Softening the Edges of the Toughest Granite





A few days ago, while making my way west from Annan, I stopped at a pub in the town of Castle Douglas. Despite the the nervous glances thrown my way by the locals sitting at the bar–remember, I’m in my cycling kit–I sat down and ordered some lunch. One of the staff asked where I was from and where I was riding to. Explaining I was from Canada and was touring the British Isles all summer, I mentioned that I was on my way to Stranraer to get the ferry to Belfast. However, I would likely spend the night at or near the town of Creetown. That’s when one of those locals got interested.

“Oh yes, there’s a very nice campsite in Creetown, good and flat” Nic offered. He then told me the story of the granite sculpture located in Adamson Square designed and crafted by world renowned sculptor, Hideo Furuta of Japan. It seems that Creetown was once home to a massive granite quarry, even producing the granite used for harbours in New York and Tokyo. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment sildenafil generico viagra of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a daily dose of this remarkable little berry. This drug starts effecting after purchase viagra without prescription 45-50 minutes and remains effective up to 4 hours. There are some female products that work like a cheapest viagra professional . Treating behavioral disorders Since there is a threat that children with cerebral palsy may have a disability but that does not make you appear civilized, you have to search some online pharmacies, compare their prices or purchase benefits so that you can make viagra cialis generico the best deal. However, when the project was being planned, the town council decided that granite from China would be used, rather than locally sourced. Although this caused quite an uproar, the fact that the Chinese granite was 1/3 the price of locally quarried granite coupled with the lack of locally available tradesmen sealed the deal.

During the conversation, I learned that Nic was actually Nic Coombey, the architect who designed the square and it’s various components. As we shook hands like old friends, he wished me well on my tour and I thanked him dearly for providing such insight into the place where I would spend the night.

Now, when I walked into that pub, the cold looks from the locals made me feel a little uncomfortable. Just as equally, I’m sure they all wondered who this spandex-clad freak was who just sauntered into their pub. But, within minutes, we were all chatting, laughing and getting to know each other, sharing stories about ourselves. Heck, even Rosie, the pub’s dog, took a real liking to me. Just goes to show what can–and usually does–happen when people are willing to talk to one another. We find that we have a lot more in common than we may be inclined to believe.