ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Sunday 26 October 2014

FAME. (26/10/14)

This is just a quick post as I’m having a break from Blender 3D. It is not easy using Blender for the things it does well, PS CS6 Extended for things that are easy in there, remembering to save in formats that are acceptable to both and remembering where I put them. I use a Transcend external drive which is a big help as it communicates via USB3 and takes seconds to upload and down load to it. To add to the complications I compile the finished bits in Lightworks which is very picky about what it deems acceptable. It’s all good fun and keeps my few remaining grey cells active.

Moffat is famous and celebrated for five things; sheep, toffee, tarmac, a mail coach disaster and sheep. In this post I cover all but the sheep. I leave covering sheep to the Welsh.         _MG_0737        This is the toffee. It’s boiled sugar with a vinegarish aftertaste. I enjoy it, I don’t eat sweets often so this much lasts me a year.

_MG_0729           The inventor of Tarmac is interred here. A few weeks ago I made a little video of folk using his invention. I’ll give it another airing in case you missed it and because it took me ages to do.

I find this story very moving. Two men died delivering the post. I don’t know what happened to the horses.

_MG_0732       Back in1831 it would have been a very prestigious job to be a postie. Like being CEO of Google is now. Mail coach driving carried greater risks but I’m impressed by the size of their headstones. People must have appreciated their sacrifice.

_MG_0730     I should have got a shot of the drivers headstone but it was raining and windy. I’m not made of the same stuff as these two.

Whilst in the graveyard I did notice these unusual table gravestones.

_MG_0728      The only other place I’ve seen them is at Bolton Abbey.

I am going to Kinross for a couple of days this week. I’ll call at Falkirk to see if the Kelpies are lit up at night then I'm spending till truck test time in the Borders. I’ll try for some arty farty shots in this old churchyard when I return.

Have a good week.

30 comments:

  1. Adrian, the toffee looks good!
    Looks like Moffat has a good deal of history attached to it, Moffatonians(?) must come from good stock?
    I think I read a headline somewhere a couple of days ago that the Kelpies have just been given some sort of an award? Looking forward to the photos...[;o)

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    1. Trevor, I did go to see them earlier this year. It was pissing down so i took a quick snap and was away. I will call again this week as I love the things. We don't seem to have spent very much on big artistic statements in this country. Flakirk is not the bonniest of places but now it has the Kelpies to enhance the Falkirk Wheel. Great!

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  2. Looks like a fascinating graveyard. I'd love to have a wander.. on this side of the grass. You must have filmed for hours to get all that footage of tarmac. Impressive!

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    1. Hilary, about eight hours filming over two days.

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  3. Good ole McAdam, we could do with him, maybe he would meant the hole in the roads?

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  4. You should be getting huge hits on You Tube for your Tarmac video Adrian!!

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    1. Carol, I'm not but then didn't expect tarmac to go viral.

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  5. I can appreciate how much work went into that video. The workers were patient enough to let you take shots of them, although admittedly they were preoccupied with their work.

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    1. Mersad, they soon get used to the camera. They were more interested in pretending to run over the camera and tripod.

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  6. Interesting yet sad story on the posties. I too wonder what reaction would be given to the modern day postie, we'd probably moan about late deliveries.

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    1. Douglas, I find it slightly odd that they didn't stay with the coach. It must have generated a lot of sympathy. The Mail Coaches were the kings of the road in those days.

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  7. Hi Adrian. Thank you for visiting my blog, and leaving your kind comment. I'm delighted that it led to me finding yours! A really interesting post featuring a town that I'm rather fond off - last time I visited Moffat there was, to my joy, not a single national chain shop to be found.

    Doug, above, questions what a modern day reaction to the posties demise might be. I might have a little insight here as a couple of years ago two posties were killed when their vehicle left the road, went down an embankment and ended up on a railway line about a mile from my home. They were found dead at the scene with no clues as to what had caused the accident. There were memorial services in their honour, and flowers are still left near the scene from time to time. There's no huge memorial stone there, possibly for safety reasons!

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    1. Richard, I enjoyed the visit.
      It is still a dangerous job then. I would like to see a small memorial to your posties.

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  8. I like the way you have taken a very simple thing like toffee and made it much more alive by describing ingredients and people who developed it. I used to like toffee and all candy but could do without it now.

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    1. Red, I'm not a big fan of confectionery.

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  9. Most enjoyable accompanying you today!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3

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  10. Adrian,
    Those table gravestones - any more info on them? There has to be a story there - the two of them alike, side-by-side, and no ornamentation but for the cross on top of each - priests' graves, maybe? In any case, you got me looking for info on Bolton Abbey - thanks! McG

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    1. McGregor,
      No not really. There are several in this graveyard. Somebody once suggested they were to stop coffins being washed to the surface in wet weather. Doesn't sound very plausible to me.

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  11. Too bad about the posties. Very brave men. One should never be that sincere in one's job :((
    I love toffees and chocolates :))

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    1. Ruby, lovely as you are I am not posting toffee to India. I think their sacrifice was above and beyond the call of duty. The mail coaches were king of the road though.

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  12. Curiosas lápidas Adrian.Los cementerios son una caja de sorpresas ;)
    Un abrazo.

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    1. Laura es increíble lo que puedes encontrar en los patios de la iglesia.

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  13. I love this kind of historical posts

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    1. Laura, so do I but don't rely on me for accuracy.

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  14. Nice look around here at Moffat, didn't know about some of these stories.
    I had a lunch break on a sunday last year on the way to Oban, the weather was grim and too many cars about, must try again sometime.

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    1. Jay, there always seem to be too many cars around. The town gets more run down every time I see it.

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