IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Cross Street, TAYPORT, DD6 9NH

It is unusual, though not unheard of, to see stained glass windows outside churches, and occasional masonic lodges. There was actually a more abstract one further down the street on the other side. This one may be an obvious nod to some bit of popular culture that has bypassed me, but all I see is a young, quite jaunty boy, from behind wearing a pair of braces!

Much to the amusement of people at times I always carry a tape measure with me in my trouser pocket. This used to be for work purposes, but the habit has stuck, and I feel vindicated at least once a week when it comes to an unlikely rescue. However, on this occasion I felt too self-conscious to use it. A delivery driver was popping in and out to load up, and one person was standing in the extremely small waiting area - I did wonder, under the current covid distancing rules, whether it was actually legal to have two people in this tiny building at the same time! My guess is that the main bit of the building is about nine foot square - if not at the top of the smallest takeaway table it must surely be in the top few? Large-scale mapping from about 100 years ago shows that back then there were no buildings at all on this section of Elizabeth Street. The next large-scale map, fifty years on, shows there being a slightly larger building here, and on that map it is, as now, at the bottom of somebody's back garden. Better there than below your living room at least! The plot must predate the houses I reckon.

The long ninth hole at Scotscraig from behind and right of the green.

The second hole at Scotscraig looking to the green with the clubhouse beyond.

In Southern Europe, where Catholicism is the dominant form of Christianity, almost all rural churches are white. In Britain they are usually indistiguishable from the other grey or brown churches though. What caught my eye about this one, apart from its whiteness, was its odd name. I should have written it down, as Historic Scotland names it as 'St Mary Star The Sea RC Church'. I think someone along the line has missed an 'of' out. 'Star of the Sea' is the English transcription of the Latin 'Stella Maris'. According to lengthy articles on Wikipedia and elsewhere though, this extra name for the Virgin Mary came about due to a mistaken translation between Hebrew and Latin, and has endured for over a thousand years. So what's done is done and coastal RC churches often adopt this name. It has also bestowed on Mary a protector of those at sea status. The church was built in 1939 and could do with being tarted up a bit in all honesty!

Wall of Scott and Fyffe, Links Road.