A 42 Night Tour Wales, England & Scotland of places we have not seen/visited!

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 1

The ‘Plan’:

With all the overseas places we have spent time going to, and like a heck of a lot of other people, we have never really spent any time in our own ‘back yard’ but with some of the places in the UK (Wales, England & Scotland) that have been shown on TV in various programs, and looked fabulous both on the ground and at around 2000ft from the window of an aircraft we decided that now might be a good time to try!

So although we cannot get the ‘Tin Tent’ to fly or the XC70 for that matter, our plan on this trip, was to go and see or visit those places at ‘Ground level’ plus a few others whose names ‘popped up’ and as you get deeper into life’s pathway they take a bit of time for the names to rise to the surface!


The Route:



So here goes as my feet are once again getting ‘itchy’ and ‘Flamenco Red’ is straining at the Turbo to be off again!

We hope you enjoy the ride if you are in the ‘Third Seat’!

Home to Aberporth (South Wales)

I am not sure if it sounds as good as the line from ‘Men in Black’:
“It’s 113Miles to Aberporth, we got a full tank of gas, now hit it!” But….

After calling in to pack away the remaining items and collect the ‘Tin Tent’ from secure storage it was not long before we were trundling along the M4 Motorway to West Wales.

Final ‘Loading Up’!



It was a nice easy run to start with, except for a thunderous Cloudburst on the M4 just outside Swansea that slowed us to a 25mph crawl until we drove out of it & to our first 2 night halt.

Arrival at Campsite!



(Note, Since the last Trip ‘Flamenco Red’ has undergone a Window Tint on the rear passenger, side and tailgate windows which was darker & maybe not surprisingly 50% Cheaper than specifying it from Volvo!)

View of Aberporth from campsite.



After a nice lunch we decided as the weather was now being kind to trundle into the Town which has all of 2 Shops, and have a look around!

A local person we spoke to while in town tells us that you only get to see these guys in the Winter! So we are a bit early, and will have to make do with this wooden carving!



View across the first beach.



Looking back up the road we came in on and it looks quite narrow here!



Meanwhile in a very small car park by the beach was this Mural made of broken tiles and depicting local scenes, one of which features a Misile!
It turns out that the MOD (Ministry of Defence) establishment behind the campsite we are on ‘tests’ Electronic Warfare Guided Weapons!
Now we know what the loud ‘WHOOOSH’ was yesterday evening.



View across to the second beach.



Anyone fancy 2 weeks in a little Holiday Cottage?



Back on site and the view from the rear window of the ‘Tin Tent’



Tomorrow we are off for a trip up the coast and hopefully a couple of nice places to have a look around!

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 2

New Quay (South Wales

First stop was the small but quite commercialsed ‘Town’ of New Quay where we hoped as our first objective on this trip to see some Bottle Nosed Dolphins.

Down the ‘Main Street’



Small ‘Cottage’at the bottom of the main street



Looking back from the Quayside



I then after hearing a ‘squeal’ from Jan looked over the sea wall to see…..



So I guess that local person must need to visit the opticians quite soon!

We then moved around the coast a bit to see what was happening with a couple of Dolphin Safari Boats and managed to see this nice display which I think was put on for the people in the boats!



As we planned to spend just a couple of hours in New Quay but the first ‘Private’ car park wanted £2.80!
The owner told us was a “1 Price for 1 hour or 1 day”, so I replied that I was not prepared to spend that for 2 hours which she didn’t like, but I thought tough! We then found a Council Car Park however our time was running out on the Car Park Ticket that cost us £0.70 for 2 hours so the £2.10 saved went towards the cost of Lunch and we decided to push on to our next stop which was….

Aberaeron (South Wales)



The view from the Sea Wall back to the town, with the tide out!



Wooden Bridge across the river





Even the rear of the houses are brightly painted!



View across the Inner Harbour



Looking back along the beach towards New Quay



Move on tomorrow and hopefully the heavy showers will die away as we travel further North and then North East.

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 3

Welshpool

Absolutely diabolical night last night. Just as we dropped off to sleep the rain started….then stopped….just dropping off again….and it started again, and so it went on for most of the night and finally stopped around 04:00hrs this morning!

A short ‘hop’ sees us at another small campsite just outside Welshpool, still in Wales but only here for 1 night before we head further North.

Looking back to Aberystwyth



Then across the hills



Having arrived at the campsite there is a small collection of Aircraft Cockpits in a shed that are in various stages of dis-assembly along with an Ex Gulf War Jaguar Jet, so as I went to pay for our 1 night I took the ‘Brownie Camera’ with me for a couple of pictures….









Quick bite to eat and off into Welshpool for a look see as it was an old linen linen town



The Narrowboat Canal that was used for transporting materials and finished goods



Yes the Canal is still in use!



Town Centre



Town Hall in the distance



Sadly the rains have returned which cut short any further exploration, so it was back to the ‘Tin Tent’ and a good cup of coffee.

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 4

Lydiate

Another ‘hop’ to our next destination which is Lydiate just outside Liverpool.

