Menombling; Picking Up A Thing Or Two

Of course, one thing I didn't know about, till later...

After the Friday night gathering, which Aitch and I didn't stay long at, it was a real pub atmosphere with such loud music that one was shouting at others to have 'conversation', and, frankly, it was just not our thing, we wandered over to St Andrew's church and one or two other points for Aitch to clock up the cache numbers before heading back to the caravan for a good night's sleep. 

Saturday was a bit dreary, but that didn't deter the cachers! Aitch went to the morning session at the church hall, where various stalls had been laid out with all the associated paraphernalia of this very involving hobby. She returned for lunch and to watch Ipswich Town win their football match to gain a promotion in the league - bringing much jubilation! After that, we both returned to the church hall for the drawing of the raffle, then more seeking of caches. There had been a whole set of new challenges set out by the organisers and I was impressed at how many and the work and planning that must have gone into it all.

Photos kept prompting me to 'correct lighting', but I wanted you to see things just the way they were. Yup, it was a grey afternoon/evening and very, very wet underfoot, but this churchyard had lots of interest, with some big names (and markers), so it was worth the effort.

Sunday took us away from Moffat and up into Scotland's high places—not the Highlands, as you might imagine, where there are indeed hills and mountains that rise much higher—but dwelling places, villages that are the highest in Scotland. Leadhills is the second highest, and Wanlockhead is the first. One of the organisers of the Caledonian Cachefest also happens to be one of the trustees for the Leadhills Miners' Lending Library. There were lots of caches to be found around the village, but the library itself was well worth the visit.

Founded in 1741, this amazing place is Britain's oldest subscription library and the very first library in the world for working people. Here is a wonderful little video telling you a bit more, which is brought to you from the library's website, where you can view it also.

This was my attempt at photographing that very historic library banner - it being up high and me being so near to the ground did present a slight issue!

And here is my view of the exterior of the building...

While seeking out other caches, I spotted this —not a cache, per se, but a little bit of photographic treasure!

Once Aitch had garnered all she could at Leadhills, we drove over to Wanlockhead (mainly because that is where the toilets are). Parking was at an absolute premium there, so we stayed only as long as required for comfort and then drove on. It's a very picturesque area and we loved the drive, despite being a bit wet and misty. We drove back to Moffat via Drumlanrig Castle, where another cache was located and we had a picnic in the cabin.

One of the reasons I opted for this place was that it had an EV charger—only it refused to work. As it was a small unit with no readout on it, I only knew this much. There is more to this tale, which will appear in the next post. But in the meantime, it necessitated going in via Dumfries Tesco for a Podpoint charger, which was a slightly boring couple of hours but needed. Then back up to the caravan at Beattock. 

It had been a longish day, but lots to interest and amuse and absorb. By the time we got in that evening, the rain was properly setting in. No longer just mizzle and drizzle, it lashed down. It continued to do so through the night, and through most of Monday, too. Aitch managed to snatch a relatively dry patch in the morning for a local find, and much later in the day, almost evening, we managed another couple of hours out a short distance from the caravan, where, if I recall, another six caches were found, so not a total fizzle of a day.

Then came Tuesday...