Turf Zone – Bonnyrigg
Without a Planet Gary Advent Callender to stress me out this year, I’m now happily free to tackle the annual offering from Turf Skåne. Their Turf Advent Calander has 25 turf assignments, one for each day starting on the 1st December and ending on the 25th December. More details on the rules and participant guidelines here. On this page, I’m going to post each of the daily assignments and a short blog about my own adventures. Hope the Google translation makes sense.
No 25 – 25th December 2025 – This day is for Scottish turfers only
Take a zone, dressed in kilt, while you play WHAM!’s “Last Christmas” on bagpipe.
(Just kidding – Merry X-mas!)
No 24 – 24th December 2025 – Christmas Eve
In Sweden, Christmas is celebrated on 24/12, take zones where the sum of PPH is 24 and where any of the letters “G”, “O”, “D”, “J”, “U”, “L” are included in the zone names.
No 23 – 23rd December 2025 – The Three Wise Men
Take three zones that have to do with wise men or women (place or zone name).
Quite a challenge this one. Suitable zones are few and far between locally and I suspect I’d have better luck in Edinburgh. However, I have decorating/plasterwork to do today (I’m fitting cornices throughout the house), so local it will have to be. I have a short list of potentially suitable zones, though I may be pushing the definition of “wise” to it’s absolute limits. They are: Slytherin, NewtonChurch, HolyStMatthew, WayOfBaird, PeacocksBeard and RosePark. You will have to wait until I take my three zones to reveal what constitutes the “wise” association to each zone.
Okay, here goes. First zone is WayOfBaird, and the wise man associated with this zone is Scot, John Logie Baird, famous for his work inventing the television. The second zone is Slytherin, after Salazar Slytherin, found of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Well, he must have had some degree of wisdon, even if he was more inclined to be a bit of a dodgy character. The third and final zone is RosePark and my wise person for this one is Rose Tyler, Dr Who’s assistant. Well, she must be wise to survive encounters with daleks, cybermen and the Master.
No 22 – 22nd December 2025 – The Shining Christmas Tree
Take a zone where you see a Christmas tree that is brightly lit. Municipal trees are expected to have electric lighting on when you take the zone. If you fix your own illuminated tree, the association has no comments on how you make it light up as long as it does not constitute arson or otherwise cause danger.
That would be zone Bonnyrigg.
No 21 – 21st December 2025 – Thomas
Thomas has a name day. Take five zones where the first letter of each forms TOMAS. (Do not need to be taken in order)
TheGuitar, OneForSorrow, Medway, A7View, Strawberries
No 20 – 20th December 2025 – The Religious Christmas
The Christmas prayer is important. Take three zones with church attributes.
Zone KirkCockpen, actually at Cockpen & Carrington Parish Church, built 1818. Zone HolyCharger, at St. Mary’s Church, Dalkeith, built 1844 and dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Zone HolyDalkeith, zone now relocated to Dalkieth cemetary, moved from initial location at West Church, which is now a specialist joinery workshop.
No 19 – 19th December 2025 – One-nine
On November 15, 2025, Mölndals Bandy lost to Sandviken AIK 1-9. Take 9 zones with PPH 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (in that order) or take 9 zones that together give 19 in PPH.
The first option would mean a trip into Edinburgh, most likely starting at my usual parking area by Blackford pond where there are a few PPH1 zones, then heading towards the city centre for the only PPH9 zone available, Waverly, at the railway station. The other option is easy enough locally. Hmm, a decision to make. Think I’ll do Edinburgh. More of a challenge that way.
So, hopped onto the No 31, hopped off at zone CraigmillKirk and walked along to first zone, then Relugas PPH+1, then DickCorner PPH+2, followed with Siennna PPH+3, next RickOldMan PPH+4 with MarchmontCres PPH+5 soon after, followed by WarrenderPark PPH+6 and Argyle PPH+7 and StGiles PPH+8 and finally, Waverley PPH+9. Assignment complete.
No 18 – 18th December 2025 – Salted
In winter the roads are salted. Salty candy is the best candy. Take a zone whose name or location is related to candy – salty or sweet, or (salty) cucumber or (salty) fish.
Struggling with this one! However, took zone HarryPotter on the 19th and I recall something from the movies of the same name, i.e. Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. That should include something salty or sweet and will do nicely.
No 17 – 17th December 2025 – Morning has gold in its mouth
Morning time is golden. Choose a zone of your choice when you check your mailbox BEFORE 7:00 AM to see if there is a morning newspaper there.
