Today's County in the Spotlight:Part 2

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dont know the punk/mohican/mohawk hair one, unless its got something to do with the sequel T2 Trainspotting made by Director Danny Boyle at the pyramids Bathgate in West Lothian, site of the former Motorola factory.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/loca ... s-25606882


Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Here's a clue Try looking up images for the PDC !!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Here's a clue Try looking up images for the PDC !!

Looks like its Peter Wright from Livingston the darts player

That would indeed have been a miracle if I had got that without any help!

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Before West Lothian moves out of the spotlight I have to put in the Military Museum Scotland. Ian and the volunteers are doing a tremendous job, and the museum is constantly developing and already won many national awards in the five years of operation from small beginnings.

The Museum is at Wilkieston in West Lothian, has many special and regular events, and it a provides a social meeting place for veterans.

https://www.facebook.com/milmussco/

Reagrds Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Thats the fellow, I dread to think how long it takes him to get ready to play as it is different every day!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

West Lothian has had a decent airing, so time to move on.


_______West Lothian Done________55 Done___37 Left______

Here's the pool



Already selected 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 42, 43, 44, 45,


Random Number selection is 1

New County is
Aberdeenshire

Looks like when I operate the random number generator we tend to end up in Scotland!

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Bonny Scotland again eh?

The proposed flag for Aberdeenshire:

BFTW

Details here

And the location in Scotland:

BFTW
BFTW

And the places: (amended version in 2 posts time!)

BFTW

[NewcastleFalcon]

The only deviation from the Towns on you map Mick is that the historic County of Banffshire has already been done, and the towns of Banff and Macduff (Davie Country) have already been covered as the historic county of Banffshire covered much of the north facing boundary into the moray firth now encompassed within Aberdeenshire.

Immediately below Aberdeen Kincardineshire starts, a County not covered yet. Stonehaven and Banchory are in the historic County of Kincardineshire and need leaving out of todays county in the spotlight.

I'll start of with a bit of music, probably the most famous song ever written with Aberdeen in the title, and the lyrics.

How to select the best ever version of it for our deliberations
An intrumental...the well loved distinctive sound of Jimmy Shand


or the story of the song (in Doric! dialect)



I liked the story and could pick through the dialect to make sense of the story. Mary Webb an English woman wrote it. Her story in the written word is here

https://duncanharley.blogspot.com/2019/ ... en-by.html

Leamington Spa born Mary was funding her musical career by working as a food-prep operative in the kitchens of the West London Hospital alongside a homesick Aberdeen lass by the name of Winnie Forgie. A friendship developed between the two and, in an effort to cheer up the lonely Aberdonian, Mary and her husband co-wrote the tune and the lyrics. Eventually she sent these off to Scottish tenor Robert Wilson who performed the piece during a concert at The Royal Albert Hall. As a result, the iconic song became well known across the globe

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

A revised places map incorporating Neil's points:

Modified FTW

[mickthemaverick]

I was brought up to the sounds of three prolific favourites of my Mother, Jim Reeves, Kenneth McKellar and Matt Munroe.
Because of that this version of The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen became a recurring part of my childhood so I make no apology for repeating Neil's choice. The second video version is more about the slideshow than the music so if you have had enough of the song then mute it and just see what Aberdeen has to offer!!

[mickthemaverick]

Aberdeenshire is a very good example of the deterioration in the railway network over the years:

BFTW - Railways in 1867

BFTW - Railways in 2020

More information can be found on this wiki page with an appropriate amount of scrolling.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Apart from a rail rover week based in Glasgow in the 1960's where we took the train to Aberdeen, we had one family holiday in Aberdeenshire staying here near Kintore. The slide was a bit newer then, and provided much entertainment as did the simple pleasures of cycling round and round the road around the caravans, horse riding pics of that time still adorn the walls of chez nous.

There was an old fashioned swimming pool nearby at Inverurie, and a surprisingly decent Wimpy...when did you ever last see one of those . Down at Aberdeen there was a little park near the seafront where there was a minature railway. A particularly bored teenager was the engine driver, who approached his task in a laid back manner, swigging from a can as he steered the precious cargo of youngsters around the track. Occasionally I will embellish the tale by identifying the can as Carlsberg Special...it may well have been but I cant be sure

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Of course not everything is rosy in Aberdeenshire, this child of the county was most certainly one of its worst exports, but who is it?

BFTW

[NewcastleFalcon]

The registrations pre 1974

AV, RG, RS, SA

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

For all our bridge fans, you need to visit Ellon, a town that has an unusual bridge configuration:

BFTW

There are many pictures of the towns bridges to be found, here are some examples:

BFTW

BFTW

BFTW

In fact they are so proud of their bridges they even incorporated one in the bowls club badge:

BFTW

Well worth a visit I'm sure you'll agree