The biggest news of September is that John was away for almost three weeks on an epic bike ride across France – La Manche à La Méd. Via a company called Saddle Skedaddle he and his friend Andy joined a group in Saint Malo and cycled all the way to Nice. Above they are leaving Saint Malo looking, I would say, quietly confident.

And below they are arriving in Nice 17 days later looking triumphant and in very good shape for people who have cycled 1030 miles with 61,675 feet of elevation! He has some great pictures so I’ll do a couple of posts of highlights later.

And what did I get up to? Well, daily life and social life went on much as normal except that the house felt very empty in the evenings (though we were able to Face Time most nights). I did my Women of Maryhill guided walk twice (and got soaked both times) and spent a lot of time preparing a workshop to present at the Scottish Association of Teachers of History Conference on behalf of Glasgow Women’s Library. I also had a day in Edinburgh with a friend and visited my sister in Harrow for a few days in the middle of John’s absence.

Here are a few pictorial memories of the month. Firstly, some odds and ends from my walks around the West End: the Partickhill post box topper, swans on the canal, and colour in the Botanic Gardens.

Staying with the canal, the Art Bothy and Scottish Canals Volunteer Hub at Stockingfield Bridge have had a makeover – still Portacabins, but now a pretty blue.

On Doors Open Day I popped in to St Bride’s Episcopal Church on Hyndland Road which claimed to be open until 1630, but they were clearly preparing for a service when I went in at 1530 so I only had time for a very quick look. I have been in once before – my brother-in-law used to attend this church and I remember going with him to a midnight service one Christmas. That must be over 40 years ago so my memories are not very clear!

An afternoon on Byres Road took me into Hillhead Library which has an exhibition of photographers from Pakistan. I was particularly taken with Waleed Zafar’s Royal Winton tea set, a family heirloom, which he uses to represent the persistent remnants of the British Empire. This was followed by a visit to Oran Mor to hear Nicola Sturgeon talk about her autobiography. Love her or loathe her, there is no denying she is an excellent speaker.

On my way to visit a friend in the Gorbals I walked through a new area of housing and spotted the first stone in the gallery below on the verge. What on earth is Subax Wanaagsan? On seeing more and more stones I eventually twigged that they said Welcome in many languages – I did realise before I saw the English version, promise! I thought it was a lovely idea to reuse what are presumably stones from demolished tenements.

On my trip to Edinburgh, the only thing I photographed was John Knox’s grave – he’s under that yellow slab somewhere. The inscription reads:

Site of the burial in St Giles graveyard of John Knox the great Scottish divine who died 24 November 1572

The graveyard is now a carpark! I admit to doing a little dance on Knox’s grave – what would else would I do for the man who wrote The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women?

With my sister I walked round Headstone Manor Park. The camera lens sculpture is a nod to the huge Kodak factory which used to be near by. The stained glass panel is in the café and was created by students in 2017 under the tutelage of Alf Fisher, former Chief Designer and Manager of the Stained Glass Studio at the Whitefriars Glass Factory in Harrow.

Finally, those who remember the Scotties Trail I was following over the summer might like to know that they raised £435,500 at auction for Maggie’s charity. Amazing work!

Linking to Natalie’s Monthly Wrap-Up.

Happy October!