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

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 07:10 AM

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A Day trip to The Orkneys.

Set off at 08:00 this morning for the relatively short trip to John O’Groats, and then the 40 Minute Ferry trip across the Pentland Firth to The Orkney Islands.

Thanks to the continous rain, the ferry was full with Standing Room only for about 20 or 30 passengers as we had 5 Coaches onboard plus a few other passengers, this resulted in a slightly slower trip across but a lot less ‘wobbly’ with the rather choppy sea!

Once we arrived in ‘Burvid’ it was off the Ferry, Hoods up to stay dry from the rain and head for our coach then the 44 minute run to Kirkwall which was our first stop.

On the way we pass over a number of the ‘Churchill Barriers’ that were made by some 9000 Italian Prisoners of War using moulded blocks of concrete of between 5 & 10 Tonnes in weight.
There are 5 Churchill Barriers in all, constructed from an order made by Winston Churchill after a German U Boat got through ships that had been deliberately sunk in Scapa Flow to stop the enemy attacking the Royal Navy ships that were moored there, and sank HMS Royal Oak with the loss of 833 lives, of whom the average age of the seamen was just 18yrs.

Apologies for the picture quality, but with the rain and a moving coach it was a bit difficult.

The HMS Royal Oak Ships Bell and Crew List in Kirkwall Cathedral.

On a couple of the Barriers it was still possible to see the ships that had been deliberately sunk but it was the strong current that turned a couple of the ships on the seabed so making a passage for the enemy to get through.

Kirkwall was our first stop and the really striking aspect was….

Built by the Norwegians in 1500 it was a fabulous stone structure…

With another nice building just across the road….

While some of the roads in the city centre were quite narrow…

Then down at the Harbour with the ferry boats that go to some of the other 16 inhabited Islands out of the 70 Islands that make up the Orkney’s

Then on our way back to the coach we spot this custom of a ‘Bride to Be’ who gets Tarred & Feathered on the day before her wedding!
(In this case it was Molasses & Feathers, and the poor girl is the one in the red T Shirt)

Next stop was Stromness…

Even though the streets were quite narrow the traffic still came through!

Distances to the different places in Orkney from Stromness…

A bit further along we stopped in Stromness Community Centre for a coffee and while there spotted this nice apparatus in the window….

It was the Tower Clock Mechanism that kept good time up until 1996 when it was swopped out for an Electric version. It was destined for the scrap heap until the Centre Manager took it in, cleaned it up and put it on display.

More sites of the town…

Shows the ongoing ties with Norway

As close as we got to Stromness Museum as we had 30 Minutes to look around after we got off the coach, so all we got was a look through the front door!

It seems that this was the ‘Red Light’ district of Stromness, maybe quite aptly named in view of that!

Next stop was ‘Skara Brae’ which is one of Europe’s most remarkable Neolithic sites…

Then on the left of Skara Brae is Skaill House…

Next stop was ‘The Ring of Brodgar’….(Third largest in the UK at 130 Meters Diameter)

Next stop was the ‘Italian Chapel’ that was built from 2 Nissan Huts during the War and is maintained by volunteers…

The Italien Statue of George and the Dragon that was made from shaped steel wire that was then covered in concrete and shaped…

Then it was back on the coach with a little read of a brochure that showed how proud the Orcadians are about there new flag and the link with Norway!

On the way back to the Ferry we passed this house with the Whale Bones outside the garage from a recent BBQ!

Then it was on the Ferry and start pulling away from the jetty for a rather bumpy ride back to John O’Groats as the sea was running a Force 6 swell, but as it had stopped raining we went on the upper deck which was uncovered and managed to see about 5 grey seals but was not fast enough with the camera, sorry!

Finally got back to the campsite and got to see a rather nice coloured sky as the Sun went down for the day.

Back on the road tomorrow!

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 07:49 AM

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West Murkle to Inverbervie.

With the prospect of hurricane winds today we set off a bit early for the 220 mile trip from West Murkle to Inverbervie but interestingly after all the rain we had yesterday there was a lot of blue sky this morning.

Passing through Thurso…

Open road and ‘Wind Farm’. They are getting a ,lot more common in Scotland

While the next picture is ‘Hazy’ due to sea mist it is of an Oil/Gas Platform off the coast that is still operational…

While moving South….

