High On a Hill Stood a Lonely Goatherd...

ABC of Troon... H is for Hill, and Highgrove

As the Ballast Banking protects the town from the Sea on the West, Dundonald Hill sits on the East Boundary of the Town and protects the inhabitants of Troon from the People of Dundonald .  

That is a long standing argument which I have mentioned here before -  On a night out I was accosted by one such inhabitant of Dundonald who said she hadn't spoken to me much at school "cause you was one of those.. those... (struggling for the work my sister opted for "intelligent people", when she found the words) , F*&ng Snobs fae Troon". 

She also told me that the school (you can see the Green Brass Dome), had been built for the people of Dundonald, not Troon.  That being the case, I asked her to explain why it was on this side of the hill, to which she replied "F£& Off". 

So it was that I clambered up the Ballast Banking this morning at 8.15 on my way to work, ran along to the view finder, and took two shots.  One of the view finder, and one of the Hill. 

Highgrove, is the white building you can see half way up the hill.  This is a rather lovely hotel, the most amazing thing about it is the view.  To sit and have coffee while gazing over an Ayrshire sunset is very, very lovely, Especially when protected from the wind. 

I worked here for a short period of time as a waitress.  I wasn't very good. I spilt hot, sticky, steak juice all down this lady one day, and then squirted fairy liquid all over her beautiful dress to "make it better".    I left shortly after that, weirdly handing my notice in as opposed to being fired, and was asked to reconsider because the customers really liked my style. Pah ha ha ha ha Fawlty Towers Style!

This hill was also my view when I "was sick and lay in bed" with not very many pillows at my head, because my tubes were all blocked up with puss and gunge and I was very, very poorly.  From the end of February, to the beginning of April, I watched the large field two above Highgrove change, from pale green, to brown, to light green to healthy green. 

And it's on this hill, that I sit, and gaze at the coastline and sunset of a sunny evening, and chat to Iris the cow.