11-12 July

11 July

As I looked across the channel this morning the white-horses told how windy it was out there. Ron & Marion kindly picked me up and drove me to church. I was welcomed and invited to say a few words at the beginning of the service. The Fairlie Parish church is Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). During the Offertory the organist was playing and it suddenly struck me that I was hearing Waltzing Matilda. He looked like he was reading music and there were unfamiliar bits so I was unsure, but it was so like Waltzing Matilda. After the service I was shown around the church, especially the wonderful stained-glass windows. I also met the organist who explained that he just improvised Waltzing Matilda! Apparently he does that with other things such as Happy Birthday on appropriate occasions! Morning tea of course consisted of Fair Trade items.

I was then taken to Ailsa’s for lunch. Ailsa had invited some others over for lunch to speak with me, and share their story. There was Richard and Ann Wilkinson, Nancy MacQueen, Ann Gregory, Margaret Keir, Helen Mitchell and Ailsa Henderson. Ailsa, Margaret, Helen and Ann G were/are the powerhouse behind the Fair Trade movement. It was they that lobbied the community, and local council to convert to using Fair Trade products where possible. Richard was one of the local councillors at the time, but in opposition. He mentioned that this was the only proposal he put forward that was voted for and passed! It is a requirement of any town/village seeking Fair Trade status to have the local council on board, so this was a big coup. Through their hard work, Fairlie became the first town in Scotland to receive Fair Trade accreditation.

The Eco-Congregation connection followed, with many individuals being taught how to compost properly by Ron, leading to the birthing of the Community Garden. Thus far Fairlie is the only eco-congregation in their Presbytery, but they are working hard to encourage other churches to join.

Over lunch I heard many stories, and saw many newspaper clippings etc, of all the different activities and functions they organized. They are a very creative bunch!

Nancy is the head gardener now at the Community Garden. She is not directly connected with the church but is passionate about the Garden. She also has a group of children that come to the garden weekly/fortnightly and is teaching them. Nancy had to leave us after lunch to go to the Garden to meet some bees which were being brought to the garden (actually some trainee bee hives – for training bee keepers). When I was there I saw some bumble bees – the first time I have seen them. They were rather large, but apparently do not tend to sting.

Ailsa’s home (also a B&B) is right on the waterfront and we ate in the front room so had a lovely view. The weather remained fairly discouraging for much of the time, but began to clear up about 4pm. By this time I’d decided a trip over to the island of Cumbrae (opposite) was not going to be feasible. Instead I was dropped back to my B&B just before 5pm, put some walking shoes on and walked along the beach. I happened to run into Ailsa who had taken her aged little dog for a ‘wee walk’.

Ron & Marion then picked me up and we went into Largs to attend an ecumenical Songs of Praise service, hosted by an Episcopal church there. We sang hymns chosen by people from the different churches who briefly shared why they had chosen each one. This particular episocpal church had just finished a week’s holiday club, and we saw the fruits of their labour after the service. The holiday club had a holiday/journey theme. The stories were based on the journeys of Paul but all the children had passports, they went to the airport and had to put their shoes through the x-ray machine, they sat in rows and had snacks served to them from a trolley etc etc. It was wonderful.

Marion, Ron and I then walked along the pier and had some dinner in an art deco café/ice creamery. We watched the sun go down and Ron drove us up to the lookout to watch the sunset. The colours were again very beautiful, and we had a wonderful view over the islands including the Mull of Kintyre. It was still very light at 10pm but time to head home. Ron & Marion dropped me off and I spent a few moments watching the sky for a little longer before going outside. During those few moments, two people who had been at church that morning, walked past me walking their dogs so stopped to say hello. It just seems so odd to be out chatting to people in the street, in daylight, after 10pm!

Mon 12 July

This morning I lingered over breakfast but then got my act together and pulled my bag up to Fairlie station. I arrived in Glasgow about 11am and found my way to my hotel, which fortunately allowed me to check-in early. I’m not convinced about the quality though. It is a fairly cheap hotel, nevertheless I’m in a room in which I can’t open the tiny window which is way above eye-line height anyway, and I wonder when the carpets were last cleaned. Oh well, just for one night!

I’d arranged with the staff at Wild Goose Resources Group to go to their office and view their range of resources. They do mail orders from there, but do not have an official ‘shop’. So I was given free reign in their stock room for which I was very grateful. I emerged a while later with a pile of books which I then posted back to London.

After that I took an open bus tour around Glasgow which was a good way to see a little of the city.

I’m hoping to head off early tomorrow, to Iona and I suspect that I won’t have internet access for a few days.

Thanks for dropping by ‘Leigh’s place’.