections are going to be seen as a dry run for a referendum. It will be a choice between parties which want the people to have a say, parties which want the most extreme Brexit possible, or a Labour party which doesn’t really know what it stands for and which is hoping that its confusion will be mistaken for moderation.

The deadline for registering to vote is 7th May. EU citizens can vote in these elections (although 16 and 17 year olds cannot). A recent study from the Electoral Commission found that as many as one third of 18 to 34 year olds are not registered to vote. This is the age group which is most likely to support remaining in the EU. Speak to the 18 to 34 year olds amongst your friends and family, and encourage them to register to vote if they haven’t done so already. We need younger people to vote, otherwise older generations like me will write the future. A future that we won't be around for, let's face it.

If you have moved house, or have changed your name, you need to register to vote again. If you are a UK citizen living in the UK, you can register to vote online. The link is here https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote In order to register you will need your National Insurance number. If you don’t know it, it will be on a payslip, a letter from the Benefits Agency, or a tax return. You can also use this online service to register to vote if you are a UK citizen living abroad. If you are a UK citizen who lives in an EU state, you can choose to vote in the UK or in your country of residence. If you live in any other country, you can vote in the UK. If you live abroad and wish to vote in the UK’s European elections, you must have lived abroad for less than 15 years. You will also need your passport details to input into the site.

It is hugely important to ensure that you are registered to vote. Only one thing are going to matter when the results are totted up – the number of people who voted for pro-EU parties over pro-Brexit parties. This will give us an indication of the strength of feeling in the UK as a whole for a second vote on remaining in the EU. It’s up to us to let our political masters know what we think.

How to get priority boarding

Mrs P and I have travelled from Exeter Airport many times and we were looking forward to yet another trouble-free flight as we headed to Edinburgh for a few days. This time our journey was not incident-free. Nothing drastic, just unusual. Read on...

It started at check-in when the very pleasant young lady told us that Mrs P's bag had not been paid for. Her computer said 'no'. The solution? Pay £40 to get the bag on the flight and reclaim it afterwards when we could provide proof of prepayment. Off we went into the Departure Lounge for a drink. After a while, a flight to Palma Mallorca was announced for boarding. After another while, a call went out for a missing passenger for this flight - a Wendy Parsons. What a coincidence, same ssurname but different flight. There were a few more, increasingly desperate, calls for Wendy Parsons as we were shepherded to our departure gate. 

There were lots of officials milling around as the search for Wendy Parsons went on. Toilets were scoured, cupboards explored and bins emptied - but no Wendy Parsons. The Palma flight was delayed and Wendy Parsons' bag was located and taken off the flight. A final announcement to the effect that if Wendy Parsons did not show up immediately the Palma flight was leaving. 

At this point, for some reason, I looked at the baggage ticket stuck to the back of Mrs P's passport and noticed that her bag had been checked through to Palma and not Edinburgh. Odd, I thought, and went to the check-in desk to point this out. "Is this your bag?", I was asked as a rather flustered airport dispatcher pointed to what was Mrs P's bag, the one that had just been taken off the Palma flight. Mystery solved. There was no Wendy Parsons and off the Palma flight could go. We got escorted to our flight personally by the dispatcher and got into our seats before everyone else. All we have to do now is get our £40 back!  All's well, that ends well.

And so it continues................

Be afraid, be very afraid (Dave Brown: Guardian 2017)

It’s at times like this that I wish I still did booze. Brexit has turned into a cross between the Neverending Story and the Walking Dead, only with pillocks instead of dragons, and precious little magic. In recognition of the fact that Theresa May is an undead political leader, the EU have given her until Halloween to sort out Brexit. Then when she comes back begging for another extension because she’s done bugger all, at least she won’t have to dress up. She can just come as herself, that’s plenty scary enough for anyone. The rest of us can dress up as a cliff edge.

