Revealed ...

At last the sun came out today, and despite what is turning out to be a right stinker of a cold I couldn't resist a walk down beyond Toward in the late afternoon. This view of Castle Toward through the trees is a new one - I'm sure the new owners of the castle have cut down some of the intervening woodland to give them a look at the sunset. I don't imagine we'll ever be able to walk through these grounds again; after roaming freely for the past 25 years or so it's amazing how much I resent being shut out.

I'm adding a very unglamorous second photo: the road past this end of the castle on towards the farms of the Ardyne area has been completely wrecked by - presumably - the wheels of tractors, the passing lorries from the gravel pit and the action of ice and snow over the winter. There are alarming potholes as well as this complete denudation of the surface - it'll be interesting to see how long they're left in this state.