In the courtyard and carpark Penicuik

 

View over Penicuik and the Pentland Hills

 

Walk around a field

 

View of Penicuik and the Pentland Hills

Rapeseed field in all it’s glory

Collage 63/100

Views in and around Penicuik Estate

Snow walks

This morning Flora and I walked in the forest with the snow gently falling all around us!

And in the afternoon we strolled on the old railway line (now a path) between Penicuik and Rosewell.

By the River Bank

We had a rather adventurous dog walk as we tried approaching the Penicuik Estate from Penicuik itself to avoid the very tedious roadworks on the main road. We managed to reach the river North Esk and made our way into the Estate that way. Flora was a real trooper, climbing over trees and under stiles.

Common Ragwort (Senecia jacobaea)

Self-heal (or Prunella vulgaris)

Unstable Grave Monuments in Penicuik

Time has not been kind to Penicuik Graveyard and as you can tell I took my life into my hands when I ventured in. Fortunately the unstable graveyard memorials didn't get me! I shared the graveyard only with a rabbit but the signs of human disrespect were everywhere, in the form of discarded beer bottles, cans, crisp packages and more disturbing remnants. I had come in search of dereliction (for the DerelictThursday challenge on the Blipfoto site) and oh boy, did I find it!

It hasn't even been that long since I was last in this graveyard as I tend to go in every time I go to the dentist but today is the worst I have ever seen the place. Although it has to be said that there were still a few uplifting signs such as the snowdrops in flower.

Since my last visit chain fencing has been erected around some of the little mausoleum buildings and the photographs were taken sticking my lens through the fencing. As you can see there are some important grave monuments in this graveyard (this is probably part of the family vault of the Dalyell family although I'm not  100% about that!) but it won't be long now before they too fall down and are lost forever. Is it only me that thinks that the way we look after our past says a lot about who we are at present? I found it all deeply depressing whereas I used to find visiting this particular graveyard with it's fascinating stones quite uplifting.

For my blip today I will use one of these pictures translated into black and white which emphasizes the dereliction even more.

Views from the Road

 

It was a beautiful day even though it was freezing cold. I spend it mostly in the studio, trying to subdue a quilt with a steam iron (pleased to report I won that battle!) but also briefly popped into Penicuik. The vuews from the moor road towards the hills was beautiful.

After buying the newspaper we discovered that the bang and vibrations we noticed on Wednesday evening was the earth moving! Yes, there was an earthquake near Penicuik, measuring 2.0 on the Richter scale. Amazing.

 

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Encounter in a Graveyard

Penicuik Graveyard is where I while away the time before my dental operations as it's virtually next door to the dental clinic, is a very peaceful place to think things over, and it also puts the whole matter of dentistry into perspective. I can tell myself at the very least that it won't kill me!

Today it looked even lovelier than normal in the snow and I was slowly wandering up the path when from the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement. I stood still and slowly looked around and was taken completely by surprise when I spotted the deer. It saw me at the same time and for some moments (enough to take the picture) we stared at each other, till it thought better of this and ran nimbly away, hopped over the old wall and was gone into the wooded valley below.

Such a magical moment.

Snow Angels

The weather forecast had predicted snow and it duly fell. By the bucket load. It seemed innocent enough. A gentle drift downwards but it had already been going on for quite some time when we awoke and it continued going. I had a dentist appointment and decided that was important enough to set out on my journey to Penicuik. Only 8 miles but they seemed to take forever today. I had hoped that when I slithered out our little lane things would improve on the main roads. But that proved to be a mistake and doing about 30 miles per hour and relying on my winter tires I eventually made it to Peniuik. With time to spare to pay a visit to the snowy graveyard. That was part of the attraction of going. I had heard the siren song of snowy gravestones in my head.

And I wasn't disappointed. These triumphant angels were playing their trumpets heralding the day of the Resurrection.

 And this beautiful snow angel (a winged soul) looked beautiful adorned with a snowy mantle.

Even this little burial aisle that is falling into ever more disrepair looks so much lovelier with a snowy covering.

