19th September, 1992
20th September, 1992
21st September, 1992
22nd September, 1992
23rd September, 1992
24th September, 1992
25th September, 1992
dinburgh! Well, we got here alright, found our B & B with very little problem, and have a fairly spacious room. No facs but it's just next door. Unfortunately it's up two flights of stairs in an attic with outer walls curving in to the roofline and those high dormer windows with a great view of the grey Edinburgh sky. We went for a drive to the City which terrified me, there's no parking and all the main streets are one way (but which way?) Then we found a laundrette and washed our clothes so that's one less job to do. Tomorrow we brave the City again (they say there are no parking restrictions on Sundays) to see the Castle (naturally - must add to our castle collection) and Holyrood House and the Camera Obscura. Geoff would love that.
e had quite a good Italian meal tonight but not as good as last night. Creaghan House is a fantastic restaurant. One dines in baronial splendour with a roaring (gas) fire in the huge fireplace which fooled Mac for a while, it looked so genuine. The food was wonderful and the hostess very happy to talk and explain things. Pricey, but worth it.
By the way, on the way to Edinburgh we detoured through a tiny medieval village called Culross. There are the remains of an abbey, and a 16th C Mercat cross with a unicorn on top, narrow cobbled streets and tiny houses so close to the street that the corners have been rounded off by traffic. Lovely.
ff early to the city to find a parking space near the Castle, which we did in Lawnmarket in the Royal Mile. We then walked up the cobbled street to find the Castle was not opening until midday because they were dismantling the seating for the Tattoo. So we mooched about until it was time for the Camera Obscura to open. This is a fantastic exhibit which Geoff would love. You climb up this tower and on each floor there is an exhibit of something interesting, so you don't get too exhausted toiling upwards. There was an incredible exhibition of pinhole camera shots of Edinburgh made with biscuit tins and Coke tins with pinholes. Then there was the hologram exhibit, amazing! Then we got to the actual Camera Obscura. With a simple lens in the top of the tower one can see all of Edinburgh spread out on a table. It was incredible! The thing was invented in the late 1800's by a LADY optician and has been showing ever since. It was great.
e then had some coffee and walked down to Waverley Station via some fascinating closes (which are residentials for the University, I think) all in the Old Town, where we joined a Classic Bus Tour. The deal was, you bought your ticket and then could hop on and off the bus all day as it plied (with a very interesting commentary from the driver) through all the interesting places. It began to rain quite heavily as we went along on the open top of the bus so we got off at the Castle, open by now, and saw all over it.
e saw the oldest building in Edinburgh, a tiny chapel to St.Margaret, his mother, erected by David I in 10 something. And we saw the Scottish Crown Jewels, and the vaults with Mons Meg, a huge siege gun, the ultimate weapon of her day. When we had finished there we caught the bus again and set off for Holyrood Palace, the Queen's official residence in Edinburgh. We went round twice because we missed the stop but we saw Greyfriars Bobby's statue and got to know the layout of Edinburgh better.
olyrood Palace was marvellous. One is taken by a guide and he was GOOD. We saw Mary Queen of Scots' rooms, including the place where Rizzio was murdered. As the Palace is still used, the public rooms
were not filled up with exhibition furniture but they were still very impressive. The exit is through the ruined Abbey of the Holy Rood, where the Palace gets its name, and it was beautiful. A lot of it was still standing and there were traceries of the big windows and the remains of pillars and the vaulted roof. We both loved it and felt it had been worth the trip. A funny feature of the palace was the long gallery where Charles II had commissioned a Dutch artist to paint the portraits of all the Scottish kings. Obviously there were no pictures of the older ones so the artist gave them all the features of Charles himself. It was a giggle.
ut of Edinburgh today, (with a bit of a problem, being mapless) and headed for Peebles, in the Borders. We first made for the Edinburgh Crystal Co.'s factory at Penicuik but it was closed for a warehouse sale and we didn't want to buy any, just watch the process. Feeling swizzled, we headed on for Peebles, a quaint little town on the Tweed, lots of Mill shops and bustle. We bought some more maps here and had morning tea, then went on to Traquair House, the oldest continually occupied great house in Scotland. Its main gates were chained up "until a Stewart king reigned again", thus the drive is now a lawn and a so-called "temporary drive" is what is used still. It was very interesting in that it really looked as old as it was, the floors were uneven and creaked loudly, they didn't even get electricity until the 1920's and it has a collection of fascinating documents and a priest's hole.
Then we went on to Innerleithen where we went over Smail's Print Shop, an old family printing business that used the same equipment as at the turn of the century. Quite interesting, I made up a stick of type with Geoff's name and had it printed on a bookmark.
hen, though it was getting late we drove through beautiful rolling wooded rural scenery to Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott, but too late to view so on to the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, where we saw his grave, and also that of Field Marshall Earl Haig, World War I C in C. Dryburgh is beautiful, a lot of the form of the Abbey is still imaginable with the remains. We only had half an hour there because it was raining again and nearly six o'clock.
ome quite late to pack for tomorrow and map out a route.
