DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR DIVIE NUMBER

Another walk and another one missed by Sharon and me. Jim and Jacque kindly sent me some photos, which I have assumed to be a completely true and accurate reflection of what took place. Why wouldn't it be?

Here they all are gathered at the parking space prior to setting out on another adventure.

They had been warned about a steep beginning. They hadn't thought that it would rise as quickly as rates following in from Kwazi's Kamikaze budget.

Of course, what goes up must come down.

In fact, Dave found the actual pan that the economy was going down.

He wasn't much comforted by the prospect of taking Liz to court and getting us all our money back.

Undaunted on they trudged.

Someone was paying attention, spotting this cyclamen among the fallen beech leaves. 

Cyclamen are native to Europe and to the Mediterranean basin. The Mediterranean connection explains why they flower in Autumn and Winter. They then die back in Spring and Summer, when they would normally find it too hot and dry to survive. Only a few varieties are hardy and found in places like Scotland. The most common of these is Cyclamen Hederifolium, so named because the leaves resemble ivy.

Interestingly, the most common method of propagation is by ants, which eat the sticky outer layer of the seeds, and leave the seed itself alone.

Down by the riverside.

Robin, standing beside a boundary stone. I cannot trace any reference to boundary stones on the National Record of the Historic Environment, although there is some mention of milestones which relate to a supposed Military Road from Grantown to Forres. However, the line of that road is disputed and is thought to have largely been destroyed by the modern road or by estate roads and tracks.

Trees with multiple lead shoots like this are sometimes called octopus trees, and it is easy to see why. Generally speaking, there would only be a single lead shoot, but if that becomes damaged in some way, other shoots will compete to become the lead and, in some cases, there will be multiple shoots, giving the curious octopus look to the crown of the tree.

The path takes them downhill to the rickety bridge across the river.

As far as I know the bridge was not named after any of the Dinosaurs, although some of us do appear to be getting more rickety as the years pass. There is certainly some rickety looking progress down the boardwalk. Hugh seems to be hoping for some divine intervention.

Rickety or not, they decide it is safe enough to carry their combined weight.

Although Robin seems to prefer discretion to valour.

Safely across...a quick sweetie...

...and on their way.

It turns out that their eagerness to risk the bridge was the promise of lunch.

A group photo in front of Dunphail House. It is a shame this is the only photo as Dunphail is a very fine Italianate House designed by William Playfair and built in 1828. Playfair was responsible for a significant proportion of the New Town in Edinburgh, and you will all have seen his work in Edinburgh. Examples include the City Observatory on Calton Hill, Regent, Carlton and Royal Terraces in the New Town, The Royal Scottish Academy, The National Gallery of Scotland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.

Of course, he didn't come cheap. He was commissioned by Major Charles Cumming-Bruce of Dunphail. He was a Scottish Conservative Member of Parliament and was the son of Sir Alexander Cumming-Gordon. Both he and his father represented Inverness Burgh in Parliament. He was elected to the seat for the second time with a majority of only 4 votes. This is the second smallest majority for any MP elected to Parliament. The lowest was actually zero votes for a seat in Dumbartonshire in 1865. The presiding Sherrif made a double return, but that was overruled to allow the sitting Member to retain his seat.

Here is a view of the whole house lifted off the web.

This looks suspiciously like an ice house, but there is no mention of that in the citation for Dunphail House. Ice Houses have been around since Mediaeval times, but the arched types date to the 18th Century, with an arched ceiling and a drain at the lower end to allow melt water to drain away. They were remarkably efficient, allowing ice to remain usable for up to 18 months.

I also note what appears to be a blue bin inside, so it may just be a bin store.

Clearly, the upkeep of a big estate is not cheap, so they have set out a couple of gnomes with begging bowls. Jimmy was kind enough to leave 5 pence as a contribution.

Mere chickenfeed, I hear you say, but chickens are expensive to feed nowadays.

At the end of the walk, they repaired to Logie Steading to take afternoon tea. 

This was an entirely appropriate location. The steading buildings were built as a model farm by Sir Alexander Grant, who invented the Digestive Biscuit.

Alexander came from relatively humble beginnings in Forres. After inventing the digestive for McVities, he ultimately came to own the business and to amass a huge fortune. He was friendly with Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour Prime Minister. MacDonald did not have a private income, unlike his conservative predecessors, and he used to take the bus to Downing Street. Grant gave him a Daimler, along with shares in the company to pay for the upkeep. This raised a few eyebrows, especially since Grant was given his Baronetcy shortly afterwards. Nothing changes in British politics, it would seem.

Notwithstanding that, Grant was a very generous philanthropist, giving a large fortune to various good causes, nationally and locally in Forres and Nairn. As it happens, he played golf regularly at Hugh's course!

Jimmy did not take any photos of the tea and cakes, so I don't know if any digestives were consumed.

Thanks are due to Jimmy and Jacque for organising the walk and the photos and I trust that the blog more or less reflects what went on.