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Scottish Digest Podcast is a production of cluarantonn.com

Hosted and Researched by Dawn

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Dawn [0:00 – 0:56]: Welcome to another episode of Scottish Digest. In this episode, we will be speaking to Theshira from the podcast Legendary Africa, who will be talking to us about their favourite place in Scotland, South Queensferry, which is a town about 10 miles northwest of Edinburgh. As I said, Thushira is the host of the podcast Legendary Africa, which is your gateway to the mythical, magical and legendary world of the African continent, where Theshira tells tales of going searching for Egyptian treasure and encountering dragons, witches, fairies and magicians along the way. Hi, Theshira. It’s lovely to have you on the podcast.

Theshira [0:56 – 0:59]: Thank you so much. I’m so glad I finally made it.

Dawn [1:00 – 1:02]: So tell us a bit about you and your podcast.

Theshira [1:03 – 2:19]: Legendary Africa is essentially a podcast where I tell and retell African myth, legends and lore. Sometimes I, you know, stick to the original quite a lot, or sometimes if I only have, like a little bit to work from, then I sort of, you know, add my little flair and that sort of thing. I just want to make it interesting for people to listen to while also making them aware of certain African myths and legends that I think a lot of people don’t necessarily know about. It was a podcast that actually started with my sister in Covid, during COVID time, the height of COVID in 2020. It used to be called Legendary. And we were initially looking at a whole bunch of, like, world myths and stuff like that. And we realised there’s a lot of podcasts out there that are doing the same thing, which is amazing. And a lot of better podcasts than ours, to be honest. But we didn’t see that many African centred religions. And I’m South African, so it kind of made sense that. Let’s talk about our culture a little bit. So we switched it and we changed into Legendary Africa, which we did for, I think, a couple of months. Unfortunately, my sister passed away in 2020, so I continued to do it without her. Oh, the Shera. Yeah. No. Oh, Shagesh. I’m really sorry.

Dawn [2:19 – 2:21]: I didn’t know that. Oh, my goodness.

Theshira [2:21 – 2:23]: No, it’s all. It’s all good.

Dawn [2:23 – 2:23]: I’m sorry.

Theshira [2:23 – 2:51]: Thank you. Thank you so much. I mean, 2020 was crazy for everybody. Yeah. So I know I initially thought I’m gonna not do it, but, you know, I really. I really like doing it. I still like doing it even though it’s on break. And so I said, you know what? I think she would have liked me to have continued with it because, you know, something that we did together and it was lots of fun and now it’s just Me and my voice. But, I mean, it’s still, you know, it’s still good fun. But anyway, I didn’t mean to make this sad.

Dawn [2:51 – 3:12]: No, no. Goodness, I’m sorry. I didn’t even realise that I haven’t read. I don’t think I listened to the beginning ones, but I have listened to the later ones from last year and you’ve got a beautiful voice. I mean, it’s really perfect quality and everything. So I really, you know, I enjoy listening, but I feel really bad. I didn’t realise about your sister. So apologies.

Theshira [3:12 – 3:38]: No, I mean, to be perfectly honest, the first few episodes are trash. Like, don’t listen to them. Quality is bad. We didn’t know what you were doing. It was mostly us, just like, I don’t know, going on for 10 minutes, but who knows what. So, you know, if you’re dedicated, go listen to it. But anybody who’s listening to us right now, don’t bother. Don’t bother. Start from. Start from when I took over, really, because then, you know, the quality just got so much better.

Dawn [3:40 – 3:53]: A lot of people say when they first start listening, when they find a podcast, they like to go back to the beginning and listen to the Journey. And I’m like, no, don’t listen to the Journey. Just. I don’t. I don’t listen to the Journey. I like the new. I know what our journey is like.

Theshira [3:54 – 4:00]: In our case, the journey is rough. It is bumpy. Nobody needs to hear that.

Dawn [4:02 – 4:03]: Exactly.

Theshira [4:03 – 4:20]: But, yeah, there’s loads of episodes that you can go listen to, except for the first 10. You know, there’s lots of stuff from. I can’t even remember what I did, to be honest. There’s, like Ghana and Nigeria and stories from Tanzania. Lots of stuff.

Dawn [4:21 – 4:25]: It’s interesting. It’s a nice little niche as well, isn’t it? Because that’s. It’s where you’re from.

Theshira [4:25 – 4:34]: No. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I hope that people will enjoy. I started actually another podcast because, you know, if you don’t have time for one, surely you’ll have time for two.

Dawn [4:36 – 4:37]: What was the other one?

Theshira [4:38 – 4:55]: That one I called the Asian Tapestry because I am Indian. I’m. My heritage is from South India, so I started doing Indian fairy tales and stuff like that, which is actually really fun and exciting, which obviously has also gotten a break because I can’t do two podcasts and the rest of everything.

Dawn [4:56 – 5:03]: So you’re living in Edinburgh just now, but the place you used to live in, the place that you are going to talk about today, which is.

Theshira [5:04 – 5:11]: I’M in Edinburgh, but I used to live in South Queensbury and I’m going to talk about South Queensbury and North Queensbury, if you don’t mind.

Dawn [5:12 – 5:18]: Oh, are you, you snuck that in there. Tashira. I haven’t done North Queen Fairy research, so.

Theshira [5:18 – 5:30]: So just a little bit, just a little bit. Because, because it’s just, it’s just across the bridge and so, you know, and this is such a great cafe and I just, I just have stuff to talk about there. I’m so sorry. It was unprepared.

