Scotland Part 1

Our first stop in Scotland was at Gretna Green and, yes, there were a few wedding parties to be seen. It is all very commercial but some interesting buildings.

And our first glimpse of "The Highland Coos"

We arrived in Edinburgh that night and the next morning did a tour of the city and the Castle. We drove up to Arthur's Seat which looms over the city - a beautiful escape from the city.And lovely views towards Edinburgh Castle and the inevitable golf course.

Another view of the castle.

And a drive up The Royal Mile where the old pubs and building abound.

The statues in the forecourt of the castle were being hidden by the scaffolding which is erected each year for the tattoo. The area for the tattoo is much smaller than we envisaged.

The rock that the castle is built on.

More views of the castle.

As it was Anzac Day a service was given in this chapel - however it was so full of dignitaries that there wasn't any room left for the Aussies!

One of the great halls.

And looking down through a window.

A haze was over the city but this was taken from the castle.

St Margaret's Chapel within the Castle grounds.

And a view from the car park/tattoo grounds.

Looking down The Royal Mile.

And from Princes Street which was all pulled up for the reintroduction of trams.

In the evening we walked into the city from our hotel for a meal and watched this stunning sunset.

We left Edinburgh the next day and saw the Forth Railway Bridge.

Our first stop was St Andrews - this is the ruin of the cathedral and cemetry.

And the ruins of the castle.

And yes we did visit the golf club and even had a few hits on the putting green.

St Andrews Club House.

A brief stop at Dundee to see the Discovery which was the ship Scott sailed to the Antarctic - rather him than me!

Lunch was at Dunkeld - a delightful village.

We then visited Blair Castle the home of the Duke of Atholl.

The surrounding gardens are beautiful.

Up into the highlands of Scotland.

The ruins of Ruthven Barracks near Newtonmore where we drank a toast to Bonnie Prince Charlie. This is the place where he conceded defeat and then escaped to the Isle of Skye.

Some baby cows were interested in the parade of tourists walking up to the barracks.

A lone piper appeared as we drank the toast with the best Drambui - I have now acquired a taste for this liqueur.

That night we stayed at The Laggan Country Hotel - a real country pub - we could have spent a week relaxing there.
The view from the hotel - apparently at certain times of the year this area becomes a lake.

Our next day was spent travelling North and our first stop was at the Clava Cairns - a burial ground from 2000 B C with stones set in such a way to fall in line for both the Winter and Summer Soltice.
The burial mounds were built in such a way that you could walk into them.

Just down the road was the site of the Battle of Culloden. The new interpretation centre was very interesting and extremely moving. Imagine these fields full of marauding English and Scottish fighting to the death.

The cottage remains and was where they treated the wounded.



Then onto Loch Ness - and no we didn't see the monster.

The gentleman who lives here has spent a large part of his life looking for Nessie - he had lots of kitch souvenirs.

Lunch was in Inverness.

We then drove up the East Coast and stopped at Bruro for a coffee break - a delightful fishing village set on the North Sea.

And this was the local golf course!

We finally arrived at Thurso where we were to spend 2 nights.

Our next excursion was to the Orkney Islands and we left from John O'Groates on the Pentland Venture. Fortunately it was a calm crossing.

England to Scotland

On arrival in London we joined an Insight tour of Great Britain for 22 days. We were fortunate in that there were only 25 in the group so we could spread out across the coach. There were 6 people from the USA, 4 from New Zealand and the rest were Australians. Our tour director, Dylan was from Wales - he kept reminding us as he is a passionate Welshman - and our driver was Bob from Lancashire.

Don't forget that you can click on the photos for a larger picture.


Our first stop was in Oxford and our meeting point was at this statue the details of which escape me! Did I say this tour was like a huge history lesson so please let me know if I have said the wrong thing!The Bodlean Library.

Now I do know this one as Wayne and I had lunch here in a delightful old pub with original nooks - apparently C S Lewis and J R Tolkein often met here and had interesting discussions.

A walkway which is copied from The Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

We then strolled through St John's College which was open to visitors for a couple of hours - the gardens were beautiful.

We then continued through the Cotswolds to our first night's stop at Stratford Upon Avon.

We had been here before so didn't bother with revisiting Shakespeare's home but instead strolled through the town and down to the Avon River.

I know the grey squirrel is a pest but they are rather cute and this one did run away with a huge something in his mouth.Next morning we headed towards York but first we visited the Wedgewood Factory where I did buy the obligatory thimble to add to my collection.

Then across the Pennines and into York for the afternoon.

Unfortunately the new Quilt Museum was closed for a changeover of exhibitions. A beautiful city with so much history. I think this is an old Guild Hall set on the river.

This fort was built many centuries ago but, tragically, at one point in history thousands of Jews sheltered here and the whole building was set alight and all perished.

The Shambles - one of the oldest streets.

The Barley Hall.

One of the old street signs.

And of course York Minster.

They were renovating one of the stain glass windows so we had the opportunity to see the work up close.

The Rose Window.

We were staying at the Marriott Hotel - a little out of town but behind the York Race Course!


Day 3 of our tour took us back across the Pennines and into the Lake District.

We stopped at Grasmere for an hour or so and were able to stroll around the village and see Wordsworth's grave. There were paddocks of daffodils, but sadly, they were past their prime.

The Churchyard of St Oswalds.

And the Wordsworth's Graves

Some other buildings in Grasmere

And a close up of the stone walls which abound in the paddocks in the UK

A Herdwick sheep which are local to the area. Reminded me of the Herwick jumpers I used to knit.

The lake of Thirlmere which was dammed to provide water for Manchester. This saw the beginnings of the National Trust when a group was formed to try and stop the dam. They didn't succeed but The National Trust did.

And some of the hills with the stone walls.