We had a day off yesterday and headed out, mindful of the price of fuel, aiming to do as many things as possible on our journey.
I had a parcel to send and inadvertently drove through Sanquhar....as I was aiming for Thornhill, a small town an hour's drive from here with a large sorting office. The post office had moved from the front of that lovely building to in the Spar shop over the road a few years ago....
No. No post office counter...and the next small village down we just missed it, the counter only being open for a couple of hours every weekday morning.... We carried on towards our next aim, delivering some firewood to friends in Southerners, passing two ex post offices....then back through Dalbeattie. There is a stand alone Post Office there....on a narrow road going through the town. No parking nearby....so we carried on to Castle Douglas!
It is a good small town. Bravely resisting the large out of town warehouse shops...big shop T is just off the top of the high street, and wasn't allowed a café or fuel selling..as there are plenty in the town. The Co-op is on a back street and lets anyone park in their car park. Big shop A has just got permission to build... but they will be backing onto big shop T, their main competitors!!
There aren't too many empty shops there and there is an active Community Group in the town ...we did fancy moving near there a few years ago but couldn't find anything suitable or affordable. So we enjoy visiting!!
Shopping done too we headed off to the Gallery in Lauriston...good tea, locally made cakes including an improved chocolate cake..and good craic with the photographer who lives there and runs the gallery.
It was shocking on our way to Lauriston and back up by the shores of Loch Ken on the way home just how many trees have been felled by the storms.
We heard on the radio this morning that one estate in the northeast of Scotland lost 70,000 trees in the 1953 storms. This year so far it is 100,000 some of them the older trees but quite a few those that were planted in 1953 or naturally regenerated then.
So a good day off.
Today we go to the velodrome in Glasgow.
There is a get together for a couple of hours to remember John Paul, a brilliant Scottish sprinter , junior world champion in 2011, who has just died in his sleep....at 28. The track cycling community has been totally stunned, so getting together to remember such a generous, caring and talented young man is a good idea.
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