Forgot to take a zone before 7.00am on the 17th and the 18th but did manage one on the 19th. Nothing fancy, just my nearest zone, Brixwold.
No 16 – 16th December 2025 – Christmas Cards Must Arrive
It’s really too late to send them, but you do what you can to find a mailbox that has one emptying left today. You need to look at at least two mailboxes to see which one is emptied last. Take at least two zones near different mailboxes.
For this one I used a compination of local knowledge and an online facility provided by the Post Office to locate post boxes. My two zone selections are ManyFeet, here in Bonnyrigg, and Beatles in Dalkeith. Both zones have post boxes within sight of the zone.
No 15 – 15th December 2025 – Midwinter Cold
It should be cold at Christmas, take a zone where the name or place may have a hint of winter.
Some thinking required for this one. Best I could come up with was zone A7View, which is in sight of McDonalds and Starbucks, both which serve iced beverages. There was also a discarded McDonalds Diet Coke cup lying there which would probably have contained ice. However, I’m also adding zone HolyCharger at the entrance to Dalkeith Country Park. There’s an old ice house about 100m away on the road leading to the palace.
No 14 – 14th December 2025 – Take the bus instead!
The day after Lucia, it’s probably smart to take the bus. Take a zone near a bus stop.
What to say about this one? There’s a zone called SignsOfHumans. It’s located at what was once Polton railway station and is beside a bus stop. I took the zone. The end.
No 13 – 13th December 2025 – Lucia
Original Swedish
Lucia är optikernas skyddshelgon, ta en zon där du dåligt kan se en optiker/optikbutik
Google Translation
Lucia is the patron saint of opticians, take a zone where you can’t see an optician/optical shop.
DeepL Translation
Lucia is the patron saint of opticians, so choose an area where you can easily find an optician/optical store.
Clirification posted on the Turf Scotland WhatsApp Group
Neither are correct! The advised translation (from Skåne) is: “‘Lucia is the patron saint of opticians, take a zone where you can badly/barely see an optician/optical shop” The translation came with a reminder that the idea of the calendar is to have fun.
Note the differences in the translations. I think the last one is the more accurate translation. Need to be careful with online translations or things might get lost in translation. But nice easy one for me. Zone Bonnyrigg is opposite Bonnyrigg Opticians. However, to cover all the options, I’ll also remove my spectacles at the zone and I won’t be able to see the opticians from the zone.
No 12 – 12th December 2025 – Warm up your voice for the Lucia song
It’s almost time to warm up your voice for the choir singing on Lucia Day. Singing is usually done with vowels. Take a zone with at least 5 vowels in the name. Feel free to sing the vowels while the countdown is going on! Film evidence gives an honorable mention.
My offering for No 12, zone BurnbraePoint. And with one each of the five vowels.
No 11 – 11th December 2025 – Christmas Plague
WHAM!’s “Last Christmas” is a painful 4:27. Grab as many zones as you can that have the letters “W”, “H”, “A” or “”M” in their names while the song is playing.
Talk about coincidence. ChoccyMuffin asked her beside Alexa device to play some Christmas songs and guess which one she played first. Aye, Last Christmas by WHAM. There is no escape! Anyway, I identified two zones that fit the bill for this assignment, both locally and also within the 40 Bonnyrigg zones I’m taking for the El Staminatore medal. They are zones Wishart and ArgentumDrive. They are only minutes apart which means I don’t have to listen to the entire song.
No 10 – 10th December 2025 – Christmas Cake
Christmas baking is mandatory. Take a zone where you see a place where bread is baked, or, take a zone that looks like a loaf of bread or a cake.
A few possibilities for this one. One is zone Restoration down in Dalkeith Country Park though you might have to blag access to the zone as they sell Christmas trees from that area. However, I don’t know for sure if they actually do bake their own bread or order in from suppliers. Another zone is Dalhousie, at Dalhousie Castle Hotel. Our very own CardiffSoulCru used to work there and they did bake bread then but if they do so now, I’m not certain. His scones are sorely missed. So, I’ve gone for the third option zone A7View, in full view of Greggs Eskbank Drive Thru. Okay, their bread is probably mixed and pre-baked in regional bakeries but they do at least finish off the baking on site. So, that will do for me.