Set off this morning from the campsite near Welshpool along ¾ of a mile of narrow road to get to the main road for which you ‘Pray’ there is no one coming the other way, and thankfully there wasn’t!



Quite a nice morning to start with but that as we would find out later would change considerably!
It was also surprising to find that even though it is a Bank Holiday Weekend the traffic was relatively light and our run to Lydiate encountered no hold ups.

Not long and we came over the Runcorn – Widnes Bridge with the tell tale signs of recent rain.



Then just a few miles further on we ran into the ‘Downpour’ with speed reduced from 60 to 25Mph even on the Motorway with quite a few drivers who don’t know where there switch for the vehicles lights are, it was a bit scary in places!

Overshot the entrance to the campsite so had to go another 500yds and do a 180 degree turn at a road junction which was a bit hairy with two cars who wanted to turn right around the back of the ‘TinTent’ but they made it and so did we!

Down to the entrance and into the driveway then onto the campsite and wait for the rain to ease off before we pitched up!
‘Phew’ what a morning and it ain’t half over yet!

Lydiate ‘Windmill’ (The ‘Sails’ and Top were removed many years ago)



The campsite after the rain.


This afternoon was spent inbetween showers repairing a couple of minor ‘problems’ one of which was replacing the Rear Power Supply Outlet Fuse that is to be found under the Glove Box!
You need to be highly flexible to get at, and Volvo do not supply an ‘extraction’ tool so you have to use your wits to get the Mini Fuse out, which is not easy due to it’s location.

Now it’s shower time and off to the Pub for dinner with friends!

Tomorrow is my ‘Home Town’ (Liverpool) where weather permitting there is a ‘Mathew Street Extravaganza’ but more of that tomorrow!

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 5

A ‘Special Day’ in Liverpool

Quick breakfast then over to meet our friends in Formby before we give ‘Flamenco Red’the day off and we head in on the train to Liverpool.

Off the train then across to the old Birkenhead Tunnel Entrance for a quick coffee….



Turn around having already heard the music and we are at the start of the Mathew Street Festival with the ‘Merseybeatles’ kicking off the 2 days of festival.



The guy in the White Suit on stage did look a bit like John Lennon but the music was very good, the only person missing was the Left Hand Guitar of Paul McCartney!



Then we moved off to another venue of which there were 5 in and around the city centre, which was totally closed to traffic!



The next one was by the Tower which I could not get far away to get both Stage and Tower in on one picture.





From there off we went to one of my old haunts where I would take off from School, get on the Bus into the City, off and straight into Mathew Street and down the steps of the Cavern Club after passing the man collecting the entrance fee.
Dance like mad till it closed 2+hours later, come out take of my shirt, wring it out then make my way back to the Bus and go home! Great Times!





Up the road and turm right and there in front is the Town Hall



Get there and turn left and the next Festival Venue came into view with a session on Motown ‘Classics’



‘The Supremes’ (Diana Ross couldn’t make it!)



Followed by ‘The Drifters’



Then ‘The Jackson Five’



‘Picnic Time’


While they changed to instruments on stage for…..

‘The Beach Boys’ (With Beach Balls being knocked into the air by the audience!)



From there we made our way to the Pier Head and the Temporary Landing Stage as the old one had been ripped from it’s moorings in a gale and the new one had not been delivered!



While to the left we saw the Liverpool Museum that has recently been finished



The view across to Birkenhead…



While turning through 360 Degrees we see these buildings along the waterfront





The down the side of the Museum was this rather nice ‘Liverpool Lambananna’



While making our way to Albert Dock we get the contrast of ‘Old & New’



With finally one of the ‘Mobile Groups’ that were going around the city.



Our day for me brought back a lot of happy memories, but time once again to move on, so tomorrow we are heading further North.

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 6

Early start this morning as we head off up North to a place called Longriggthorn for 2 nights at another campsite.
Being ‘Bank Holiday Monday’ I didn’t fancy being stuck in a line of non-moving traffic as it was projected that 16 MILLION Motorists would be on the road in the UK, so we left at 07:30 and had a good run!

There is something about ‘Driving into the Hills/Mountains’ for me that has a special feeling, possibly because of the majestic nature of them, but also if you were able to look down from the very top then you would possibly look about the size of an ant crawling along a very narrow pathway!





Approaching the summit of ‘Shap’ on the M6 Motorway in Lake District Country.



After calling into a Fuel Station just off Junction 43 we continued on to the campsite near Longriggthorn, passing Carlisle Airport which has a small Aviation Museum and the following aircraft that is now ‘Grounded’ but part of the collection.

The Vulcan V Bomber



Got to the campsite along another quite narrow lane, and after setting up and a quick lunch we set off to have a look at a couple of places now far away but along the route we saw this fabulous Purple Carpet of colour in the wild Heather on the hillsides



First stop was Lambley Viaduct



Quite a climb down to get to it….



Then I will let the pictures tell the story…..













Looking out from the top we see….



But looking closer….Oops!



While looking over the other side….



