Ruins

Thursday. Day four of this bout of not having a car. Despite the recession, garages aren't returning my calls and the underwriters at leasing companies are dragging their heels. And I'm too busy to chase them up.

Today I needed to get myself across to the town to see Milly off on her trip to India and then I needed to go and pick up a hire car to get myself to Glasgow.

Plan A was to get up early, sort out the bike and cycle in but reviewing this plan over a coffee I realised it was going to be too complicated with the bike and that I'd walk. This meant I could sit in bed savouring my coffee a bit longer, too, as I wouldn't need to mess about with the bicycle pump. Perfect.

I made it to school in time to receive a heartfelt hug from Milly and then I had to walk along the A65 to the garage to pick up the car. Just before you reach the garage, just off the road is this ruin. I'm not really very sure what it is to be honest. I think is a set of barns and I think there must have been a room above one of the stables, with the outside steps leading up to it. I guess the animals below would have kept the upstairs room warm if farm workers wanted to sleep there. A sort of primitive central heating.

I read somewhere that it would have been in a room similar to the downstairs one where Jesus would have been born, if the Bible stories were true. I understand that the word "inn" was was mistranslated and the family were actually allowed to stay in with animals under a house. These acknowledged mistranslations trouble me a little, not least the translation of a word meaning "maiden" as "virgin", which seems pretty pivotal.

Anyway, religious debate to one side, I uploaded the rest of the photos to here.