Through the town of ‘Tain’..

A bit further down the road and my good lady says ‘Sheep Dog Trials’ to which I replied: “ I’m too old, I cannot run fast and I’m going slightly deaf” to which we both had a good chuckle!

Then we come to….

With some Gas/Oil Platforms in the Moray Firth…

Next over a low bridge…

Followed fairly quickly by the bridge for Inverness…

Then we start going ‘Cross Country’…

Then we pass through a small town called ‘Tomintoul’..

Followed by some serious ‘Hill Climbing’ of between 14 & 20% gradients (4th or 3rd Gear gave no problems maintaining 40+Mph)
This took us through the Lecht Ski area…

Then down the other side…

Then came the Narrow Bridges…

Patchwork Quilt Hills!

Then through the Single Track Roads and another Narrow Bridge where we nearly ‘Grounded’ between the ‘Tin Tent’ and Flamenco Red as we went over the crest!

Going over this bridge which nearly ‘Grounded’ the outfit, it felt like we were riding a Bucking Bronco as we went up, over the crest and back down again!!

Turn left at this rather nice tower..

Then through this Entrance Gate, with a hard Left just on the other side…

Finally arrived at our next campsite where we will be for 2 nights.

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 07:58 AM

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Inverbervie.

Woke this morning to very high winds but thankfully the campsite we are on is only 1/3 of an acre and enclosed on 2 sides by high walls and high hedges on the other two so we are quite sheltered.

After a late breakfast we decided to go over into…

..which is the nearest town for a look around, and hope that the wind and squally showers that started to come through would not be too bad.

Made our way along a few streets in the Town Centre…

Then found ourselves outside the Montrose Academy which we are not sure is for Art or Music and we didn’t like to go and knock on the door and ask, but the building looked nice with it’s ‘Gold Top’ (Bit like one of the old Gold Top bottles of milk from the Milkman!)

However just opposite we found Montrose Museum which was ‘Free Entry’ so never being one to look a gift horse in the mouth off we went inside…

I will let some of the pictures ‘speak’ for themselves…
‘Item 9’

Here it is…

Wonderful model in a case…

The local ‘Regiment’

‘Item 1’

The top 3 are the ‘Rolling Pins’ which I thought strange made of Glass and onboard a ship?

Now the local ‘Wildlife’, but all stuffed and in a glass case!

This next one made stop and re-read the notice….

From the top… Item 11, Item 12 & Item 13…

Came out of the Museum and made our way back to the campsite as the wind was getting stronger, and as I sit here putting this together I can feel the ‘Tin Tent’ rocking quite a bit even though we are sheltered.

Spent a short time this afternoon/evening ‘pinching’ a few of the Apples that were growing on the campsite and giving the 4 Horses in the adjacent fields them.
The Apples had a few marks on them so would not be picked by anyone, and I think the horses quite enjoyed them, as everytime I walked past they came back for more!

We are due to set off again tomorrow to go further South but at the moment they are only allowing cars to go over the Tay and Forth Road Bridges so tomorrow we will have to wait and see as a Detour could double the distance we would travel!

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 08:10 AM

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Inverbervie to St Abbs.

Well the high winds stopped at 02:00 this morning but resumed again at 06:30 but the weather forecast said that they should subside and the Firth of Forth Road Bridge that we needed to get over was only closed to double decker buses although there was a 30Mph speed restriction in place, so we decided to give it a go and head for St Abbs.

Not sure if the gales took the plastic roof off these cloches or they were removed before the gales came…

Road view from the A90

Typical ‘Road Sign’ on our trip South…

Finally get to the Firth of Forth Road Bridge and find a 40Mph restriction instead of the 30Mph mentioned on the radio…

Lowered ‘Maintenance Platform’

While alongside is the Railway Bridge…

As we make our way around Edinburgh in the distance we can just see ‘Arthur’s Seat’…

Further on we pass this ‘Glow in the Dark’ Nucleur Power Station called Totness…

Turning right off the A1 ‘Great North Road’ a short way further on then after about 1 mile of Single Track Road we get to our next campsite which is a bigger and a bit more open than the last one and the wind is now gusting quite strongly again!

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 08:42 AM

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St Abbs & Berwick upon Tweed.

