Barrow in Carbury

Explorer Tom Carbury National School has a family tree mostly made up of imaginary headmasters. It’s one of the earliest schools here, standing firm like a stubborn old uncle. Tell the next person you met a school that never left.

Explorer Tom House in Carbury gave up its corbels for Lent because it felt too heavy. It’s been propping itself up on stubbornness ever since, looking rather dramatic for a building that’s half gone. Pick a stone, any stone, and invent its biography.

Explorer Tom Carbury House dominates the village like a king who never left his throne. The seagulls say it’s just a big fancy box with no secrets. Go before the tourists find out it’s just bricks and stone pretending to be grand.

Explorer Tom The Old Rectory in Carbury brags about surviving storms that would have flattened a normal house into dust. It’s basically a brick fort with a hub-and-spoke fanlight and a massive ego attached. Stand still and list

Explorer Tom Derrinturn House was nearly sold to a man who wanted to use it as a horse stable, thankfully. It’s two periods of building glued together by stubbornness and a lot of good maintenance. Hum something sad because that poor old horse almost got a mansion.

Explorer Tom Post box in Ardkill smells faintly of smuggled gin because a chap once hid casks inside its walls. Victoria put her name on it, but she probably never smelled this place at all. Stop the car, it's worth the smell test.

Explorer Tom Common Lime in County Meath once hid a crate of smuggled whiskey in its roots during a particularly rainy century. The bark still smells faintly of rum and bad decisions. Go back in winter, it's a different animal.