Day 112 of the End to End in 2019 began just past Forsinard and continued north through Strath Halladale, named for the river Halladale. After yesterday’s rain it was in spate and flowing very quickly. However, more rain was also evident and I therefore decided not take the slightly more direct road route to the north, than the track/footpath we had wondered about.
Even so the Strath is full of stories. The bunkhouse is in the old mill which still has its mill wheel. I later met the bunkhouse manager along the road. The war memorial is well signed and it was not far from there that I met local resident, Sandra Train. She told me she was 80 years old and had previously written a book about the Strath and the people who had lived there. This had included her family and the evacuees they had shared their home with during WW2. Unfortunately despite my local enquiries, I was unable to find a copy of the book.
We walked side by side to the next lay-by and she told me what life had been like in the valley when she was a child in a cottage with no electricity or running water.
A year later in our own valley, Longdendale, Bob has managed to get a book about the old mills in these parts and what happened to them in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
I was able to take Bambi on a short drive, just to check everything was working and get some fuel, in the hope for a longer trip next week. The find of the day was a larger group of Broad Leaved Helleborines (a type of orchid) further up the trail that I habitually manage to go. All of which meant a well deserved ice cream when I got back.
From the remembered bible, from psalm 139:
You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know everything I do.
God is eye to eye with us, knowing, confirming, loving
(words from the liturgy of the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica).
JAL: 07.08.2020 in Longdendale.