Just three weeks ago, Theresa May stood before the House of Commons and announced that she could not, as Prime Minister, delay the UK’s exit from the EU beyond 30th June. Well, now she’s done exactly that. Will she resign? Will she buggery. She’s lied about everything else. She’s lied so often and so frequently that she’s now lost all concept of what truth might be. She lied about not having a snap General Election. She lied about reaching out to the other parties in order to find some consensus. She lied about no deal being better than a bad deal. She lied about not pulling her deal in Parliament the first time it was due to be put to a vote. Theresa May infamously doesn’t answer questions, she’s notable only for her abilities to evade, dissemble, and deflect. You can be pretty certain that, on those rare occasions that she does make a statement that appears to contain some solidity to it, it’s going to be a lie.

We’re not going to crash out of the EU on Friday. Despite the on-going paroxysms of the British body politic, this is a good thing. The EU leaders have decided to give the UK until 31st October to come up with something, anything, that might put a stop to this endless buggering about. It gives Jeremy Corbyn six more months in which to keep avoiding coming to any decisions. It gives the Commons six more months to fail to agree on anything. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. But most importantly of all, for Theresa May it gives her another opportunity to fail to resign as the rest of her cabinet openly vie to succeed her. Then we can look forward to a new Tory leader who is even more obdurate than Theresa is, and who will do his or her damnedest to trash anything that passes for a deal, and embark upon a new round of hostilities with the EU. Booze is looking pretty attractive right now.

There’s no obvious way out of this mess. The Conservatives don’t want a General Election. The reason they’ve been trying to avoid having to hold the European elections is because they’ll get thrashed by the voters. Labour, even given the total chaos and dysfunction of the worst Conservative government in living memory, still can’t achieve a meaningful lead over them in the polls. They’re none too keen on a General Election either, despite the ritual claims that they want one. Jeremy Corbyn wants Brexit to happen as much as Mark Francois does. He just doesn’t want to take the blame for it, then he can still pose as the saviour of his largely Remain-supporting party. Neither Corbyn nor May wants another referendum. This crisis is largely a crisis of political leadership. At a time when the UK needs leadership which can reach out, build consensus, make compromises, heal wounds, we get the two most tribal idiots in British political history, products of a broken system which regards tribal idiocy as a strength.

It’s clear now that all that the British political system has to offer is unending chaos, permanent dysfunction, and everlasting confusion. If you’re waiting for clarity on Brexit, you’re going to be waiting forever. The Brexit issue will continue to dominate British politics for the foreseeable future, even if some deal is reached, even if the UK does crash out with no deal at all. Arguments about the UK’s relationship with Europe are still going to dominate British politics. If we do leave, under whatever circumstances, there will be plenty of people offering the possibility of a return to the EU. The arguments are only going to go on.

All we know for sure is that there will be no certainty about anything for at least another six months. We can be certain that Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will squander the time they’ve been granted and will use it to continue their dance of pointlessness. But we can also be pretty sure that there will be no political stability in the UK for decades to come. Confusion and political chaos is the new normal for the UK. Waiting for clarity implies that there is some clarity to be found, that a deeply dysfunctional and broken British political system is capable of producing it. It clearly isn’t. As I've said many times before, what a cock-up. But it's not any old cock-up, it's a Tory cock-up.

On the Coastal footpath again.

A day with practically no commitments and a very favourable weather forecast. What to do? Head for the Coastal Footpath, of course. Specifically, Bude, to complete just a few more miles of our pan-Cornwall goal.

Our route started and ended just by the lock gates of the Bude Canal. It was around 6.5 miles, of which 3 were actually on the Coastal Footpath. Not a dramatic stretch by any means but very pleasant walking with some enjoyable seascapes. Sadly, it was just a little before the wild flowers are on show.

Looking north towards Northcott Mouth.

In the distance are the white domes of GCHQ Bude, also known as GCHQ Composite Signals Organisation Station Morwenstow^, abbreviated to GCHQ CSO Morwenstow. It is a satellite ground station, eavesdropping centre and blot on the landscape.

Looking westwards back along the coast. In the distance Tintagel can just about be made out, not that there are distinguishing features to help with this.