The snow is not supposed to lie and will hopefully turn to rain later on today but I still had to get back first which I just about managed but I reckon I was lucky not to be later. In the lane drifting has occurred and there were several corners where the snow was already quite high and when I arrived at our gate it was good to see John with a snow shovel in his hand clearing our drive so I could just about park the car there. But at least I had my blip as well as clean teeth (I was seeing the dental hygienist).

Back in Penicuik Graveyard

It's been quite some time since I visited Penicuik graveyard. Two months in fact as I tend to pop in when I'm visiting the dental hygienist. The dental surgery is located opposite the graveyard which I hope means exactly nothing! But there are some unnerving connections such as the frightening set of teeth on the skull above which together with the crossbones and the hour-glass all remind us that we are mortal and our time will one day run out (hopefully when we still have our own teeth!). Just to underscore that message, it also states it out loud in the text: Memento Mori.

It was a lovely day (we're having a wonderful stretch of beautiful weather at the moment!)and the graveyard was very peaceful, but sadly even in the intervening 2 months more stones have keeled over and others have split in two. The little building you see above is the Clerk family mausoleum which is overgrown with self-seeded trees that have taken root in the walls and roof. This building (you can also see it at the bottom of this blog) was build to enable the family to still bury their dead indoors so to speak. After the Reformation in the sixteenth Century imagery was no longer allowed in churches itself as any "sinful" decoration might detract the worshippers from God and therefore burials too should no longer take place inside as had been the custom until then. So wealthy families who still wanted memorials more impressive than mere gravestones erected little buildings for themselves. This one dates from 1684.

The only other visitors I come across in this graveyard are the rabbits who skip away on my arrival but gradually return as I stroll quietly about. They, or rather their warrens, do damage to the graveyard as they must be undermining the stones gradually. But at least they don't cause this damage on purpose. The many beer cans found strewn about, give evidence of less respectful visitors too. How I wish the council would do just a bit more to preserve this important historic site.

All I can do is come back time and again and record as much of what remains as possible so that at least the memory of how it used to be will be preserved for the future.

St. Mungo's Church, Penicuik

Penicuik graveyard is situated right in the centre of town opposite the large car park for the city centre, and my dentist is situated there too. So whenever I'm early I pop into the graveyard for some light relief!

Today proved to be a very good opportunity to capture the old tower in full sunshine. The tower is the last remaining part still standing of the pre-Reformation St. Mungo's church that used to be here in the middle of the graveyard. The building has been boarded up by the council and is apparently now dangerous. But it looks beautiful set against the blue sky and around the back there is a little private walled space still in tact which is now filled with wild flowers and weeds. The yellow ragwort added a splash of colour to the photograph. I used the photograph second from the top at the right for my blip today but was also very taken with the picture of this entry, so here it is. The collage, by the way, is made with the aid of PicMonkey.

And the Dalkeith graveyard blog post promised yesterday will be coming here soon too!  However the photo opportunity in this fine weather, in Penicuik proved irresistible today and I went with that.

Back in Penicuik Graveyard

I spend some more time in Penicuik graveyard today. Coming in I opened the gate very softly as this graveyard is frequented by many rabbits and I love to catch them out playing in the grass. They are the only visitors here; I've never encountered a fellow human beings (you can check out my previous visits by clicking on the Penicuik label below this post). The rabbits are alert and register me but on the whole they stand their ground till I get too close. Rabbits also mean rabbit warren and there are several large holes around the bottom of the walls that enclose this graveyard completely. Despite being along a busy road and right next door to the Lidl supermarket the graveyard itself is very peaceful and full of fascinating old stones, many dating back to the early 18th Century. But the graveyard is in very bad condition.

Many of the stones have fallen over, others have bits fallen off such as urns and pediments and others have been gathered together and put against walls as can be seen above. I notice there is also a raindrop in view that was on my camera lens. It rained relentlessly! It makes for a mood suitable to graveyard visiting but not for photography.

Other stones are tucked away in corners and are slowly being overtaken by vegetation, such as the one above (also my blip for today)

 This one is middle 19th Century and has beautiful engraving some of which could still be seen (just!).

Penicuik graveyard's stones are adorned beautifully on the whole and many stones clearly show the hand of the same stonemason. I associate the above angel shape (really it's a winged soul) with him. Sadly I have no way of knowing his name but his legacy lives on.