Dawn [5:30 – 5:42]: No, because just before I started recording, I’m saying, telling my husband, I was speaking to you about South Queensberry and he said, oh, is that where the, the. What was it? He said, was it the zoo or the. He said the zoo or the.

Theshira [5:42 – 5:45]: Oh, SeaWorld. SeaWorld. It’s in North Queensworth.

Dawn [5:45 – 5:57]: I didn’t see that in my research. And he said it was definitely there the last time I was there. And it was definitely. It wasn’t. It’s not, it can’t be there anymore. And he said it’s a north. The SeaWorld. I’m not doing North Queensbury.

Theshira [5:57 – 6:03]: Well, I haven’t, I haven’t been to the SeaWorld, but from what I hear, apparently it’s shit.

Dawn [6:03 – 6:12]: Oh, right, okay. Well, maybe Peter’s standards are a little bit lower. He enjoyed it.

Theshira [6:12 – 6:20]: He needs to go to the. He needs to go to Ushaka in South Africa in Durban. That’s an aquarium. That’s a SeaWorld.

Dawn [6:20 – 6:21]: Fair enough, fair enough.

Theshira [6:22 – 6:24]: You can do destinations in South Africa some other time.

Dawn [6:26 – 6:32]: Go on then. Tell us when you moved across South Queensferry and what you did. All about it.

Theshira [6:32 – 6:59]: Yeah. So South Queensferry was the first place that I, that I came to when I first arrived in Edinburgh in the. I think it was end of 2021, first time moving away from home, which probably sounds a bit silly considering I was like 20, mid-20s already. But you know, from South Africa to Edinburgh was probably a 22 hour flight, which is crazy.

Dawn [6:59 – 7:00]: Why Edinburgh?

Theshira [7:00 – 7:55]: Oh, well, you know, I don’t really know why. So I think my fascination with Scotland kind of came from my mom for some reason. My mom is absolutely in love with Scotland and anything to do with Scottish culture, she’s really. Yeah, yeah. We came to the uk, we visited the UK in, I think when I was like three or four, something like that. And she didn’t get to Scotland, she went to England, a bit of London, a bit of. I don’t know if she went a bit to Wales. But they never got to Scotland. She was so disappointed. One of the reasons being that she absolutely adores the castles. She loves castle, anything to do with castles. So she’s like, you know, Scotland is the place to be. So I think I absorbed a little bit of that and I was like, you know, Scotland sounds amazing. And so what I’ve heard, people are lovely, which is obviously true, because I’ve not obviously unfriendly Scottish people yet. So, I mean, maybe, you know.

Dawn [7:56 – 7:57]: No, never.

Theshira [7:59 – 8:20]: So, yeah, so Edinburgh just, you know, seemed amazing, but what really cemented was the supervisor. My supervisor. Edinburgh University is just like, perfect for my. For my thesis. And so I was like, well, it’s fate. Clearly, I’m supposed to be here, got a scholarship and managed to get my bum over here, which is amazing.

Dawn [8:20 – 8:25]: And you moved to. That was when you went to South Queens Ferry. You stayed there initially?

Theshira [8:25 – 8:37]: Yeah, yeah, that’s when I went to. I was in South Queensford for two years, actually. I just moved out of there last month. And it’s. It’s an amazing place. I don’t know if you’ve. You said your puppy’s been to north.

Dawn [8:37 – 8:41]: I haven’t. No, I haven’t been. So how far away is it from Edinburgh?

Theshira [8:42 – 8:54]: I think on a bus, you’re probably about 54 to 60 minutes away from Edinburgh City. So I was. I’ve been commuting, really, 54 minutes on a bus for two years.

Dawn [8:54 – 9:00]: Oh, my God. I didn’t realise it was so far. Oh, is that. Does it take lots of detours on the bus?

Theshira [9:00 – 9:18]: No. What was so. So South Queens View. Right. It’s a town, but it’s basically a village. It’s really a village because there’s only about. There’s like one main bus that services the area. 43. Love the 43. It’s green, it’s a country bus. It doesn’t have good suspension.

Dawn [9:18 – 9:19]: Oh, no.

Theshira [9:19 – 9:49]: But it’s so much fun, you know, it’s great. It’s very bumpy, but it’s lots of fun. Also, the drivers, I have so much respect for them because the country roads are tiny, but they zoom, like, say, zoom down. And I’m like, I could be dying. But they seem to be in control. It’s fine. So, you know the one bus that takes you into inversity, essentially, so that takes about 54 minutes, but if you have a car, you can drive in maybe 20 minutes. But good luck parking at Edinburgh City.

Dawn [9:49 – 10:00]: So I read that it sits on the shore of the first of the fourth, with the bridges Sort of looming over it. The bridges. Tell us about them. They’re beautiful.

Theshira [10:00 – 11:19]: The bridges are my favourite part of South Queensbury. I mean, I had researched a little bit about South Queensby before I moved there because. So slightly backtracking when I was trying to find a place in Edinburgh, all the way in South Africa. I mean, you know, I’m sure, you know, the rental, the renting market is crazy now then all the time. So I didn’t find a place until about a week before my flight and I was kind of panicking. I had a feeling that I was gonna probably stay over at a friend’s house just to try and find someplace. But at the last minute, this place came through and so I was like, oh, South Queensbury. Okay, let me research a bit about it. Fun little town. And then I saw, oh, okay, it’s home to these UNESCO bridges. That’s really cool. Then I got there and, my goodness, it is actually the most fabulous thing that I’ve ever seen. So, you know, the three bridges connect Edinburgh with Fife, the Kingdom of Fife. I think it’s Fife. Correct me if I’m wrong, Fife is the ending. And what’s really cool is that each of the bridges span three centuries because they were built in 1890 and then 1964. 19. I think it’s 2016 or 2017, I can’t remember.

