A thin place.

The new front tyres for the Volvo still haven't arrived at the garage. Nice of them to let me know before I drove over there. A third attempt to get them fitted has been rescheduled for Friday morning. Angus thinks of saying something uncharitable to the owner but having come this far what's the point ? ' The Font' takes the train to London to do some shopping and visit the dentist. The train leaves and arrives on time. Sophie doesn't seem to notice that the chicken pie that has been left for dinner has been overcooked by the inept and absent minded stand in chef.

This morning there's a bitter wind. The sort that could strip the chrome off a Cadillac in ten minutes.  Angus and Sophie do a cursory walk on the beach then head off for a walk in the sheltered ground by the wee church. A place of ancient yew trees.

Behind the kirk is an interesting geological feature. A deep cleft in the rock in what is an otherwise flat and featureless agricultural landscape. I'm guessing it's a patch of sandstone that's been eroded by water and wind into the miniature version of the Grand Canyon we see today. I've never seen anything quite like it. 

The site is said to be an old Druid place of worship. Some historians at the University say that two thousand years ago this was the last major centre of Druid worship and resistance and that the Romans set up a large legionary fort nearby to control the region. Others, with just as much plausibility, say the Romans merely paused here on their way north. Down a flight of steps can be found weathered Celtic crosses and strange faces carved into the rock. On the valley floor there is a spring that flows out of the stone. Despite the wind ( and the cold ) a group of people are paddling in it. Where have they come here and why are they here so early in the day ?  It would seem that adherents of the 'old ways' still flock to this place.  The trees down on the floor of the gorge are covered with ribbons. Bars of chocolate hang from branches with small, hand written notes attached to them -  ' Wee Tommy. 4 years old. Leukemia. Help him ! '. The last place to come to when hope is gone ?  This is what ( so the man who looks after the kirk gardens tells me ) the Scots and Irish would call a 'thin place'.  I look this term up and find that it is indeed a thing - https://thinplacestour.com/what-are-thin-places/

Up by the church there are some old yew trees stumps. The trees must have been cut down years ago. As we're leaving I notice that all the stumps are covered in sixpences. Sixpences haven't been used since decimalization fifty years ago. 

Biscuits fit for a King ? :https://www.fortnumandmason.com/fortnums-coronation-iced-biscuits