Crooklets Beach, just to the north of the centre of Bude. A good surfing beach by all accounts, but aren't they all around these parts?

Quite a few Whinchats were flitting around. A sign that summer is almost with us.

A lone (and very brave) swimmer in the Open Air Pool at Bude. She reminded me of the Blue Tits of Pembrokeshire, a ladies swimming group from the St David's area. Yes, they do exist. A friend is one, or should that be two, of them.

Geology has passed me by but even I can recognise the folds in these rocks. From above, this formation had depth and height and gave the appearance of an amphitheatre.

Oi! Ewe are you looking at?

At various points on the walk, we came across these slates. What did they signify? Hooray for Mr Google who came up with this extract from a local newspaper.

"BLEND Bude Youth Collective are taking on a brand new challenge to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention in young people on Sunday, March 10.

Their mission is to walk over six miles from Morwenstow to Bude, along the coastal path to raise money for the charity, PAPYRUS, prevention of suicide in young people. They will be carrying a ‘worry box’ containing real worries from members of the youth collective, which will be written on slates. In total this will weigh around 10kg! As the journey unfolds members will leave worries at certain mile stones along the way. This is to highlight the burden of worry and doubt, showing how heavy and hard to bare they can be. But also, how sharing them with others and letting others help can lighten the load and eventually through a little hardship and struggle, those worries can be left behind". Well done them.

A Blue Plaque in the centre of Bude. Some things should never be forgotten. I think I've overdone the vignetting on this one.

Pacem the dog lovers I know but this is wrong at so many levels.

Just a sign high up on an old warehouse that intrigued me. Mr Google turned up the nugget that Kent & Co were bakery engineers of Southern Grove, Bow. Sadly they no longer exist and I suspect that this old sign was decorative rather than functional. I wonder how it got there.

Carved on a very welcome seat at the top of a steep flight of steps. It's taken from the poem Hsin Hsin Ming by the Chinese Zen patriarch Jianzhi Sengcan. The full stanza is: “The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinion for or against. The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes is the disease of the mind.”  Think about it: it's true.

A cure for Brexit Blues?

I don't know about you but this Brexit malarkey is starting to get me down in the dumps. What I need is a way of reinvigorating myself. If only I could go back in time to 1906 and get a dose of electro-vibration

Bradford Telegraph: 22nd February 1906

If only I could attend the Medical-Electro Vibration Institute in Manningham, Bradford and take up their offer of a "free consultation and examination by the X-Rays which tell to a certainty what your ailment is". And that ailment could be: "Rheumatism, Gout, Stomach Diseases, Indigestion, Flatulency, Sluggish Liver, Lumbago, Sciatica, Infantile Paralysis, Locomotor Ataxy, Bronchitis, Heart Disease, Nervous Disease, Consumption, Asthma, Deafness, Neuralgia, Sprains, Venritis, Synovitis, Varicose Veins .... and that well known disease recognised by quack doctors the world over, "etc". I don't know about you, but I have just done a quick check of that list and I suspect I suffer from at least 90% of them.

If only I could avail myself of the full range of treatments they offer: Non-Electrical vibration, Electrical Vibration, the Static Spray, Static Breeze Cathaporic and ozone inhalation treatment, the Electric Wave, Lynden Jar and Start Treatment, Treatment by the Violent Antinlight as used in cases of Consumption, Cancer, Lupus and various Skin Diseases. And to top it all off, "Psychological Medicine is used in mental derangement and habits".

If only all this was available on the NHS.

If only I could be like Mr J Chance of 15, Bridge Street, Halifax, who went to the Institute with a knee that he had been unable to bend for 20 years, and after a course of perfectly painless treatment he was amazed to find that he could bend the said knee.  

If only Brexit would go away.

If only I could get Johnny Kidd and the Pirates out of my mind.

Beware of Tories bearing gifts..............