“The Sun has got his hat on” Well that’s what it feels like today as we have for once got a beautiful blue sky with a bit of wind but the good sign is a rise in the Barometric Pressure which should be better weather!

Our first port of call today was the small village of St Abbs, which looked fabulous at 2000ft on the BBC program ‘Coast’ and still looked fabulous at ground level when we got there….

We thought after having a walk around that we had better get back in Flamenco Red and skidaddle as the Car Parking came in at £5/Day ($8) so as we had only been there around 45 minutes it was definitely time to ‘exit stage left’!

Our next destination which we have never been to was Berwick upon Tweed and boy did we get a nice surprise…

We kick off with a picture of a copy of an L S Lowry painting as we did not park in the town centre but a short way outside, however at different places around the town are these information plates with a picture of a painting by L S Lowry…

The behind the information plate is…

Back into town over this ‘One way/Pedestrian’ bridge…

While to the right we have the river mouth…

Then to the left we have then Main Road bridge along with the Railway Bridge

Then a bit further on we can look back and see all 3 Bridges in the one picture..

With a view to the South side of Town…

Moving into the Town Centre…

Then we came to the really interesting bit…

We thought it was really nice of the Garrison inside the Town to put up a set of Goalposts for the Invaders, so on Sunday after Church they could all have a nice game of Football, before going back to trying to blow each others brains out!

Another L S Lowry…

But how nice it looks now…

Along the waterfront…

More views of the Town…

Finally got back to the campsite…

After ‘feeding’ Flamnco Red with the obligatory ‘Litres of Diesel’ to make sure we enjoyed some more miles South, it was time to feed ourselves so out came the BBQ and the result was some BBQ’d Pork with a good selection of vegetables, and a glass of a nice Chilean Merlot for Dinner!

Bon Appetit & Cheers!

Tomorrow sees us on the way further South albeit a short ‘hop’ to a campsite near Lindisfarne.

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 09:02 AM

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Reston to Beal and Bamburgh Castle.

Lie in till 08:00 this morning as the next campsite is only 22 Miles away and had I known then what I found out when we got to it I would never have booked and been requested to pay for it at the same time, but that’s another story.

First off after we arrived was to get some washing out of the way, so as it was a nice day, our second in 3+ Weeks of being on the road that was sorted out before lunch and then it was off to Bamburgh Castle and what a fabulous place that turned out to be as I am sure you will see in the attached pictures…

Maybe what every lady would like in her 'Christmas Stocking' A MAN TRAP!

The ‘hatch’for the boy chimmney sweep was just above the ‘Range’ but I could not get it all in one picture so by putting one on top of the other below I hope you get the idea!

Finally ‘The Dungeons’

We then after eating our sandwiches while overlooking the Sea went off to have a look at the Grace Darling Memorials, however the Museum would not allow pictures to be taken inside so we just stuck with outside and the graveyard where she is buried….

Grace Darling is actually buried in the Family Grave….

This is the graveyard memorial that was erected and can be seen from the sea..

While over on the Farne Islands, the White Building & Lighthouse is the Grace Darling Lighthouse…

Our next stop was St Aidan Priory which is the Church in the cemetery of Grace Darling & St Aidan…

The original memorial carving to Grace Darling

The exact spot where St Aidan died in the church…

With finally a view over Bamburgh from the Castle…

Tomorrow is Lindisfarne…

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 09:33 AM

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Holy Island, Lindisfarne.

While it was supposed to only be 1 Mile from the campsite I think that was to the start of the Causeway that takes you over to Holy Island, having then traversed that you still have around 1.5 Miles to go before you get to the Village of Lindisfarne, and with today’s weather walking it was NOT an option as the rain and high winds have returned again!

The ‘Dire Warning’ for the Causeway!

Covered over.

Holy Island

Waiting to cross…

OK to go…

1.5 Miles after crossing…

Lindisfarne…

Lindisfarne village.

This is the ‘Draw Arch’ and the ‘Eye’ where the burnt lime comes through.

This is the ‘Funnel’ leading up to the top of one of the ‘Pots’ and you can see the ‘Eye’ (Vertical Bricks) in the bottom centre of the picture.

This is the top one of the six ‘Pots’

Lindisfarne from the rear.

Old Boat Hulls, cut into sections, turned over and used for a variety of things.

