Cool but dry ....
30th
June 2020 (Tuesday) 06.30 ... I have a washing going through
the
machine; the good news being that today’s rain isn’t
forecast to arrive until later in the afternoon, by which time the washing
should be dry. At the moment we have a
cool breeze from the West with ‘attractive’ looking clouds.... hopefully that’s
all they are ....’attractive’ and not ‘active’ as far as dropping their
contents go. The roads are dry so I
hope to get out on the bike after breakfast.
12.00 I have been keeping an eye on the weather
and managed to get my, very nearly dry, washing in before a shower of rain came
over ... the rain wasn’t supposed to happen until 16.00. Naughty clouds. However I am a happy boy .... my new camera
is on its way and should be here tomorrow.
I’ll have a ‘lite bite lunch’ the do some research. |
| 'Our Christine' working in Elie Bay. |
I’ve
been out on the bike and went through Elie Estate where I found the road drier
than I’d expected: I forgot to go for
the paper on my way home but did remember to go to the harbour. The road to the harbour is still traffic
free but that will change soon and, after the early part of the morning, the
harbour will be ‘out of bounds’ for this boy.
 |
| Elie House. |
15.00 With the afternoon being wet and me having
to stay in for a delivery tomorrow I decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and take a
trip to ‘The Store’ (Anstruther). I
didn’t have a list in mind, just a browse to see how the shop was operating,
and on the way round I’d pick up ‘stuff’..
After I’m ‘moored up’ in the ‘Store’ car park I donned mask and gloves,
found trolley and bumbled in. The
first thing I noticed was that I was the only one I could see that was wearing
a mask and gloves... and that I had to follow the arrows. So ‘nae problem’ at all. I picked up fruit (kiwi fruit for the first
time in three months) and veg on the way round, toffee yogurts (my favourite) some tines, marmalade bread and that was more or less ‘it’. ‘It’ added up to £32 so I must have got ‘goodies
as well! The cashier’s were behind a
shield so nae problem paying. The most
surprising thing of the whole mission was that, I think I was the only shopper wearing a mask and gloves.
20.30 This has been a different kind of day for
me: I’ve been to ‘The Store’ and
browsed
up and down the aisles.... and it’s the furthest I’ve been in the car since
March 20th. I was surprised by the
lack of face masks and gloves though there was hand sanitizer at the entrance
so I guess I don’t need to take the gloves with me.... you have to assume
everyone uses the sanitizer and therefore no virus can get into the shop or onto anything
in it. Good in theory but not in
practice, as I saw at least two people going in without using the sanitizer: however
I really enjoyed the feeling of being back to some kind of normal. I might venture to B n Q’s in Leven next.
 |
| Busy sky and a lovely beach. |
Chrissie and Margaret Dunsire: I don’t
think there is a family connection between the Dunsire’s and the A’Deane’s.
 |
| Ashcott Homestead today. |
Ashcott Homestead originated in the 1850’s
when two brothers, John and Walter Tucker, from Ashcott in Somerset settled
there. They had worked on a few sheep
stations (New Zealand is covered in sheep)and got parcel of land, cleared it and set up
their own sheep station. Both brothers
made trips back to England, Walter in 1860;
he didn’t go back to New Zealand and eventually emigrated to Canada; John came back to England in 1863 to marry
Maria Bayly. It is now that the name “A’Deane” comes in.: To get a large bequest that Maria’s
Grandfather (his mother was a “Deane”) had left her, John had to change his
name from Tucker to “A’Deane” .... this was done by Deed Poll in 1865. John went back to Ashcott Homestead (New Zealand) with his new
wife and settled down to life as a well to do farmer, with a huge amount of
land on which he kept 18,000 sheep and 800 head of cattle. He became deeply involved with the local area,
eventually becoming a member of Hawke’s Bay
Provincial Council and local philanthropist.
 |
| Billiard room. |
The original Homestead was enlarged and was
converted from a bungalow to two storey building in the 1890’s and stood at the
end of a 14 kilometre driveway where they could entertain, and have house,
guests. By the middle 1920’s the guest
book contained some internationally well known names including The Prince of
Wales who went on to become King Edward VIII. Lord Jellicoe, Lord Baden Powell
and... Margaret and Chrissie Dunsire from Earlsferry! I assume it became a Guest House ‘open’ to
paying customers which is why Chrissie and Margaret ended up staying
there. I will have to do a bit more
research to find out if there was some connection between the A’Deane and
Dunsire families.
 |
| Staircase. |
The building remained in the A’Deane
family until 1970 when Margaret (Mrs Marshall A’Deane) died. It was locked up but ended up being used to
store grain and hay and eventually became a hippy/artists commune for a while before
it was declared an Historic building, in
1983, and totally renovated by its new owners. Ashcott Homestead stands in
10 acres of the original land holding just off Highway 50 so is in a perfect
place for tourists.
Photos courtesy Ashcott Homestead website.
