Farm in the village
Just off the main street and square in my home village, and right behind the church, is a farm steading. The large building with the boarded-up doors is where the cattle were kept on winter nights and in bad weather. I remember as a child going past in the snow and hearing them lowing and shifting around in the straw. In summer house martins build in the eaves and swoop down into the courtyard.
It's been several years now since cattle have been kept here, and now I hear that the steading is to be pulled down. Nothing can remain the same, and the concept of farm buildings right in the centre of the village is an outdated one, but it always seemed special to me to have cows next door to the church on one side and the post office on another.
How sad it will be to pull down that lovely old building. Our house used to be a steading complete with blacksmith. Is the castle in your earlier blog Rothes Castle?
ReplyDeleteSuch a great photograph! I love the texture of the stones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I will visit you again.
Last time I commented on the wrong post because I was scrolling down through the whole page... so now I'll not wait...
ReplyDeleteI can think of so many uses for such a structure with some imagination. And a shedload of money. People spend thousands to create a dream home out of less, in France and Italy.
Oh, yeah, this is a pet peeve of mine. I'll stop now!
Sometimes it is so sad and dissapointing that old familiar structures must come down. It's nice you were able to capture a piece of history before it's gone.
ReplyDeleteI saw a structure like this when I was on a mission trip to West Germany. The family that owned the farm were members of the church where we were visiting--in Manheim if I remember correctly. I had never seen a stone barn before. All the barns I've seen here are wooden, (though sometimes with stone foundations).
ReplyDeleteAre all the barns in Scotland like this? It seems it would take a great deal of work to build such a place.
You mentioned kids' sports as a cultural curiosity. That made me smile. Indeed some families put more emphasis than they should and involve their children in various activities year-round. We chose baseball for ours because it's a short season, but a nice way to get them outside again after such a long winter. Not to mention, it is good exercise. :)
Have a lovely week! I'm glad you stopped by. One of the great benefits I've discovered about blogging is meeting so many interesting people from around the globe. It reminds me a bit of having a pen-pal when I was a girl in elementary school--without the wait of airmail. I'll be following.
I'm surprised too at the plans to pull this down. It has such character. But then again people on Speyside want a reasonably-sized garden, and this would have none or very little. Unlike Edinburgh, where houses are squeezed into the most unlikely spots, and with no greenery at all round about.
ReplyDeleteChris, you're right with your castle guess!
Everything moves with the times. Odd that they lasted this long.
ReplyDeleteIt seems nonsense that the planners would allow the destruction of an historic building like this but alas it happens due to the greed of politicians of all shades.
ReplyDeleteAdrienne, to answer your question about stone barns - the older ones are stone built, but nowadays they tend to be built of galvanised iron. A lot less work, but not so lovely.
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