Dawn [11:19 – 11:22]: 2017. I’ve got that. Yeah, I looked at that one.

Theshira [11:22 – 11:35]: Excellent. The fourth bridge, the railway bridge, though, is. Is my favourite, the oldest bridge. And I’m sure you’ve seen. You’ve seen it or you’ve seen pictures of it, but it’s.

Dawn [11:35 – 11:36]: Is that the red one?

Theshira [11:36 – 12:39]: That’s the. That’s the red one. It’s really, really nice. It just looks. I mean, it could be that I just really like old architecture because, I mean, the most recent one is fabulous. It’s really cool. It looks a bit like shark fins, which is fun. But I really like the old architecture. I think I’ve been across the railway bridge a couple of times. It’s a really, really short train ride, maybe three minutes. So I think a lot of people are like, well, it’s not worth it unless you’re travelling further in. But I mean, even just for that short little trip, I really think it’s worth it. You get some great views of the Firth, as you’re saying, to actually get a really nice view of it. You can just walk down to the shore in Queensbury, which I’ve done loads of times. It’s a lovely colour and especially in the mornings or the late evenings, and then on a sunny day, you get the reflection of the bridge and the sea and it’s just beautiful. I’ve probably taken like 40 photos of the one bridge.

Dawn [12:40 – 12:50]: There was one photo you sent me, it was off the bridge in the background, you know, and you were down low and it was a little lighthouse, like a little stone lighthouse just in the foreground.

Theshira [12:50 – 12:51]: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dawn [12:51 – 12:52]: Do you remember taking that one?

Theshira [12:52 – 12:55]: Yeah. So that’s actually a North Queensbury.

Dawn [12:55 – 12:58]: Ah, no, I’ve done this.

Theshira [12:58 – 13:19]: No, no, no. But actually, I think so. You kind of have to talk about them together because north and south used to be one. They used to be just Queensbury until they got separated at some point. Don’t ask me when, I don’t know. But that lighthouse in North Queensbury. I know, I know we’re jumping a little bit, but it’s the world’s smallest lighthouse and it still works.

Dawn [13:19 – 13:22]: Really? Yeah, it’s really cute.

Theshira [13:22 – 13:35]: It’s tiny. I don’t know if the picture does it justice, like, if you can see how small it is, but it’s. I don’t know if you can stand up if you go in, but apparently the staircase is tiny. I’ve never been inside it because there’s a staircase.

Dawn [13:36 – 13:37]: You hardly need a staircase.

Theshira [13:39 – 14:08]: I know, but that’s so great. I kind of wish that it was open, but it relies on volunteers, so whenever I go there, it’s never open. But anyway. Yeah. So back to the bridges a little bit. So I love the railway bridge. The fourth road bridge, which is the second oldest one, is my favourite. That’s the pedestrian bridge and I’ve walked over that countless times. Walking over it there and back, you get your 10,000 steps, so it’s really worth it.

Dawn [14:08 – 14:11]: Oh, yeah, that’s good. A nice view again.

Theshira [14:11 – 14:35]: Beautiful views Again, again. Where I take most of my photos is up there. I mean, it’s really nice because you get to see the boats coming in under the bridge and we’ve had some really cool ships, actually. We’ve had a warship, a really big helicarrier, which just about fit under the bridges, which is a bit terrifying because the rail bridge is, back when it was built, is quite low compared to the other two, so you have to be. It’s a bit stressful when something comes under them.

Dawn [14:35 – 14:36]: I bet it was.

Theshira [14:37 – 15:07]: I know, yeah. But yeah, the road bridge was great. I mean, that’s the bridge that I walked over to get to North Queensbury. So you get to just walk over, come down some steps and you’re in North Queensbury, which is also such a cute place. And then the Queensferry crossing. The latest bridge is really, really impressive. I’ve been across it a couple of times, but because I don’t drive, I don’t have a car, I don’t think I appreciate it as much as the other two bridges.

Dawn [15:07 – 15:28]: I think I’ve been across that one. I think I’ve driven across that one numerous times. But, yeah, it didn’t really blow me away. Oh, I do remember that one because it looks like ship’s masts from a distance. You can see it from quite far away and it just looks like the ship’s masts are. You think, oh, wow, what’s that? And then you get closer than it. So, yeah, I think it looked quite cool from a distance.

Theshira [15:28 – 15:58]: No, it is. And you’re right. Yeah, I think it’s, as you say, the ship’s master, quite impressive because especially at night when it’s all lit up, it’s really quite. That’s quite impressive. And when you’re driving alongside it with all the lights, it’s quite a fun experience. I think it depends on what you like. If you like modern architecture, if you like old architecture, that’s going to affect which ones you like. But the. The bridges are definitely, like, my favourite thing about Queensferry. Aside from the people, of course. Of course.

Dawn [15:59 – 16:05]: Come on, you made a slip there, didn’t you? It’s the bridges you came for, wasn’t it?

Theshira [16:05 – 16:12]: It’s the. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s the bridges. Oh, it’s the bridges and the. And the fairy festival. I don’t know if you. If you heard about the fairy festival at all.

