(no subject)
I drive to work every day along a road called the A71 which goes from Edinburgh westwards right across Scotland to Irvine in Ayrshire, but until today I had never been further along the A71 than the turnoff for my office, about 16 miles from Edinburgh. So this lunchtime, since I had nothing better to do, I headed westwards into the wide blue yonder like a frontiersman in search of people to eat and injuns to shoot. I travelled the four miles to West Calder, which turns out to be an utterly typical traditional Scottish small town with stone buildings, pubs, etc. I passed signs to the nearby Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre and Five Sisters Zoo Park, both of which are surely attractive tourist destinations. The latter has otters, goats, porcupines, civets, crocodiles, and some birds; the former I assume has mostly dogs. I continued west, like Lewis and Clark scouting the wilds of Missouri. West Calder seems to be the point where the suburban commuter belt comes to an end and you're into the desolate upland bit of central Scotland, following the Shotts railway line through yellow fields and gentle hills. I passed Breich station, which is used by 53 passengers annually, and found an exciting rollercoaster-like section of the A706 between the A704 and A71. Next time I may head all the way to Shotts, known for its prison but formerly a mining and industrial town, one of the most isolated points in Scotland's central belt. I may or may not return.