The things you do in retirement....

Today I had to visit my uncle in hospital in Dumfries.

Opposite their house is the large cemetery where my paternal grandparents (and an old bachelor great-uncle) are buried. Many times I have looked for the grave unsuccessfully. But finding the Lair Certificate in my mother's paperwork, I set off with new hopes.

I still had no luck until I met a young gravedigger who went out of his way to help look. Eventually he phoned his office to consult the Burial Maps, and he and I arrived at this poor faded marker.

My grandfather died tragically when I was four years old. I can just remember the police coming to the door. The family business had crashed, and my heroic father - rather than accept the stigma of bankruptcy - sold all that they had, house and all, and then (while going blind) spent the next many years paying off the debts. An amazing, generous man.