So, goodbye to Scotland and, hoping desperately that the weather will improve, we will be heading for England and Durham.
ouring rain to say goodbye to Scotland - seems typical. Drove south through low cloud (or high mist - low visibility anyway) till we got to Stanley, where we found the Beamish Open Air Museum. I had intended to visit it so we braved the weather, which in fact did clear to mainly overcast. Beamish was really very good - a living museum set in the year 1913. Electric trams, steam trains, businesses and the Co-Op. Great. We spent three and a half hours there, consequently arrived in Durham in the five o'clock peak hour. It was horrendous. The centre of the city was narrow and impenetrable so we parked in a parking station near the Cathedral (massive pile, bigger than the castle) and went to the Tourist Information Centre. They not only provided a map but worked out our route to the B & B. Now the real fun and games began.
ave you ever seen a row of houses with no road to serve them? Nevilledale Terrace, Durham is one of them. The only access is from the back and the roads are ancient cobbles and so narrow that the corners have mirrors. However, our landlord was watching for us and directed us to his private garaging so that was OK. We have a nice room, twin beds, no facs but they are close and there is little competition, there is only one other guest. We explored Durham by night, after a very pleasant meal in a nice little bistro. But our only reason for stopping there was Beamish, so that accomplished, its off to York!
aining yet again! We went by the coast, Whitby and Scarborough. On the way to Whitby we passed Captain Cook's Birthplace Museum at Marton. So we spent an hour or so there. It was very well done. Then off to Whitby and another Captain Cook place, where he first went to sea. Seemed a nice town but raining too hard to tell. So off to Scarborough, another seaside town with a massive castle (which was used by Grace Ingram as the model for Red Adam's Castle in "Red Adam's Lady" , a favourite of mine.) It also had the grave of Anne Bronte, the author of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" and sister of Charlotte and Emily. She was only 28. Still too wet and the roads too chaotic to want to stay so on to York.
e arrived about 4.30 but couldn't find the house. So we parked in a parking station and went to buy a map, finding we were really quite close. Ascot House is large, almost a real hotel (it takes credit cards) We have a cosy attic up two flights of winding spiral stairs. The roof is so low that one beam has a cushion nailed to it so you don't bump your head. We have a private bath and toilet - no shower. We went out for dinner and found our way into the Old City. York is a medieval walled city with (inside the walls) narrow cobbled streets, old shambles areas which we are yet to see, and of course the Minster, which we saw from the outside this evening.
As we approached York the sun came out, hope it's an omen.
t wasn't - raining again this morning. However, it did clear up this afternoon, like yesterday. We headed off by bus to obviate the necessity of joining the traffic jam and parking problem and were soon walking down Coppergate (The thing to remember in York is that streets are called gates and gates are called bars, (old Danish)) to the Jorvik Viking Centre. This was a fascinating display, by time travel cars again, (like the Tower Hill Pageant) back to the Danish settlement of Jorvik. It was very well done and the display of archaeological finds from the dig was very interesting. Then we went on to the Castle Museum. This is a folk museum of incredible size and interest. We were there for hours and walked our feet off. In order to display the objects of ordinary life they had built a road of shops etc with all the things in the windows. But it was much more than this. I thought we would never get to the end - we had lunch in the teashop thoughtfully placed halfway. We went home on the bus and rested for three quarters of an hour, then took the car into town, found a park easily and went off for dinner. We found a nice restaurant on Goodramgate then when we had finished went for a stroll in the Shambles. It's amazing, the houses practically DO touch overhead. Then to the river (Ouse, seemed apt) for a floodlit cruise - quite pleasant. A very full day!
ote on York: The number of elderly people - particularly ladies - riding bikes. Young people too, of course. I suppose as it is quite flat it is easy pedalling. All the cyclists obey traffic lights and make hand signals - bikes are vehicles!
oday it was fine, though overcast so we went out to walk the City Walls. We got three quarters of the way around before I got pooped. It's not the walking, it's the constant up and down steps (because the wall is broken in parts and being repaired in others so you have to go down to the ground and find the next bit). It was good though and not too far around, it's just that we are disgustingly unfit. A light lunch at a shop built in 14 something which sold highly expensive glass and china and also Halcyon Days enamels like the Year Boxes Neil gives me.(we couldn't resist buying a tiny box which said on the lid "Never economise on luxuries" - so we didn't. They are VERY expensive.
fter that little interlude we strolled in the Shambles and encountered a street busker, I suppose, but very professional and entertaining. He juggled with fire sticks and balls and fruit but he had a most entertaining line of patter. We gave him a couple of pounds because he made us laugh so much. Then we went to look at the Minster.
t is most impressive with lovely glass windows and some very interesting clocks. One has two figures with pikes beating out the hours and quarters which dates from the 15th C. and is still right and the other is an astronomical clock, modern, with all kinds of dials, which is a memorial to the fallen of the RAF. The whole place glows with light and colour although like every other Ancient Building in Britain it is half covered in scaffolding and repairmen.
So it is goodbye to York. I have enjoyed it for its unique city centre and eminently walkable little streets - and for feeling safe, even late at night. Tomorrow we head for the Lakes District - please let it be fine!