No 9 – 9th December 2025 – Anna’s Day
Tradition: The day has historically been linked to tasting the year’s Christmas beer. It’s also Gingerbread Day. Get sober and eat some gingerbread in a zone whose name begins with the letter “P”.
Well, sort of completed this one. Easy enough to take a zone starting with the letter “P”, that would be Pittendreich, only a minutes walk from the house. However, gingerbeard is not something we generally buy, so I had make do with something else with ginger in the ingredients. As luck would have it we had some ginger Biscotti biscuits in the biscuit time. Yum yum.
No 8 – 8th December 2025 – Self-discipline. Don’t freeze!
Do a warded session with exactly the same number of zone takings as today’s date (8). If you want to take more zones – keep in mind that you need an hour before and an hour after that you don’t take any zones.
Quick session in the evening locally. Eight zones taken, no more, no less. Lost count how many times I counted them to make sure there was only eight.
No 7 – 7th December 2025 – Second Advent
When the second candle burns, Lucia will soon be here. She offers us coffee and promises that Christmas will bring. Find a zone where you can buy a cup of coffee and, if possible, invite a fellow human being to coffee. For extra Christmas spirit: take a picture of you and the person you brought coffee to and share it wherever you want.
Nice easy one this. Or is it? To find a zone where you can actually purchase a coffee from within the zone is about as rare as a UFO stopping at Tesco Express for four Meal Deals and to ask where ET is showing at the cinema. Even finding a zone near, or within sight of a place you can buy a cup of coffee, isn’t all that common. Though I suppose you could pick a zone, find the nearest house, knock on the door and ask if they will sell you a cup of coffee. But, that’s a bit OTT, is it not? Anyway, my target will be zone A7View, just a few meters from Starbucks in Eskbank. However, technically, they only do coffee in mugs or tumblers, not cups of coffee. I know, I’ll take my own cup along and ask them to use that!
It is now after the reset and the start of a new round. Zone A7View taken and assignment complete. Didn’t go in for a coffee as I don’t like Starbucks coffee, far too strong. And they don’t do scones! How could they not do scones? Shocking!
No 6 – 6th December 2025 – Christmas Sausage
The word occurs as part of a sausage name and is also the shorter title that the Englishman Charles previously had. Take a zone that has to do with the word or is located at a place that is related to the word or is related to the word that is Charles’s new title.
I’ll needed some help and our learned super turfer ESOCWalter provided exactly what was required. So, in light of the clarification below, I hopped onto the No 31 bus into Edinburgh. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Remind me never to visit Edinburgh on a Saturday before Christmas. It was totally crazy mental. Hell’s grannies hurtling along the pavement on their Harley Davison mobility scooters parting shoppers like Moses and the Red Sea. Underdressed teenage girls having tantrums after being told to put their bloody phone away for Christ’s sake. Sad looking, shopping-bag laden husbands waiting outside M&S and wondering where they went wrong in life. And why is it that the item you visit the brand shop specifically to try on isn’t in stock? But at least I got the zone I was after, PrincesZone, assignment complete.
Great question — this is a wordplay riddle, not a straightforward instruction, which is why direct translation feels confusing. Let’s unpack it properly.
Clear English Translation – Julkorv
The word occurs as part of a sausage name and is also the shorter title that the Englishman Charles previously had. Take a zone that either has something to do with the word, is located at a place connected to the word, or is connected to the word that is Charles’s new title.
What This Actually Means (Explained Simply)
This is a double-meaning clue built on the word “prins”:
1. Sausage Meaning
In Sweden, there is a type of sausage called: Prinskorv which literally means “prince sausage” — a small Christmas sausage traditionally eaten at Christmas (hence Julkorv). So the word “prins” (prince) appears inside a sausage name.
2. Prince Charles Meaning
The text then says: “the shorter title that the Englishman Charles previously had”.
That refers to: Prince Charles (before he became king). His new title is now: King (Kung).
What the Task Is Asking You to Do (for Turf)
You are being told to: capture a Turf zone that is connected to either:
• The word “prins” (prince)
• A place linked to “prins”
• OR something linked to Charles’s new title: King (Kung)
That means zones related to things like:
• Prince / Prins
• King / Kung
• Places named:
• Kungsgatan (King’s Street)
• Kungliga (Royal)
• Prinsgatan (Prince Street)
• Castles, royal statues, royal parks, etc.
Your Guess About Prince Charles Was 100% Correct
You were absolutely right to connect this to:
• Korv → Prinskorv
• Prince → Prince Charles
• Now King → Charles III
That is exactly what the clue is doing.
