Appreciating today and all that it brings
Last week I spent the afternoon with some students from Stirling University, mostly Americans.
We were in a cold, damp field to one side of the relief road to the east of Stirling.
We were also in asmall portion of the ground of Bannockburn House that was cut off from the main grounds by the road.
The field had been in effect part of the front garden of Bannockburn House for the last 3-400 years and not subject to the same intensive ploughing as the surrounding fields.
In the corner of this field was a 50m stretch of old road that was just discovered last year.
No one had ever walked the field to look for anything until six months ago. So the road was at least 3-400 years old and may have been much older, perhaps a Roman Road resurfaced?
Perhaps it was used in the Battle of Sauchieburn?
We won’t know till we dig it, which will hopefully happen over the next year.
The afternoon with the students, (all with the permission of the wonderful Bannockburn House’s trustees) was the first step to fully dating the road.
Once the students had gone I walked the road from end to end, climbing over fallen trees and the general neglect of the years.
One end is blocked by a stone dyke I was standing literally at the end of road.
Beyond the dyke was a flat field that was about to become houses for a new generation of people moving to Stirling.
There is no moral or lesson here just that things change, they always will.
Your shiny new road will eventually become redundant, people will find some other route. So take time to appreciate today and all that it brings.