Knight Club

The first Sunday of the month, and the Spokes Ride is going to West Lothian. Actually I tell a fib, we cycled through West Lothian and out the other side to Falkirk and Muiravonside Country Park. The weather had been so good recently I planned a picnic ride for Sunday.

Ah well best laid plans of mice and men and all that. While I was gathering a coffee from the small cafe, the rain made an appearance. Fortunately there are sheltered places at the park to picnic in.

After lunch, the rain eases off and we head west then south, and then up hill to Torphichen. This is the village where the Knights Hospitaller were given land to build a Preceptory, a church used as the order's local headquarters.

However, the blip is of Torphichen Inn, which seems to have links to the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar had their Preceptory at Balantrodach, now Temple in Midlothian. The only connection I can find is that Lord Torphichen was the last Master of the Knights Templar before their dissolution in 1307. Although the order continued north of the Firth of Forth until 1553 when Sir James Sandilands, Preceptor of the Order, converted to Protestantism.

Why the pub has no Knights Hospitaller stuff I don't know. I will have to pay the bar a visit sometime and find out.