Musings from the Merse
Monday, November 03, 2008
Dial 'M' for 'Mother'
For years BT have been wanting to close down a number of telephone boxes in the area-Hutton was on the list once but seems to have been reprieved after 'public uproar'-at least two people complained as did the Community Council. We never reached the stage of an official notice in the box itself giving us 42 days notice of closure but the phone had its 'Internet access' removed and was converted to 'no cash'. As I was aware of only one person using the phone in 11 years (a lost White Van driver looking for the Manse, Antrim House, Old Manse, New Manse or Former Manse-his mobile had no signal. Ha!)I doubt if many people were inconvenienced by the dumbing down
At Ellemford, which if not exactly in the middle of nowhere is at least on the periphery, there is one of those old fashioned kinds universal before the current undistinguished glass cabins It is on the 42 days notice to close and looking at the official statement of intent (click to enlarge) has been in that state of suspended animation for some years. BT claims its underused and they may be right judging from the other inside shot which shows a healthy growth of cobwebs(see it enlarged) and/or spider webs-perhaps the very phone Robert the Bruce used on his way to Bannockburn?
I suspect BT have backed off in the face of local complaints. Its a busy little country road and it actually goes somewhere, which is really more you can say about the F (class not expletive)road through Hutton. The mobile signal is not good and someone someday may need to use it in an emergency. The fact that it has not been used recently and Bruce's call may or may not have been essential is neither here
or there.
For years BT have been wanting to close down a number of telephone boxes in the area-Hutton was on the list once but seems to have been reprieved after 'public uproar'-at least two people complained as did the Community Council. We never reached the stage of an official notice in the box itself giving us 42 days notice of closure but the phone had its 'Internet access' removed and was converted to 'no cash'. As I was aware of only one person using the phone in 11 years (a lost White Van driver looking for the Manse, Antrim House, Old Manse, New Manse or Former Manse-his mobile had no signal. Ha!)I doubt if many people were inconvenienced by the dumbing down
At Ellemford, which if not exactly in the middle of nowhere is at least on the periphery, there is one of those old fashioned kinds universal before the current undistinguished glass cabins It is on the 42 days notice to close and looking at the official statement of intent (click to enlarge) has been in that state of suspended animation for some years. BT claims its underused and they may be right judging from the other inside shot which shows a healthy growth of cobwebs(see it enlarged) and/or spider webs-perhaps the very phone Robert the Bruce used on his way to Bannockburn?
I suspect BT have backed off in the face of local complaints. Its a busy little country road and it actually goes somewhere, which is really more you can say about the F (class not expletive)road through Hutton. The mobile signal is not good and someone someday may need to use it in an emergency. The fact that it has not been used recently and Bruce's call may or may not have been essential is neither here
or there.
Labels: Borders Phone boxes, BT, Ellemford, Robert the Bruce
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Driven off the front page to his usual position in the letter column of the Berwickshire the Regent of Scotland has taken slight exception to the 'story' about him in last weeks edition
In the fine article by Janice Gillie on Berwick being already in Scotland which appeared in both the Berwickshire News and the Berwick Advertiser last week, I was designated as “self-appointed Regent”. I was only self-appointed initially as the Parliament at its first meeting confirmed me as Regent a few months later.
In this it was following the precedent of Robert the Bruce’s self-appointing himself as King of Scots with the Parliament confirming him as king a few years later.
MICHAEL RITCHIE,
Greenlaw.
So that's alright then. And I wonder if he saw a spider at work on his way to his coronation? Cogescenti of Alba's history will know how The Bruce took comfort from the spider's persistence in weaving its web in a drafty ould cave in Ayrshire/Rathlin Island/ Lowlands/Skye (many claimants for this honour) before finally defeating the English at Murrayfield* Anyone who knows of a 'Ritchie's Cave' somewhere in the Borders please come forward and we can add it to the list of tourist attractions in Scotland's Favourite Shortbreak Destination
* Bannockburn shurely? Blog-ed
The image is not of Michael Ritchie
Labels: Regent of Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Spiders, Tourism
