“In our time”, Starvation Brae and shore walk

Another BBC podcast (or listen live on the radio) is In Our Time, in which novelist and presenter Melvyn Bragg discusses mainly historical issues with a select panel. The programme covers a wide range of history, science, politics and religion. This week’s topic was Hadrian’s Wall, in the north of England. Hadrian’s Wall was the largest Roman structure built anywhere and can be seen as a vanity project for the Emperor Hadrian or as a means of keeping out the warring Picts, based to the north, in what is now southern Scotland. While there is some evidence of how and why the wall was built, much is still speculation, with only 5% of the wall having been excavated.

This was an intriguing discussion and I learned much as I made may way slowly on my bike, up Starvation Brae about 2k from my home. It’s a very steep climb with 4 corners and the unsuspecting cyclist (or runner) can be fooled into thinking that you are at the top, when in fact, there’s 3 more steep climbs. However, inspired by Bradley Wiggins’ Le tour victory (and the excellent articles in this morning Guardian which popped through the letter box), I focused on listening to In Our Time, gritted my teeth, pushed my legs and breathed a great sigh of relief (and satisfaction) at the top. I’m not sure why it’s called Starvation Brae - brae means hill but it could have something to do with people having to walk long distances to get food.

Another walk along the shore near my house, this time with my long zoom lens. I should really take my tripod with me as it’s difficult to keep still holding the long lens. The close up photos you can get however, make it worthwhile and I like the clarity of the pictures below of the shells and the coloured stone. The shoreline is constantly changing, with the tides and the wind, and it makes you appreciate how lucky you are to live near the sea.

Shells on the shore

Stone on the shore

Old libraries, cooking and Bass Rock

On a recent visit to Falkland Palace (see photo below) in Fife, the guide showed the small group of visitors into the library, and although the contents of this library are unremarkable, the decor is not, with the lavishly decorated ceiling. It is quite small, especially compared with the huge library at Newhailes which may have had its own classification system and was praised by Dr Johnson. The Newhailes collection was mostly acquired by the National Library of Scotland and contains 7,000 volumes, many of which are rare. My next visit to the National Library will include an attempt to view the collection in person.

One of my plans on retirement was to do more cooking and to be more adventurous. I think this may have to wait until the autumn and winter, although cycling back after 40 miles (65k) on Saturday in pouring and cold rain, it didn’t feel like summer. With our older son and his wife coming for the weekend from Edinburgh, on Friday evening I cooked a Jamie Oliver recipe favoured by our younger son and his wife in Dubai. I cooked salmon from the local fish shop in Dunbar High Street (just up the road), along with new potatoes and green beans from the Crunchy Carrot shop, just along the street. In the recipe, you put a layer of green beans under each salmon fillet on a layer of tin foil – you need double the size of tin foil. I found that you need to blanche the green beans first – the recipe tells you to use them straight. On each salmon fillet, you put a good teaspoon of green pesto (from a jar although you can make your own), then fold over the tin foil to make a parcel and cook for c20 minutes, checking that the salmon is cooked through before serving. You can also put some small vine tomatoes in with the salmon. Mmm – very tasty.

On the road to North Berwick today, I stopped to take a photo of the Bass Rock and you can see in the photo below, that it is covered with gannets. Many people looking at the rock think that the white is guano (bird droppings) but it is the sheer numbers of gannets which transforms the colour of the rock at this time of year.

Falkland Palace frontage

Bass Rock covered in gannets

Morality of cycling, kittiwakes and laugh out loud radio

Now this may seem like an unnecessary exercise in navel gazing, but I was out on my bike and listening to the sociology orientated Thinking Allowed podcast (available worldwide and highly recommended), and the topic was the Morality of Cycling. Intriguing – and diverting as this was a hilly ride – what could it be about? The answer was that a study was done about cycling in London and there were 2 important findings. Firstly, in terms of morality, almost everyone interview agree that cycling was a very positive activity – good for the body, mind and possibly the soul. So far so good, I’m thinking, as I reach the crest of a hill. Hold on James – the second finding was that cyclists were good for, well … not very much. Most respondents thought that cyclists were over aggressive, rude and (here’s the morality) rule breakers e.g. ignoring traffic signals. The obvious answer would appear to have cycling but no cyclists. I’m not sure that people in the country lanes I travel would agree, as most give a friendly wave and – in the current awful weather we’ve had here recently – have a look of astonishment/pity/wonder.

Kittiwakes have featured before on this blog and my annual attempt to capture the perfect parent and child (I’d say Madonna but I can’t tell a female from a male kittiwake) picture at Dunbar Harbour continues. I’ve put in 2 pictures from those taken last week below. When I was growing up in Dunbar, you could climb up to the top of the castle ruins and get up close to the kittiwake nest. Nowadays, the castle steps are closed for health and safety reasons, so so I clamber up the railings to get as close as I can -without threatening the birds -and use my extra zoom lens.

One of my favourite radio programmes – again available worldwide – is I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. A warning – this may not be to everyone’s taste, but if you like puns and wacky definitions, this may appeal. An example: At the beginning of the last show to which I listened, there was a reference to a conference in the 1200s to decide a new calendar. It was decided to have 365 units of 24 hours in a year, but the committee could not decide what to call the 24 hours. They debated for 3 weeks but still could not decide, so in the end they decided to call it a day!

Kittiwakes at Dunbar Harbour

Kittiwake chick