Sundial

Following a grocery-shopping trip into Falkirk on Thursday, I drove over to Airth for a wander around.

Some years ago Falkirk Council produced a series of booklets describing walks that can be done in various localities in the Council area, and I used an online saved version of the Airth one as a guide to some of the village's highlights, while not necessarily following any particular suggested route. Airth is not a big place!

For my Blip, then, I have posted a picture of the village's Mercat Cross. Dating from 1697 it is described as being one of the oldest structures in the village. It was a replacement for an earlier 'mercat cross' which since the 17th century has been called the 'headless cross' and which now sits in the middle of a rather prestigious housing development. (My, there are some expensive-looking houses up there! I felt quite out of place.)

Still, I managed to get a 5km meander out of it, with just a bit of retracing of steps when confronted with a couple of 'no unauthorised access' signs (don't suppose they've heard of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code) and a bit of going 'off piste' when a marked path on the OS map on my phone led me into an overgrown wilderness. But, hey, that's half the fun.