Scotland the Brave

Crossing the bridge, one side is England and the other is Scotland. The first village into Scotland is Gretna Green which is the English equivalent of Las Vegas. For many years, the Old Blacksmith Shop was the centre of activity as the blacksmith had authority to perform wedding ceremonies. Youngsters from England eloping would head to this village as they could be married at 16 years of age. Today weddings still happen even though it is a bit tatty with tourist junk.
We went to Girvan along the coast where John expected to have good luck finding a B &B but this town is in serious decline. Many of the shops and even some pubs are closed and boarded up. So we stayed in Maybole where I got to practice understanding the Northern Irish accent during the breakfast. The gentleman was lovely as when I indicated that I did not understand him, he would rephrase his response giving me a better chance to grasp his meaning. Our lovely B & B is on the edge of farmland with sheep and cows on the fields across the lane. We took a walk up a footpath marked as Lovers Lane and saw a Victorian bridge trestle and a huge house in ruins which appears to be in the process of renovations. Hard to tell it work is still ongoing if it has been stopped as there were weeds growing through the debris which was obviously from the house. I hope that it is just taking time and will get completed as it could be a really lovely stone house.