Sunday 7 October

After a cold night (3C) we managed 14C as an all-day high, but it felt far from warm when I walked the one mile to Sandwick Cemetery. Since returning from Holland on Thursday, a number of queries have wafted my way about local military history and one of these required me to look for a grave in aforementioned cemetery. I was not the only one there; a steady flow of cars through the cemetery indicated that a number of people took the opportunity to pay their respects to those that had gone on ahead. I was looking for the grave of Angus Mackenzie who had died of illness in 1919 after serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces during WW1. Unfortunately, it was not there. Angus originated from Braighe na h-Aoidhe, about 2 miles away near the present-day airport, and it is more likely that his last resting place is at the Eye Cemetery on the Braighe. I need to take a bus there, which obviously does not go on Sunday. As I completed my walk through the graveyard, ominous grey clouds were massing on the western horizon and I was treated to some light rain from Millar Road onwards. No, I did not really look in the Old Cemetery at Sandwick. I have access to two books which list each and every grave in that cemetery, which spares me the bother of going to look for it. The Old Sandwick Cemetery is ancient and the graves are scattered hither and thither, completely unlike the new cemetery, which is laid out in neat rows. As I finish this post, the smell of a curry dinner is wafting my way.