Dawn [16:12 – 16:17]: I was going to ask you about that. Tell me about that. Yeah, I had a look at it.

Theshira [16:17 – 16:47]: So the Fiery Fair is something that I also read about when I was going to Cumbere and I was like, no, this can’t be a thing. Right. Because it’s a fair that has origins in pagan terms. And I was like, this is amazing. I’m a classicist. So the fact that there’s a pagan ritual, I was like, okay, my life is made. And then I actually saw it. So one of the main parts of that fair is the Buryman Festival.

Dawn [16:48 – 16:53]: Yeah, I didn’t. I didn’t understand that. Tell us about. What did they do to the man?

Theshira [16:53 – 17:53]: So. So he’s not. Okay, so first of all, disclaimer. He’s not naked. Because that’s something that I initially thought before I came here. I thought that it was this naked guy that was covered in sticky burrs. But no, no, no, he’s got his clothes on, thankfully. And essentially, from what I can understand, the process is that several days before the fair they collect all these burrs and they spend hours sort of sticking the burs all over his body. Like literally his entire body is covered head to toe in these sticky burrs. And the poor guy has to walk around and he’s carrying. I can’t remember what he carries exactly, whether it’s a torch or something. He has to walk around the entire town from like 8am to half past 4 in the afternoon carrying these two things. And he has to stop at every pub and have a thing to drink. A beer to drink, of course, or an ale or something like that.

Dawn [17:54 – 17:56]: Through a straw. Through a straw.

Theshira [17:56 – 18:16]: And he can’t let go. He can’t, he can’t let go of these. Whatever he’s holding his hand. So someone else has to literally be helping him drink throughout the day. And he just walks around and stands and takes photos of people. And, you know, I’ve gotten some photos myself of him, which I appreciate. I don’t think I sent it to you. I must do that.

Dawn [18:16 – 18:20]: You didn’t, you didn’t. You have to send it. I’m desperate to see what he looks like.

Theshira [18:20 – 18:36]: Oh, he looks so interesting. I mean, he has to be a local Queensberry man, apparently. And it just looks so uncomfortable because, I mean, it’s in August so it’s not that cold yet, you know. And poor guy, he must be a sweaty mess underneath all that.

Dawn [18:36 – 18:40]: I couldn’t believe it when I read that. I was like, they do what, Joe?

Theshira [18:40 – 18:41]: Exactly.

Dawn [18:41 – 18:43]: It was strange.

Theshira [18:44 – 19:23]: It’s great though. It’s good fun. I mean, after that there’s. I think there’s games and activities throughout the day. You’ve got. Oh, there was a bunch of alpacas, a couple of alpacas that were brought in to entertain the children, which I found hilarious. Yeah, there’s races for the kids and then there’s a town race people compete in and, oh, there’s a weightlifting challenge. But like you have to carry these. I can’t remember how heavy they are, but very, very heavy weights up high street. And that’s intense looking. Obviously I didn’t try it because I got skeletons.

Dawn [19:26 – 19:29]: And that’s called the fairy fear, isn’t it?

Theshira [19:29 – 19:30]: Yes, Fairy fair.

Dawn [19:31 – 19:37]: Like they’ve just thrown everything at it, Just everything strange. They’ll do it.

Theshira [19:37 – 19:55]: Yeah, I know. It’s really cool though. I mean, I think. And Then yeah, it was really cool to find out that the Bariman thing goes back to pagan times apparently. I think they said it was supposed to be some sort of like agricultural fertility ritual, that the crops may grow well or something like that. That’s what they think might have been.

Dawn [19:56 – 20:03]: So what else did you do? There’s some beautiful. You’ve sent me some photos of. So there was the ferry tap. Now which side is that on?

Theshira [20:03 – 20:35]: That’s on the High street of South Queensbury. Along the high street there’s some great little shops and restaurants. There’s a couple like if you want that are boutique reds shops is there. There’s hairdressers, all the usual something. And then the Fairy Cap is like probably one of the most popular pubs in Queensbury. I haven’t really like gone in there properly but outside is just beautiful. But it’s very popular with locals. That and I think it’s Horzgen, which. It’s H A W E S. I’m.

Dawn [20:35 – 20:36]: Glad you clarified that.

Theshira [20:36 – 20:37]: Not anything else.

Dawn [20:38 – 20:40]: You saw me read it. Say what?

Theshira [20:40 – 21:21]: Yeah, it’s because the first time I read it I was like oh, O. Right. But that’s down on the shore. That’s also quite popular but yes, the very tempest. And then there’s a great restaurant called the Rocker Pier. I think I may have sent you a photo of the Rocker Pier Hotel which is just next to the restaurant and that is a great little restaurant. I mean you get the best view of the bridges from there. I’ve been there a couple of times and I’ve been to some other restaurants but that one is definitely like my favourite, the Scottish mussels.

Dawn [21:21 – 21:24]: Oh yeah, beautiful. I saw the photo of that.

Theshira [21:25 – 21:35]: That was good. Yeah. Also the other, the beer battered fish and chips, which sounds silly that you go to a restaurant for fish and chips but honestly the fish and chips was amazing.

Dawn [21:36 – 21:46]: Oh no, I used to always eat fish and chips. That was always scampion chips for me. That was everywhere. Every pub I went and scoped. Scampionship. Scampionships still get it.

Theshira [21:46 – 21:46]: Seafood.

Dawn [21:46 – 21:48]: It’s just seafood.

