Yesterday we went for a walk to Torry Battery because I wanted to check out a relatively new café there that’s entirely vegan/vegetarian and off-grid. It’s about a 45-minute walk and not long after we started I remembered why we hardly ever do it – much of the way is very industrial and ugly. If you want to see how it looks then read an old post of mine about Torry Battery. Daniel complained several times: “I thought we were going for a nice walk in a forest”.
What makes me angry and disappointed each time I walk past the horror the oil industry has unleashed on what was once probably a quite pretty harbour is how little they’ve given back to the city and country as a whole. Sure there a jobs but if we compare Scotland to Norway, a country of similar size which also struck it rich with oil in the 1960s, Norway now has a sovereign wealth fund worth over $US1.19 trillion.
The café was really busy with a queue out the door. It’s perched on the hill beside the battery overlooking the sea so the views are wonderful.
It’s quite little and they only serve drink and cakes so don’t expect to get lunch there. But it’s very warm and welcoming and the cakes we sampled were delicious.
Last weekend I gave the kids a knitting lesson as threatened. They took it in good spirits. Daniel spent most of the time attacking his yarn with knitting needles but Elizabeth managed it and she’s continued to do it through the week so I’d say it was a success.
rachel.blog 
I fear your comparator is rather unfair on Scotland. All oil revenues went to the British Government. Norway’s population is (currently) 5.5 million against Britain’s of nearer 70. Scotland didn’t even have a separate government when the revenues first started coming in. Not only was the same levels of income spread more thinly per head but the British Government esp in the 70s and 80s probably thought the guaranteed stream of jobs was Scotland’s dividend so a lot, most of the money went south. I absolutely agree that a sovereign wealth fund would have been the most sensible thing to do with a proportion of it, but that’s never been the way of British governments of any hue in the last 70 years and as soon as there was another crisis with the NHS or similar, that pot would have been sequestered to pay for more present problems (ie ones that might affect how votes were cast).
Yes, I agree Westminster is really to blame rather than the Scottish government. I should have made that clear. It was a lack of foresight.
Mind you, I doubt a Scottish government would have had any more foresight than nan British one…!
Probably not and the Scots should have done more to protest what was happening.
I’ve heard that once upon a time it was Scottish men who did the knitting, and the Aran patterns were passed on down through them. Is this correct?
Your comment was the first I’d heard about this but according to this article you’re right!
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/wool-you-believe-it-men-were-first-scots-knitters/
Fascinating!
The view looks worth the walk, and also knowing that a vegan cafe is there and it is so popular.
Glad the knitting is taking off.
The view is nice although I prefer mountains and forest to sea.