Getting culture and educated -

Berthed in Troon, we had the pleasure of being next to this lady, nearly as old as the captain and a teeny bit older than the crew:

Why do we mention her - well she is one of the original pair of Dorus Mor class yachts (only 6 were built in total) and Simon our surveyor friend restored and owned a particularly lovely example - the last one ever constructed. Brought back memories of time we spent on board and a couple of excellent Xmas lunches too.

Sadly, the weather forecasting computers were right and the whole week ahead looked very windy and showery. So, we opted to hire a car - using Enterprise in Ayr as they will collect you which saves the PITA trip to Glasgow airport. (train, then local bus from Paisley) By the time you add in the cost and grief of that return trip, Ayr actually becomes cheaper too. Our first excursion was to Culzean castle. Oh yes. Sunny day, warm (out of the wind) and so so beautiful a setting:

The castle / house was "built to be imposing" and manages it quite well:

In one of the entrance rooms, there is some strange wall decoration - swords and flintlock pistols arranged in interesting patterns:

Not quite to everyone's taste but very impressive. Like many country houses, the family that owned it added bits and extended / remodelled it over the years. The glorious central staircase was not original - the house was not built around it, rather the oval staircase was designed by Robert Adam to link old and "new". It managed that very impressively:

One generation of the owners was heavily into sailing / racing and owned the famous yacht Bloodhound. They also set up the Ailsa shipbuilding business in Troon / Ayr and the skills of some of their team were used to make cribs for the children in proper clinker built boat fashion:

Lovely grounds, a good coffee in the tea-room, what more could you want.  Well, we continued the cultural tour by visiting the Robert Burns museum and birthplace. Some lovely artwork was in the grounds:

We took the chance to learn more about his varied, busy and short life - ending up as an exciseman, collecting taxes on beer etc. Another example of someone who has their artistic value recognised well after their death. Following on from the museum / house, we went to Rozelle House, the home of an amazing set of paintings that depict one of Burns famous tales - that of Tam O'Shanter. If you know a little of the tale, then this link to a you tube video of the paintings is a must see. If you don't, read a bit about the tale and why it was composed in the first place, then look at the images. In real life they were very powerful and absorbing. Well worth a visit, they are housed in this lovely building too:

After absorbing so much culture and enjoying it, we opted for more. Robert and Deborah who keep their yacht in Troon had stayed down south in their house for some reason. Avoiding us or the weather or both? Anyway, they recommended we go to Dumfries house. Oh yes, another fascinating place with great grounds to explore: 

A mini guided tour let us appreciate the extensive Wedgewood collection (50 items) including apparently the most valuable piece in the world, see weblink .  If the guide is to be believed, today it would sell to certain well heeled collectors for £20 million. The place was rescued from a private sale that would have broken up the collection and property by royalty not long ago.  Look at Dumfries house website to learn about that. Another good day, sunny, dry just 30 mph plus wind gusts all day. When will that end???

Our last excursion in the hire car was debated. The car was a horrible little Fiat 500 (we seem to get those from Enterprise) with the strange two mode steering. "City" which is quick to respond, light and lifeless with no feedback. "Normal" which is heavier, inaccurate and equally lifeless and lacking in feedback. Naturally the thing is slow and not terribly comfortable either. Oh - this one did just the same as the one we hired from Plymouth - as soon as the temperature dropped a bit the tyre pressure warning came up. Basically, not a car to do long distances in. However, we wanted to see New Lanark which had positive reviews from Ann and Martin. Tricky as it would involve too many Fiat 500 hours in a day for comfort or sanity. We compromised, drove through lashing rain and arrived just as it eased up:

The location was an 18th century cotton mill, together with accomodation for the workers, a school for their children, an on-site shop and an "Institute for the formation of character".  It is a UNESCO heritage site now. Basically the mill owner was a great social reformer of his time who organised better working conditions for his staff, on site housing and education and even the services of a doctor. Unheard of in other mills. The setting enabled use of the water power from the river Clyde that runs through the site to drive the machines:

and later on to also generate electricity for the site too. Some of the equipment is still used but now to produce wool, not cotton:

You get a great sense of how the owner tried to reform working practices and the education / lives of his workforce. He still liked making a profit too of course! He wrote books on his approach and defined a curriculum for the children at the company run school that was wide-ranging and ground-breaking for the time. He kind of foretold what would happen if employers neglected their staff and education during the industrial revolution which was changing the world of work dramatically::

 

An amazing place and very thought provoking too.

To save deafness / sore backs from too much time in the Italian buzz-box, we stayed nearby overnight and on the way back, went to the Scottish museum of rural life. Loads of Tractor pictures were taken for Robert's father who has a small (??)  tractor fetish. One was for the captain who recalls a Field Marshall tractor in use at the Herbert Woods boatyard on the Norfolk Broads, when he worked there as a summer job:

A single cylinder diesel, preheated with a blowlamp, started using a shotgun cartridge, it would sometimes start running backwards and would happily tick over that way all day, shuddering gently. Of course, as it was used to launch / recover boats using a slipway and grease boards, it was helpful to know if it was running normally or in reverse that day..... Enough said. No damage was done. Or none that the captain will admit to.

The working farm had a few little animals to admire and amuse including some piglets:

plenty of calves and a beautiful Clydesdale horse. The original farm house was a real time capsule. Owned by one family through 200 years or so, the last surviving owner moved out in 1992 leaving pretty much everything in the place with most of the furniture and fittings dating back many years. As an example, the more recent renovations had been new fire surrounds in the 1960s. We had a great day, then pedalled the little Fiat back to the boat. (Yes, we could hire something better, but we are mean and it gives us something to moan about - you know how old people like complaining...)