Theshira [21:48 – 21:50]: It’s just. It’s just so good. Yeah, I know.

Dawn [21:50 – 21:51]: It’s so good.

Theshira [21:51 – 21:53]: I’m getting slightly angry now, so.

Dawn [21:53 – 22:05]: I know, I know, I know. Let’s move on, let’s move on. They also sent me lots of photos of nice walks through wooded areas and was that your dog or. There was a dog in one of the photos. Is that yours?

Theshira [22:05 – 22:14]: No. So sadly, no, I don’t have a dog which is very sad because I love dogs. I’ve got two fur babies at home though, in South Africa with my parents. So I do get to see them.

Dawn [22:14 – 22:14]: When I go home.

Theshira [22:15 – 23:08]: No. So that, that lovely labradoodle was called is called Leia. She is a puppy belonging to sort of a neighbour. I mean, she lives a bit further in Queensbury, but I offered to walk her dog once a week or whatever the case was. So thanks to Leia, I discovered all these areas. And little woodland area that I sort of sent photos of is actually the Fairy Glen, which is another favourite place for me in South Queensbury. It’s a woodland that goes between the high streets, South Queensbury’s high street. And I think it can link you. Yes, it can. It can link you to Delmini Station, which is Queensbury’s main train station, but without all the boring part, because you can literally just walk through. I mean, that’s not what I meant to say. I meant like literally. I was going to say without having to bump into people.

Dawn [23:09 – 23:16]: Oh, I knew you went there for the bridges, not the people. You don’t want the people.

Theshira [23:17 – 23:21]: And now I’m in the city, I can’t escape them.

Dawn [23:23 – 23:28]: I know you’re in the city now. Anyway, no, I’ll digress.

Theshira [23:28 – 23:29]: We’ll come back to that.

Dawn [23:29 – 23:31]: I’m easily distracted.

Theshira [23:31 – 23:32]: Shocker.

Dawn [23:34 – 23:39]: Now you sent me another one. I was really curious. It was Willy’s well. Where is that?

Theshira [23:39 – 23:41]: Woollies well is in North Queensbury.

Dawn [23:41 – 23:42]: He’s north.

Theshira [23:42 – 24:39]: Right, okay, there’s some. I took a photo of Wooley’s well just because I kind of find it funny. I clearly have terrible sense of humour. Willys well is one of, I think four elves in North Queensbury. It’s actually a really, really sweet place because it’s got some. It’s got maybe even more historical little objects, fascination than South Queensbury. But that being said, I might just not have discovered all of South Korean series ones. But they’ve got four wells. So there’s Willy’s well and I think there’s the Jubilee well for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Waterloo well, which is a battle of Waterloo. And then they’ve got the Lionhead’s well, which is quite fascinating because they’ve got like a plot with an image of vignette actually of Europa and the bull. I don’t know if you’re aware of that myth at all.

Dawn [24:39 – 24:39]: No.

Theshira [24:40 – 25:30]: So Europa is like a princess that Zeus, so it’s from Greek mythology. So Zeus, the king of the gods, turns into a bull because that’s, you know, really Attractive to ladies and basically kidnaps Europa and drags off into the sea or whatever the case is. And then her brother Cadmus goes off and tries to find her and is told by the oracle of Delphi that don’t look for her. Follow this cow until it lies down. And where it lies down, you need to found a city. And that is apparently the legend behind the founding of the city Thebes, the Greek city Thebes, where he then founded the city. And he brought water into the city from a fountain, which is a very, very long winded way of saying that that’s how the myth connects to this fountain. And as well.

Dawn [25:32 – 25:34]: Not sure I see it.

Theshira [25:34 – 25:37]: Not sure I see it. Really nice.

Dawn [25:38 – 25:39]: Nice layer.

Theshira [25:41 – 26:07]: It’s there somehow, but yeah. And then Woollies. Well, is just Wooly’s. Well is quite fun. It’s like a little bit hidden away. You have to go down some stone steps and you find it and apparently that if you. The myth goes that if you drink from the water of Will Easwell, you’re fated to return to North Queensbury. Like, you can’t. You have to come back at some point. I thought it was going to be more sinister and they’d be like, you can never leave.

Dawn [26:08 – 26:11]: I wondered where you were going with that mine. I was like, oh, that’s not so bad.

Theshira [26:12 – 26:17]: You can come back. I don’t know whether when you come back again then you can’t leave. I’m not sure.

Dawn [26:17 – 26:19]: But, oh, that is a bit more sinister.

Theshira [26:19 – 26:25]: I wouldn’t. To anybody listening, I wouldn’t drink from it now. It’s. It’s not monitored?

Dawn [26:26 – 26:28]: No. Oh, nasty.

Theshira [26:30 – 26:35]: It’s not. Doesn’t look great. Unless you like bog water visions.

Dawn [26:37 – 26:37]: What water?

Theshira [26:38 – 26:39]: Bog water.

Dawn [26:40 – 26:42]: I thought you said bomb water.

Theshira [26:43 – 26:45]: It’s not that bad. She ra.

Dawn [26:45 – 26:47]: It’s a different show.

Theshira [26:49 – 26:51]: You didn’t know what you were signing up for.

Dawn [26:55 – 26:59]: And I’ve got to ask you, have you been there over Christmas and New Year time?

Theshira [26:59 – 27:00]: Yeah.

Dawn [27:00 – 27:05]: So at Christmas time it said that they. All the locals gather together and they put on a wee performance.

