Musings from the Merse
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Well we set off for Norn Iron at Robin Crap, drove through empty roads to almost Selkirk. Then returned to Hutton. Nothing to do with the emergency at Heathrow but because of unexpected assistance required on a grandchild front. So it is no golfing images for the moment and Norn Iron is on hold until October.
We stopped at Kelso on the way hope for a consolation Latte and a urination. Latte good, and fruit scone scrumptious. But the wee? Kelso has joined OPEC-the Organisation of Pee Expensive Centres and like the consumers of oil the crossers of leg are being held ransom by this cartel. 30p a go-standing, crouching or sitting. Male Female, OAP and child. And its still 20 p in England. We should ask the Scottish Borders Council to put up advisories on the wild frontier. Welcome to the Borders. Hold your Water until Embra. It really is a Short Break Destination.
Very
We stopped at Kelso on the way hope for a consolation Latte and a urination. Latte good, and fruit scone scrumptious. But the wee? Kelso has joined OPEC-the Organisation of Pee Expensive Centres and like the consumers of oil the crossers of leg are being held ransom by this cartel. 30p a go-standing, crouching or sitting. Male Female, OAP and child. And its still 20 p in England. We should ask the Scottish Borders Council to put up advisories on the wild frontier. Welcome to the Borders. Hold your Water until Embra. It really is a Short Break Destination.
Very
Comments:
30p? I'd have found a hedge. If you are paying for a "latte" then the pee should have been "on the house".
even Motorway service stations don't charge!
even Motorway service stations don't charge!
At 30p a pop a sprinkle over the flower tubs in square maybe called for. I am sure the locals wouldn't complain, what with the water shortages in Kelso, they'd be greatful for every last drop.
# posted by 
: 1:53 PM
: 1:53 PM
bloggee has e-mailed as follows was recently reading your blog, and I thought...
'Maybe the extra 10 p is because you don't have to suffer smokers???'
I hadn't thought of that. Anybody smoking in my cubicle will get short shrift and I suppose a municipal maintained loo falls within the definition of the Scottish legislation. So it raises the question: if you are doing a No 2 are you doing it in public? If so why doors on cubicles?
'Maybe the extra 10 p is because you don't have to suffer smokers???'
I hadn't thought of that. Anybody smoking in my cubicle will get short shrift and I suppose a municipal maintained loo falls within the definition of the Scottish legislation. So it raises the question: if you are doing a No 2 are you doing it in public? If so why doors on cubicles?
The 30p is a standard SBC charge for attended toilet facilities. I thought it was steep 2 years ago at 20p, but when you gotta go, you gotta go.
Hope Grandchild-related emergency is under control.
Hope Grandchild-related emergency is under control.
I don't want or need 'attendance' Approaching dotage I may be but I can still attend to calls of nature all by myself. All you get for 30 p is a tiny ticket surplus from the Poxy Cinema, closed in 1973 and now a 4 screen massage parlour.
Incidentally - no mention of the toilet situation in this story chez BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/4783033.stm
This is the story referred yo by Paper Boy.
Call to improve tourist welcome
The study said there were many tourist plus-points to the region
A tourism study has claimed the Borders is a top destination for travellers - but it needs to work on the welcome it gives to visitors.
The report, by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University, has outlined many "plus points".
However, it said there were parts of the service which did need attention.
The biggest area for improvement was in the "warm welcome" which tourists should receive across the region.
Prof John Lennon from the university said the challenges must be faced.
"You have got fantastic natural scenery that I think really gives a positive entry point," he said.
When they are speaking to somebody they can really sell the area and make a visitor's stay a better one just by being friendly
Fiona Drane
VisitScotland Borders
"I think the first impression visually is positive.
"We then have to work on the people and the warm welcome."
He said some initiatives had already been set up to tackle the issue but it was also about a complete change of attitude.
"If we are going to be serious about being a visitor focussed destination then when the customer says jump the response is how high?
"We really will present problems for ourselves if we carry on with that kind of attitude linked to a kind of dim and distant view of tourism in the past which occurs Monday to Friday between nine and five."
Customer experience
Fiona Drane, of VisitScotland Borders said the answer was with all Borderers not just the tourist industry.
She said if the region wanted to be a top short-break destination the customer experience had to be top class.
"There is always room for improvement," she said.
"It is not just the tourism industry it is everybody in the Borders realising the importance of tourism.
"When they are speaking to somebody they can really sell the area and make a visitor's stay a better one just by being friendly."
But don't most Borderers do just that?
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Call to improve tourist welcome
The study said there were many tourist plus-points to the region
A tourism study has claimed the Borders is a top destination for travellers - but it needs to work on the welcome it gives to visitors.
The report, by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University, has outlined many "plus points".
However, it said there were parts of the service which did need attention.
The biggest area for improvement was in the "warm welcome" which tourists should receive across the region.
Prof John Lennon from the university said the challenges must be faced.
"You have got fantastic natural scenery that I think really gives a positive entry point," he said.
When they are speaking to somebody they can really sell the area and make a visitor's stay a better one just by being friendly
Fiona Drane
VisitScotland Borders
"I think the first impression visually is positive.
"We then have to work on the people and the warm welcome."
He said some initiatives had already been set up to tackle the issue but it was also about a complete change of attitude.
"If we are going to be serious about being a visitor focussed destination then when the customer says jump the response is how high?
"We really will present problems for ourselves if we carry on with that kind of attitude linked to a kind of dim and distant view of tourism in the past which occurs Monday to Friday between nine and five."
Customer experience
Fiona Drane, of VisitScotland Borders said the answer was with all Borderers not just the tourist industry.
She said if the region wanted to be a top short-break destination the customer experience had to be top class.
"There is always room for improvement," she said.
"It is not just the tourism industry it is everybody in the Borders realising the importance of tourism.
"When they are speaking to somebody they can really sell the area and make a visitor's stay a better one just by being friendly."
But don't most Borderers do just that?