Steve Bell: The Guardian: 4th April 2019

It took around eight hours of Theresa May arguing about Brexit with Conservatives who want her job to come up with a great new strategy, and that great new strategy consists of arguing about Brexit with a Labour leader who wants her job. They could have done this by email and saved everyone a whole lot of hassle. Brexit strategy has now come down to the worst Prime Minister in history asking the worst opposition leader in history for help.

Apparently 14 cabinet members were pressing for a no-deal Brexit or a short extension. 12 were demanding a lengthy extension and two kept schtum. And then Theresa May scuttled out of the cabinet meeting to a lectern to tell everyone that what was needed was a cross party compromise because she couldn’t achieve one with her own colleagues.

Compromise? Really Theresa? You don’t say. You know, if you’d done that immediately after the EU referendum then perhaps we wouldn’t all be in this mess now, and it’s taken you an entire day of arguing in order to come up with a cunning plan that ought to have been your first option all those many months ago. The cabinet came out and immediately they individually climbed into separate cars, refusing to answer questions because they don’t have any answers, refusing to speak to one another because they’re no longer on speaking terms.

This is so bad that sitting down with a nice cup of tea and a chocolate hobnob won’t make it all feel better. That’s the future for British politics, arguing about Brexit forever. Theresa May’s words were warm like a toilet seat in a public lavvy. It’s not what you expected and it leaves you feeling uncomfortable. And you’d be right to be uncomfortable. There is an implicit trap lurking in Theresa May’s offer to hold talks with Jeremy Corbyn and to seek a short extension to Article 50. Beware of Theresa Mays despairing rifts.

The concern here is that the Prime Minister still wants to avoid any need for the UK to participate in the EU elections. That’s why she’s insistent on a short extension, and she wants the UK to leave the EU by May 22nd. If the UK remains in the EU beyond that date, legally it must participate in the European elections, which the Prime Minister is determined to avoid, despite all her talk on Tuesday evening of finding a cross party compromise. The worry is that if Labour, and the EU, are foolish enough to consent to her short extension, then the date of May 22nd becomes the last possible date for the UK to remain in the EU because by then it will be too late for the UK to organise European elections. It would mean that there could be no further extensions. Then it really does come down to a choice between Theresa May’s deal and no deal at all, because the Prime Minister will have succeeded in taking the possibility of further extensions off the table.

The other part of the trap is by involving Corbyn, May broadens the blame for failure to come up with a deal that Parliament can agree on. It means that the Conservatives can blame Labour for a Conservative-made disaster. Theresa May doesn’t do compromise. She doesn’t do listening. She doesn’t do consensus. She doesn’t do honesty, and she certainly can’t be taken at her word because her words are always hedged about with caveats and unstated conditions. This is compromise, but only if you define compromise as setting up a fall guy so that there’s someone else to take the rap. This is a compromise that will consist of meeting with Jeremy, having a wee chat about a customs union, rejecting it, and then blaming Jezza for the breakdown in talks.

She’ll probably invite Chuka Umunna as well, so Jeremy will flounce off before the meeting even starts. May says she is offering to sit down with Jeremy to come up with a plan to leave with a deal. But that deal must include her withdrawal agreement. So in other words she doesn’t really want compromise at all. She just wants to see if she can get some Labour MPs to support her.
If Labour were at all wise, they would remind the Conservative leader that in 2016 she said that only the Conservatives could deliver Brexit, and they are going to ensure that she’s held to her word. This is a Tory mess, they need to own it. They need to take responsibility for it. But then Labour and wisdom are two concepts that usually only appear in the same sentence when there’s a negative in there too. Jeremy Corbyn has said that he’s “very happy” to meet with Theresa. The first item on the agenda at the meeting should be “How can anyone believe a word that Theresa May says?” Her last statement was to blame it on Parliament. Her next will be to blame it on Labour.

Nine heads and a todger

A trip to Saltram House on Mothering Sunday, nowadays known as Mother's Day. I prefer the former as it's warmer. Lots to photograph but I was drawn to the heads on display. Those and my grandson's fascination with a classical package.