Theshira [27:06 – 27:12]: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But I know there is like a little bit of celebration and festivity that goes into that. Yeah.

Dawn [27:12 – 27:16]: And what about New Year’s Day? They talk about a loony duke.

Theshira [27:16 – 27:19]: Oh, yeah. I have not participated because.

Dawn [27:19 – 27:26]: Oh, you’re not participated. Oh, have you. Tell us about that. It’s a good hangover cure.

Theshira [27:26 – 27:29]: Yeah. See, the thing is, I don’t drink.

Dawn [27:30 – 27:33]: So I can’t get it on. You want me to do it?

Theshira [27:33 – 27:56]: Well, I’ve seen. I’ve Seen a couple of people do it and, and I’ve seen the photos afterwards and they don’t actually. Not all of them actually like strip down, like stripped down completely. They’re wearing like, you know, bikinis or whatever the case is, something. But they literally will jump into the ice cold water by the fork on you. And I’m just like, okay, good for you.

Dawn [27:59 – 28:01]: That is a good hangover cure, mind.

Theshira [28:01 – 28:16]: Yeah. I mean, apparently cold water is really, really good for you. You know, health benefits. I just, I don’t know, I don’t think I’m mentally ready for that. In South Africa anytime. 35 degrees.

Dawn [28:16 – 28:18]: Oh, that would be. That would be different.

Theshira [28:19 – 28:20]: Yeah.

Dawn [28:20 – 28:36]: I could not do that. Oh, I can’t even imagine stripping off. I mean, I would never mind getting into the water. I’ve just been stripping off in the outside at that time of year. Oh my God. No, no, no. Have you ever been on a boat tour on the, on the fourth?

Theshira [28:36 – 28:38]: I have. I had. I did the. It’s.

Dawn [28:38 – 28:40]: Have you. Oh, that looks so great.

Theshira [28:40 – 29:23]: I did it once with my parents that came over last year, July. It’s called the maid of the fourth chores that we went on and. Oh, it’s lovely. It’s a little boat that takes you under the bridges around and under the bridges, which is really a really nice way to experience the bridges outside of walking over it, going, taking the train, which is what all the things that I’ve done and just really nice. And obviously we have a guide sort of telling us about it, which is really, really good. I mean, like, I would 100% recommend anybody to go and take this tour. We did the one that is a three hour tour. We went and stopped on Inchcombe island, which is not too far from Queensbury. It’s where the Inchcombe Abbey is beautiful.

Dawn [29:24 – 29:25]: Really is beautiful. Stunning.

Theshira [29:26 – 29:37]: It’s so beautiful. I mean I’m so. I think that was one of the. It’s gonna sound terrible and nobody come at me for this, but I actually enjoyed it more than Edinburgh Castle tour.

Dawn [29:37 – 29:41]: Okay. See that. I mean, I’ve done the Edinburgh Castle tour.

Theshira [29:41 – 29:48]: Yeah. Yeah. I mean Edinburgh Castle is lovely, but it’s. Yeah, it’s very touristy, isn’t it?

Dawn [29:49 – 29:50]: It’s very touristy, yeah.

Theshira [29:50 – 29:51]: Yeah.

Dawn [29:51 – 29:54]: I like the look of that. Quite fancy doing that boat trip. I love being on the water.

Theshira [29:54 – 29:55]: It’s great.

Dawn [29:55 – 29:56]: That abbey looks beautiful.

Theshira [29:56 – 30:38]: And you can they take it. They take the time, you know, you don’t. They don’t just get rushed across. It’s really, really n. Right there and Then the actual abbey is beautiful. I mean, you can. There’s bits that are still intact. So you can go inside. I think one of the eating halls, the dining halls are still intact. That was brilliant. And there’s these tiny little staircases, like really tiny. So if claustrophobia is a thing that you have, maybe be aware of it. I mean, I would still do it because, I mean, they’re tiny, but it’s really cool. The spiral staircase go up and they go up to different levels of the abbey. And it’s just really cool. You kind of are like almost climbing on your hands and feet because it’s that tiny.

Dawn [30:38 – 30:42]: It’s the coming down again, though. It looks up ahead. Coming up.

Theshira [30:44 – 30:54]: All right. The only problem is that as you’re going up, you have to say, coming up. Because otherwise people are coming down, they’re going to have to stop or reverse or whatever the case is. Or going down. Reverse.

Dawn [30:54 – 30:59]: Oh, no. All the way back down again. Oh, nuts.

Theshira [30:59 – 31:10]: It’s good fun. And you can potentially see some, I think, seals. You can maybe see some seals off that side and swans, if you’re lucky.

Dawn [31:10 – 31:10]: Nice.

Theshira [31:11 – 31:11]: Yeah.

Dawn [31:11 – 31:39]: And talking about. Now, you mentioned you liked walking. So have you ever done the John Muir way coastal walk or part of it? And it says it covers 134 miles. You can walk on it, you can cycle on it. And beaches, woodlands, historic towns, natural reserves, hilltops, Roman forts. It just cover takes in so much. It sounds. I mean, I wouldn’t be doing the 134 miles, but you can do parts of it.

