The Electric Brae

With half the band off Gallivanting round Europe, Nigel in Italy and Lee in France, obviously, in an attempt to keep up, I ended up in Ayr yesterday.

Burns Country they call it. I didn't see any fires though.

I did take a drive by Burn's Cottage, although didn't go in, Rab's got the painters in at the moment, and the were also touching up the thatched roof. But i reckon a proper day wandering around the Burn's Heritage Centre and Burn's cottage is on the cards soon. He was quite a cool guy, and i think its time i learned a bit more about him. I did take a wander over the Brig O'Doon, the bridge featured in the climax of Tam O'Shanter where Tam's Horse Meg leaps to Safety over the River Doon since the witches can't cross running water and saves Tam, losing her tail in the process. That was beautiful. The bridge was built in the 1400's and is all cobbled and old school and the view up and down the River Doon is rather splendid.

The highlight of the afternoon was driving round to the Electric Brae (also known as Croy Brae) which is a quarter of a mile stretch on a wee hill on the Ayrshire Coast. If you stop your car on the hill, and take the brakes off, your car rolls up hill. I stopped in both directions so i got to experience the car rolling backwards and forwards up the hill. In less enlightened times they thought it was caused by an electric/magnetic current within the Brae (thus the name) but these days they reckon its an optical illusion because of the way the land lies around it, and whilst it looks like you are rolling up a slope, you are in fact rolling down. In my opinion its no optical illusion and rather than being electromagnetism, its actually magic. These Scientists dont know what they are talking about.

Gav