Welcome!

This blog is to introduce you to my town - Peebles, in the Scottish Borders - just one photo at a time, with perhaps a little description and maybe some history thrown in. I hope you will find it interesting. The title comes from a historical comment made by someone who preferred Peebles to the great and famous cities. I know how they felt. It's always a pleasure to return here however long you've been away.

If you want to make a comment, ask me a question, or merely just want to say "hello, I've dropped in", you can do that by using the comment section below each entry. (Just click on the word COMMENT and follow instructions. ) I'd love to know what you think of what you see of my town.

I don't have an expensive elaborate camera so the photo quality may not be brilliant, but I'd like to think my pics will please you. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks to Mary H for the lovely designs I used for my background, and thanks too to all of you who have chosen to support my blog by becoming "followers".

Thursday 21 January 2010

The great beech

I keep coming back to this tree, my favourite beech, the one that trails its twigs in the river. I don't often take this view but look at the stone embedded in the tree trunk! It just shows what can happen when a sapling is planted too close to a wall as when the tree grows it is going to grow round anything too close - or knock it down. I suspect both have happened here, and as the wall has fallen this stone has been prevented from falling by the tree!

1 comment:

  1. Huge thanks for posting this pic, it was my best climbing tree from age 7-16. We had a rope on the branch that reaches out and we kept it up top when not in use so that it was fairly secret (though I don't think we put it there).

    Rather than getting on at ground level you mounted it while standing on the wall and did what age 7 felt like a death defying leap off the wall with your legs straight out so they just missed the ground as it flew down the bank and out over the Tweed. Thrilling.

    Years of tree climbing built up strong arms which came in handy as that part of the Tweed is also where aged 8-10 I was to be seen 'rescuing' rowing boats between May and August. My mum worked at 'the Boats' which were just up river at the other end of the path that this beech is on (boat shed may still be there).

    There was a barrier rope to mark where people should turn back but quite often someone would struggle and end up heading towards the weir in a panic, at which point I was dispatched in a separate boat to nip down and tow them back.

    Being towed by a child was especially embarrassing for men who'd taken their families out for a treat but I absolutely loved doing it. There were two jetty's, one either side of the river but the one that you set off from seems to be gone now. There was also a Pitch 'n' Put there, just below the embankment that has the stone entrance to what we were told was an ice store for Neidpath Castle in the past.

    Thanks for bring back lots of great memories.
    CD

    ReplyDelete

Thanks fot looking at my photos of Peebles. It is great to read your comments, so thanks for writing!