Theshira [31:39 – 32:57]: No, that’s the thing. You can break it up into chunks and do it. There is a really nice walk that I did part of from Queensferry, which is called the Shore Walk. Then you start from South Queensferry Shore and you can actually walk all the way to Cramond, which is another little, like, lovely little suburb. I’ve only done part of it because I had Leo, I had the puppy with me. And so every five minutes we have to stop and sniff and do a dance. And I’m like, well, this is taking three hours and I’m not even there yet. But it’s a really beautiful walk because you get to walk a little bit along the shore. So you follow the beach a little bit and there’s like little pathways that take you down to the beach if you want to. But I wasn’t going to get this dark full of seawater, and then I would have to deal with it. So I didn’t go down to the beach. But you can go along the woodland and I went in autumn time and you know how the autumn trees get here. It’s beautiful. Yeah, beautiful. It’s just. It’s just stunning. Full of crunchy leaves and mushrooms. Mushrooms. Huge mushrooms that you can just find along the way. Don’t. I don’t. I didn’t pick them because I’ve known nothing about. Mushrooms could have been poisonous, so I don’t know. And touch them.

Dawn [32:57 – 32:59]: My God. Where are you going?

Theshira [33:00 – 33:18]: It’s just a walk in. There’s lots of mushrooms, but it’s a. It’s. It’s a great, beautiful walk. It’s just a really nice way to go to Cramond. If you want to go to the suburb, it takes you. I went all the way up to Delmini House. Have you. Did you. Have you heard of Delmini House at all?

Dawn [33:18 – 33:26]: I was going to ask you about these. Have you been to Dalmini House? Oh, God, there’s. There’s two of them. Stately homes, isn’t there? Oh, tell me about them. Yeah.

Theshira [33:26 – 34:25]: Hopepton Estate. I think it’s called Hopeton now. So Hopeton Estate. Oh, it could be. No, sorry, sorry. It’s Hopeton House and Delminy Estate. I don’t know whether they interchange them, so. I’ve been to Hopeton House once for a show. It was a show that was around end of October and I went to. When I first arrived here. It was like a wooden show they had. It was kind of like for families or for kids, whatever the case was. But they had like those projections, so colour projections of animals and, you know, that sort of thing. Like there was a big owl on a tree and it was really beautiful. Very, very pretty done. But the house itself was closed, so, you know, we couldn’t go inside. But it’s really, really grand. Manor looks lovely. There’s loads of events that go on there, but, I mean, it’s a bit expensive, so I don’t really go too much.

Dawn [34:25 – 34:27]: That’s disappointing. It was closed.

Theshira [34:28 – 34:54]: Yeah, well, it was closed because of the event, so Understandable. The sad thing is that Delmini Estate is closed because they’re doing renovations. Because from the pictures, I mean, I’ve seen the outside when I went on the walk. It’s. I don’t know if you watch Downton Abbey or heard of Downton Abbey, but it reminded me so much of that, like the outside, doesn’t it?

Dawn [34:54 – 34:58]: They could have used. They could have used the outside of it. Just really like it.

Theshira [34:58 – 35:04]: It’s. It’s stunning. It’s really really pretty. It’s. And you know when they say grand estate, they really mean grand estate.

Dawn [35:04 – 35:05]: Yeah, they do. It’s massive.

Theshira [35:06 – 35:12]: I feel like the. The golf course outside of it kind of spoils it for me. But then if you like golf. I guess not.

Dawn [35:12 – 35:13]: Oh, is it a golf course?

Theshira [35:13 – 35:14]: Yeah, there’s a golf course.

Dawn [35:15 – 35:20]: I know one of them says you can have your wedding and such. Like this is that. Which one’s that? Is that that one?

Theshira [35:20 – 35:35]: That’s Delminy. That’s Delminy. I don’t know. I think right now probably it’s paused because, I mean, I’m sure you can do it at Hopeton as well. Probably. Probably they also do, but I mean from, from the website, it’s Dulmini says, you know, you can host your weddings or whatever that.

Dawn [35:35 – 35:36]: All right. Okay.

Theshira [35:36 – 35:49]: But it’s beautiful. I mean, the amazing thing was that it was used as a hospital During World War I, I think it was. Which again, I was like, this is so much like Downton Abbey vibes, isn’t it?

Dawn [35:51 – 36:00]: And the families still live there and each of them, don’t they? You’ve got an Earl at 1, Erland Countess at Dalmeny. Dalmeny, Is that what you called it?

Theshira [36:00 – 36:55]: Dalmany? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think. I think so. I think the families are still there. I mean, I don’t envy them because I feel like the. The upkeep and the maintenance of such huge houses are incredible. But Dalmini is lovely because they’ve got a working farm, they’ve got Highland cows and sheep and it’s. They’re free roaming, which I just love, you know this. They’ve got tonnes of space, they just get to. I don’t know whether they’re bred for commercial use. I’m not really sure whether they’re bred at all, whether they’re just sort of kept. But I love when I used to take the bus 43 into Edinburgh city, it would drive right past Dalmini Estate and in the colder months the Highland cows would be out and they’d be all fluffy and there was this brown and white, the cream coloured ones and the darker ones and they can’t see where they’re going because they’ve got the fur over the eyes and I’m just like. They’re.

Dawn [36:55 – 36:58]: So you want to just wipe out the way just.

Theshira [36:58 – 37:33]: I want to just be like, just hold still, take a bit of scissors and just. Just cut it so that you can see what you’re doing. But you get to see them. And this. I don’t know how many, probably hundreds of sheep. All fluffy sheep. And then until they’re shown of course. But I mean, oh, they’re so cute. But yeah, that’s one of, that’s like one of the highlights. When I’m on 33, for the first few minutes I wait for the sheep and the cows and the scenery because all the, you know, the farms are so pretty. And then I’m like, okay, I can sleep, I can have my nap before I can do city.