Next stop was Featherstone Castle that according to the Internet was a POW Camp for German Officers in WWII, but as we were able to meet the owner on the day we went as it is not normally open to the public, he told us the story was incorrect and it was a school all the time.
There was a POW Camp down by the river but except for 2 small towers it is now a ruin.

‘Featherstone Castle’





Next stop was ‘Haltwhistle’ which lays claim to being…..



Here is the small square in Haltwhistle that is ‘The Centre of Britain’
While the LARGE 7 Tonne ‘Rock’ on the left was a gift in recognition of the mining in the area some years ago that used the Lambley Viaduct for transportation by rail.



Final stop for the day was ‘Hadrian’s Wall and we got to one of the better sections of it….



It’s the ‘Thicker’ section in the next pictures…




The wild heather as you climb up…



The width of the wall as it comes up over the face of the hill.



After this it was time to head back to the campsite and think about something for dinner.

Tomorrow? Well at the moment we are not sure about going one way or the other, so will have to wait and see!

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 7

Decision time….Carlisle or Hexham?

Well thanks to our wonderful English weather and the pathetic Weather Forecasters (Dry Overcast Day) when it turned out to be Total Cloud Cover and constant Rain the coin fell for Carlisle!

So here are a few pictures from around the City….

Dixons Tower which was part of a Cotton Mill



Anyone need a BIG Power Drill? (Yes the drill bit was turning!)



Carlisle Castle



One of the Old Entrance Gates to the city



Carlisle Cathedral

Bit of History about it….



And Now.



Inside….





The wood carvings looked a bit like ‘Hogwarts’ out of Harry Potter, but on a smaller scale!



The roof which has been rebuilt due to crumbling woodwork



The right in the centre of the roof is the face of The Virgin Mary



A replica of one of the swords that killed St Thomas Becket



Outside some of the other buildings…



Notice the little house in the middle of the picture…



Partial remains from another building destroyed by Oliver Cromwell


Hats on as the rain is now heavier and off into the City Centre…



City Centre



Continue across to City Main Gate…

Left side…



Right side…



Railway Station…



Excuse me Sir, sorry to advise but that train is cancelled for today!



Station Platforms with quite nice footbridge



Time to head back to campsite as weather getting worse but on the way back we pass this very nice Thatched Cottage…



Off again tomorrow and over the Border into Scotland, so can only hope that the weather improves!

[mrslomo]

WOW! My husband and I have dreamed of taking a driving tour like this. Now, we could just ride in your third seat and kick back! Thanks! What's for breakfast tomorrow?

[XCovlov70]

WOW! My husband and I have dreamed of taking a driving tour like this. Now, we could just ride in your third seat and kick back! Thanks! What's for breakfast tomorrow?

I have been having Porridge with a spoon of Honey and half a Banana sliced.
Glass of Orange Juice and a Coffee.
Hope that's OK?

[XCovlov70]

2011 UK Tour of places not seen/visited Page 8

More Motorway driving passing the Exit…

‘Quickie’ Marriage for anyone at the Blacksmith’s Shop?



Entering Scotland you immediately notice an increase in the number of Fir Trees growing along the Motorway!



Not long and we are going over the Kincardine Bridge



Next stop was our campsite for the next 2 nights at ‘Blair Mains’ and after we got set up it was time for some ‘Laundry’ after being on the road for a week!

So out came the Twin Tub and Inverter with soap powder etc!



With the ‘end result’ and a nice view across the Firth of Forth



Next was a spot of lunch and then a short ‘Off Road’



Before we made our way to Culross which turned out to be a very nice little village…



With a view from the carpark along the Firth of Forth



Then into the village centre…









Making our way higher in the village towards the Abbey









Then ever higher…



With possibly ‘The Final Resting Place?’



But if you get ‘caught short’ there is always the ‘1673 WC’!



Looking back there is ‘Snuff Cottage’



While not much further….



Then inside….











Then a bit further gets you at Culross Church Entrance…



Just inside…



1 “Merk” = £0.66p ($1)



While inside the Church…









This Gentleman as you will see later was very wealthy in his time…



Finally the Church Organ



Interestingly there was no ‘Entrance Fee’ to the Church but a donation was requested on the basis that the Church cost £200/DAY to run!

We then went on to ‘Preston Island’ & ‘Valleyfield Ash Lagoons’ where ash from the local Coal Fired Power Station was used on Preston Island to fill in the Lagoons and create a Wildfowl Reserve of currently around 600 acres and 3 miles from one side to the other which we walked and subsequently slept like logs that night!





‘Ash Roadway’





‘Ash Mounds’ from controlled Truck Tipping…



The Firth of Forth Rail & Road Bridges from ‘Preston Island’



The derelict buildings from the 1st Coal Pit Head that went under the Firth of Forth & built by Sir Robert Preston



The mined coal was used to boil off the river water leaving ‘Scottish Salt’ behind



Then just up river we have the Power Station producing the Ash…



With a clearer view of both bridges looking back down stream…



The part of the 3 mile walk around ‘Preston Island’ which was enjoyable but quite knackering!



Tomorrow is somewhere else to explore but at the moment both my legs and brain are a bit stressed so we will have to wait and see what happens in the morning!