Sunday 14 August 2016

Outing to Loch Lomond - Monday 12th September 2016


The fifth and last outing of 2016 took place on Monday 12 September, when we had a full day trip to Loch Lomond. 59 of us met at Waterloo Place, Edinburgh at 9.30am to join our coach on a dry morning in Edinburgh but with a poor forecast for the west of Scotland. Our coffee stop was at Mackinnon Mills, Coatbridge.  We then headed to Loch Lomond, with the weather still dry, but ran into rain on the approach to Balloch. We had a two-hour cruise up the Loch to Luss and back, it stayed dry most of the time but with low cloud and mist hanging over the Loch creating rather atmospheric views of the islands. After that we rejoined the coach for the short trip to the Loch Lomond Shores Visitor and Retail Centre.  We then headed to the Winnock Hotel in Drymen for high tea before returning via Striling and the M9 to Edinburgh. Thanks to all involved in organising this enjoyable outing.

Friday 12 August 2016

Theatre Group - Christmas Pantomime 2016


This year’s pantomime is Jack and the Beanstock at the Kings Theatre Edinburgh. We have made a provisional booking for the Matinee Performance at 2.00pm on Tuesday 13 December 2016.
Prices and details have been circulated to members on the Theatre Group Distribution list by email. Those who only receive a postal mailing will receive this within the next few days.


If you wish to attend, please complete and return the reply form with your payment, no later than 27th September 2016. The tickets you order will be available at the November Coffee Morning on the 2nd November or posted out the next day. 

Note: If you want to sit beside your friends, it would be easier for us to administer if you could all get together and send back a single form for the group of you, thanks.
Also: If you are replying for the Pantomime and the September Summer Outing in the same envelope, please enclose a separate cheque for each event, as this will ease the administration and the cheques will be cashed at different times, thank you.

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Strollers Walk No. 208 - Thursday 18th August 2016, Earlston and River Leader

Walk No:      208
Date:            Thursday 18th August 2016
Distance:     5.5 miles approximately (see text below)

Summary: On another warm day twenty four Strollers met in Earlston for the August walk. Starting at the War Memorial we made our way up Station Road and down a flight of stairs to Speedy’s path. That Mexican mouse Gonzalez gets everywhere! There also seemed to be a lot of steps on this walk, down then up again, taking us past Sorrowlessfield Bridge where we crossed the Leader Water. Sorrowlessfield named as it was the only one to have had no one killed at Flodden. We then passed Cowdenknowes House, originally a tower house of four storeys and a corbelled-out parapet dating back to the 16th Century, where Mary Queen of Scots once stayed in October 1566, while en route to Jedburgh. Time then to have a seat on the fine “Badger Bench”, carved from a single tree trunk by chainsaw and installed in 2010. Going through Packman’s Wood and continuing on along the side of Leader Water where we saw a heron and a flock of Goosanders ducks. Passing Drygrange which had been a Roman Catholic seminary called St. Andrew's College founded in 1953 but closed in 1986 and is now a care home. We were able to look into the walled garden as the current resident has built a step so people can see her lovely garden. Continuing on we made our way to the Viaduct over The Tweed where we stopped for lunch sitting at the end of Drygrange Old Bridge, a road bridge dating from 1776.
We were entertained at lunch by three enthusiasts from Greenock, flying drones with cameras and using headsets to see what the drones saw. Some Strollers got the opportunity to try out a headset. Then it was time to partly retrace our steps past and through Drygrange and the Lodge entrance where we walked back down the old A68 road and then beside the A68 itself back to Earlston and time for a snack.
There was a bit of a discussion over the distance travelled but the general consensus was that Moira’s arithmetic was poor and it was a tad further than the 5.5 miles she had calculated! (Alistair’s GPS tracked 6.7 miles.) But everyone was happy and enjoyed the lovely walk.
Thanks to Moira for arranging it and the good weather.