When I was a child we went for some years to Arbroath in Angus, on the east coast of Scotland,  for our family holiday.  We went as a large family group, with aunts and uncles and cousins, and we had a great holiday. 

Arbroath, famous for its Arbroath Smokies, was a very popular holiday place, with a nice front, an old and very interesting harbour with lots of fishing boats and trips, and an outdoor swimming pool (we were tough kids in these days)! 

Being such a large group meant that the children could all go off to the outdoor swimming pool together with the big ones looking after the younger ones, and the adults could do their thing, which tended to be outdoor bowling some days.  We stayed in a wee boarding house, Kingsley House in Marketgate,  and took most of the rooms up, and we were very much at home there.

Some years later (in fact many years later) we happened to be in Arbroath and I took the notion to go back to Kingsley House just to see it, and was rather shocked to discover it was now a hostel for men.  Ach well!

Another of the highlights, apart from the swimming pool was the miniature railway, and we had many a ride on it when along that end of the town.  

So I was sad today to see that after eighty five years, the miniature railway is to close due to lack of passengers.  It was run by the same family for all its life, and must have brought joy to a great many children......and adults too!  

A sign of the times.

Very hot today, 23C in the garden, nice to sit out but not to work!