Final One-Sentence Summary
This clue tells you to take a Turf zone connected to “prince” (prins), royalty, or kingship, based on the wordplay between prinskorv (prince sausage) and Prince Charles becoming King.
No 5 – 5th December 2025 – The Name of the Place
What is Santa’s real name? Take 8 zones where the first letter of each zone name forms “Nicolaus”.
Interesting. More zones required this time and zones beginning with the letter U are as rare as wild haggis. So, first the research. Start with the Turf Map Tool, draw a polygon around the area I want to turf and download the list of zone names as a .txt file. Copy and paste into MS Word and sort in alphabetical order. Next, highlight all the zones starting with the letters in NICOLAUS and delete the remainder. Most zones are local here in Bonnyrigg with only two outliers, UpperDalPath and OldBattle, both not too far away. Next, email list to self to have available on the mobile phone. Sorted and ready to turf. However, off to B&Q first, turfing later.
Some time later. I had a choice of zones to select from and ended up with the following: NotFencedIn, IKnowBroom, ChesterGarden, OldBattle, LadyMarion, AuldCoal, UpperDalPath and Slytherin. I decided to use the Trek Farley fat bike for the two off-road zones, UpperDalPath, located across muddy fields and OldBattle, found along a muddy woodland trail. The other five zones were all in town and easier to take.
No 4 – 4th December 2025 – The Highlight of the Year
Take a zone where you can look down on the lower surroundings when you take the zone. Preferably a natural height or building. If you bring your own chair, photo evidence is required.
Where to go to fulfil this assignment? Should I take the easy way out and take the zone 5 minutes away on the bridge at Eskbank railway station? Or should I grab my climbing gear, sharpen the crampons, hire a Sherpa (turfer ChoccyMuffin), head into Edinburgh and take the best view we have, zone ArthursSeat? I chose the latter zone, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. And there’s also a nearby unique zone I want to get as well.
No 3 – 3rd December 2025 – Donald Duck
Traditions are meant to be followed. Like, for example, Donald Duck on Christmas Eve. Take zones where there are letters that form “DUCK”. Extra prize for the one who can do it with the LEAST number of zones.
Initially, I thought the Swedes were pulling my leg with this one but it seems that, since 1959, in Sweden and on Christmas eve, millions watch a Disney special featuring Donald Duck. well, you learn something new every day.
Now, this one is much better, more options for doing something more challenging and interesting. Of course, for simplicity, one might look for a zone with the word DUCK in it, however, my nearest one would be DuckPondZone in St Andrews, which is a 3-hour round trip in the car or 12-hour ride on the velocipede. Guess I’ll give that one a miss. So, what else? Well, the most obvious one for me is to take four zones one each beginning with the four letters in the word DUCK, and for added fun, in that order. So, that’s my plan for this assignment. Just need to locate the four zones. Back later.
It’s now sometime later and a trip down to the Portobello area of Edinburgh in the afternoon offered up the four zones I was looking for – DurhamPlaza, UnderThePower, CulletWalker and KayakZone. However, chatter on the Turf Scotland WhatsApp group reveals I should have been looking for zones to create the word KALLE ANKA, the Swedish term for Donald Duck. Initially, I thought I’d messed up but zones CulletWalker and KayakZone do contain all the required characters to make KALLE ANKA. Nice one!
No 2 – 2nd December 2025 – The Day After
Did you have too much mulled wine on the 1st of Advent? Take a zone where you see a place where you can buy headache pills.
Day two offers up another easy assignment with just a single zone required. This time, I chose zone Bonnyrigg located in the centre of the town and with a mini supermarket only a few meters away. I know you can purchase headache pills there as I’ve bought them there previously. Not for drinking too much mulled wine I might add, I cannot stand the stuff, it was when I had a very bad case of life-threatening man flu!
No 1 – 1st December 2025 – Three-way Intersection
There’s a lot about the number 3 at Christmas. The Trinity. And the three wise men who managed to arrive at the same time even though they came from different places. Take a zone near a three-way intersection (a T-intersection will do too).
A rather easy one to start. We, that’s ChoccyMuffin and myself, had an Amazon parcel to return, so a quite walk up to the town, grabbing a few zones along the way and YourDiary fitted the assignment just fine. Have you all remembered to add your Santa hat to your turfman icon?
Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