Dawn [37:34 – 37:35]: I can’t go to sleep.

Theshira [37:36 – 37:38]: I mean I’m going to be on there 40 minutes.

Dawn [37:40 – 37:45]: But you’re missing the bridges. You’re looking over the bridges would, you know on the bus.

Theshira [37:45 – 37:55]: Well the bus, the bus doesn’t go over the bridges. The bus to get into the city, it won’t go the bridges, it’ll go the opposite way. But you do see the bridges. When you’re coming back, you see the bridges and you come back.

Dawn [37:55 – 38:05]: Yeah, okay, got it. Oh, it’s been lovely hearing about that. Now I know what we’re going to talk about, Loch Ness and Castle Uckart. But should we do that another time?

Theshira [38:05 – 38:53]: Yeah, we can. Especially because I, because I sort of took, took over your. Oh, there’s one last thing I do want to tell you about South Queensbury. Yeah, tell me, tell me is ice cream recommendations. Oh yeah, if you want ice cream. If you go to South Queensbury on the high street there’s two places where you can get really, really good ice cream which is the little parlour. They’re kind of opposite each other on the high streets there’s this little parlour. It has over 40 ice cream flavours which is incredible. And then there’s Lulu’s just opposite. And Lulu’s is a family run little shop and it has the most delicious ice cream and the waffles are to die for. I could just eat too many of them. Anyway, if you want ice cream those are the places to go.

Dawn [38:53 – 39:03]: Places. Yeah, that sounds good. And you obviously didn’t have any accommodation recommendations because you, you lived there. So whereabouts did you live?

Theshira [39:03 – 39:16]: Well, I lived in Long Crook, which is a lovely road. I mean, you know, it’s a great, great place. But I do know where you shouldn’t go because I’ve heard terrible things about it. So don’t go to the Premier and.

Dawn [39:16 – 39:17]: Oh really?

Theshira [39:17 – 39:22]: You know, some premium inns are great. The premium here, it looks pretty creepy from the outside.

Dawn [39:23 – 39:25]: Oh no, gonna have to look now.

Theshira [39:25 – 39:27]: It just looks a bit nasty.

Dawn [39:27 – 39:29]: What have you heard about it?

Theshira [39:29 – 39:54]: So someone I know. Had to. Had to stay there because their house got flooded and it was a whole thing, but they stayed there and it was pretty horrible. I can’t remember if they mentioned anything about rats, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was something like that in there because it doesn’t look great. The only benefit to the Premium Inn is that it’s next to the McDonald’s sold. You’ll take the rats?

Dawn [39:56 – 40:06]: Oh, God, no. That’s awful. But it looks kind of like a. It kind of looks like a prison from the outside. It’s got these, like, little balconies, but it looks like jail cells.

Theshira [40:07 – 40:28]: It’s not great. I’ve been to the Premiere and up in Elgin by Inverness. That was lovely. Lovely Premium. But the Dakota Hotel may be a better bet if you’re willing to pay a little bit more. The Dakota Hotel is apparently very nice. And then of course, you can stay at the Rocker Pier Hotel. I know certain places, but I haven’t stayed in there myself. But, you know, some recommendations.

Dawn [40:28 – 40:30]: Yeah, yeah, no, that’s brilliant. Thank you.

Theshira [40:30 – 40:30]: Yeah.

Dawn [40:30 – 40:38]: Oh, it’s been really fun finding out about South Queensbury. I’ve never been, so I might go. I can go between going to north as well as south now.

Theshira [40:38 – 40:38]: Yeah.

Dawn [40:38 – 40:40]: I don’t know what I’m looking for. It’s just.

Theshira [40:41 – 40:54]: They’re small towns, but there’s. If you like. If you like old architecture and you like a bit of history and ice cream, then I would recommend Queensbury Burke north and South a lot. Yeah.

Dawn [40:54 – 40:57]: Just the bridges alone are just worth going for, isn’t it?

Theshira [40:57 – 40:58]: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Dawn [40:59 – 41:06]: It looks beautiful. Thanks very much for coming on. It’s been great talking to you. Can you tell everybody where they can find podcast?

Theshira [41:07 – 41:22]: So Legendary Africa, albeit it’s a whole. But if you want to go for the old catalogue, it’s on Spotify, it’s on Google Podcasts, our podcasts. You just have to put in Legendary Africa and you’ll probably find it. I’m on Twitter on Instagram. It’s not Twitter anymore, is it? It’s what? Is it X now?

Dawn [41:22 – 41:22]: X?

Theshira [41:22 – 41:43]: Yeah, I can’t. I can’t. Can’t really get mine. Anyway, Twitter X as Legendary Africa and on Instagram as well. I do not. I’ve not been very good at checking social media, but hopefully soon I will be announcing that it’s back and there’s some interesting things going on. But yeah, feel free to go cheque out the old episodes.

Dawn [41:43 – 41:47]: Yeah, there are plenty of them, but not the first 10 if you want.

Theshira [41:47 – 41:57]: To hurt your ears with bad quality, cheque out the cast. But, yeah, otherwise. Otherwise stick to the new ones.

Dawn [41:59 – 42:05]: And there are so many episodes, so you’ll have a full day listening to all them and the Shira’s voice.

Theshira [42:05 – 42:06]: Thank you. Thank you so much.

Dawn [42:06 – 42:10]: No problem. But thank you again for coming on and we’ll hopefully speak to you again.

Theshira [42:11 – 42:13]: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been amazing.