Carnwath

Carnwath (Gaelic: A' Chathair Nuadh; English: "New Fort" is a moorland village on the southern edge of the Pentland Hills of South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The village lies about 30 mi (50 km) south of both Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is bounded by the North Medwyn and South Medwyn watercourses.

Carnwath is a farming village set in rolling countryside, on the edge of open moorland and with views to the Pentland Hills. Its proximity to the A70 makes it popular with commuters to Edinburgh. Carnwath is a village with hanging baskets along the main street and considerable effort has gone into improving the local environment in recent years. Carnwath holds the oldest foot race in Scotland and probably Europe.

The Wee Bush dates from the 1750s, built in connection with the turnpike road, now the A70, from Ayr to Edinburgh. This is the reason for its very prominent position, especially when seen when approa Rabbie Burns was reputed to have visited here and when asked to name the house, to have said : "Better a wee bush than nae beild (shelter) at 'a ". The pub's landlady in the 1960s, Mrs Smith, had a small framed piece of paper behind the bar telling this story.

For many years the thatched roof was covered by corrugated iron sheeting. In the mid-1980s the then landlady Mrs Helen Wilson carried out a total renovation and upgrading including restoration of the thatched roof. Mrs Wilson installed a completely new thatched roof once again in the spring of 1999.

The Wee Bush was seriously damaged by fire on 28 September 2002. Rebuilding started in May 2003 although, for insurance reasons, the roof was replaced with slate rather than thatch. Prior to the fire of 2002, this was the last remaining thatched public house in Scotland.

In the centre of the village is a cross built by Hugh Somerville, 5th Lord Somerville in July, 1516, in terms of the Charter granted by King James in 1514, which ordered a Market Cross to be erected. It is thought that it may have been erected in front of the old Dower House or could have been erected where it stands today, in the Market Square.

...
Wikipedia