These 2 ‘Towers’ were used by ships coming into the harbour. The Captain would line up the Towers by eye to guide him through in the deepest water in the channel for the harbour.

Coming back over the causeway, which resulted later in Flamenco Red getting the first fresh water wash in 3+ Weeks!

The pillaging of St Cuthberts bones by the Vikings

St Aidan

The Priory.

St Aidan from the front..

Came back to the campsite and we saw this strange item on the roof of an RV. At first we thought it was an overgrown Teapot with handle but no Spout however it turns out to be a Satellite TV Receiver!

Found we had a small problem with the 12v Circuit so unfortunately had to plug into the 240v, but went to the farmhouse to tell the owner, however no one was home, tried again while trying to resolve the problem still no one in.
1 hour later there is this LOUD banging on the outside of the ‘Tin Tent’ with a man standing there, whose first words were “I presume you are going to pay for the electric you are using” he clearly saw the mains cable being orange in colour!

With no introduction and definitely no manners, he got back just as good as he gave and was also advised that we were not the only ones who would definitely not be returning to his little “campsite from hell”.
Even the pathway up to the place had more holes in than a Swiss Cheese.

Hey Ho, some you win and some you lose, and this guy just lost 5 ‘future customers’ plus others who will hear about the bad news and not bother!

Tomorrow sees us staying just outside Durham for a look around that city, and hoping that the weather improves!

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 09:43 AM

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Durham.

We left the ‘Campsite from Hell’ at 08:30 this morning for the short run to our next campsite which is quite close to the city of Durham and as we got out of the gate and set off down the road we had this rather nice view of a complete Rainbow, thankfully neither end was to be seen anywhere near the campsite we had just left!

On our way to Durham we pass ‘The Angel of The North’ which is a sculpture made of Iron…

Then after finding our campsite for the next 2 nights we catch some Public Transport in the form of a Bus to Durham City Centre and from there make our way to Durham Cathedral…

Arriving at the Front Door we find…

Sadly the ‘Knocker’ has now been made imobile as sanctuary is not now possible.

Views from around and inside The Cloisters…

Inside the Cathedral..Photographs Not Allowed by order of The Dean, and there were enough Church Wardens around to make sure it didn’t happen!

However personally I thought the Cathedral in Kirkwall (Orkney Islands) was much better from an architectural perspective and certainly more stunning inside.

Now outside but could not manage to get the whole building on one picture!

Now we head for the city and found the Castle was closed for some major works being carried out.

Then we were confronted by this ‘Gang of Convicts’ and a sole ‘Police Lady’.
It was the ‘Police Lady’s 40th Birthday so she ‘sprang’ a few friends from the local prison to help her celebrate!

Couple more City views, then it was time to head back to the campsite…

I think if we had walked into the City we could have still been walking back to the campsite for some time in view of the rather steep roads!

Hopefully if the weather improves we will make it to Beamish Open Air Museum tomorrow, fingers crossed!

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 10:00 AM

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Beamish Open Air Museum.

After a short journey from the campsite over some interesting countryside with wonderful scenic views we arrived at the museum, and boy were we in for a surprise!
Having got inside it was like stepping back in time over 50 years!
So I am sure you will recognise some of the items in the pictures below…

All aboard the Bus and make it the Top Deck!

First stop ‘The Town’

The Farm, Stables & Blacksmith

‘Tack room’

Sweet Shop!

Everything in the next 3 pictures is still made in the shop, and it was all for sale!

Something I haven’t seen or enjoyed for over 40 years! Cinder Toffee and it tasted as good now as it did then!

The Sweetie making room!

Making Barley Sugar…

Now over to the Garage….

I think this is a Model T Ford in Black of course!

The car in the middle of the next picture was made by the Same Harbour Engineering Works (SHEW) near Birmingham and came with an Articulated Chassis but because it made the stearing extremely heavy it never went into production.

Wooden front seat!

Tools and machines…

A Daimler flat bed truck…

The Masonic Lodge from 1913…

The Hardware Store, it was run by ‘The Co-op’ so if you bought anything then you also needed your Dividend Number which was worth a 20% Discount then!

Having stuffed our faces on Cinder Toffee and other sweets it was time for a visit to….

The rest of the Dentist’s house where his family lived…
Built in Shower on the Bath!

The Garden looking across to the Town…

While at the top of the Garden was this rather old very large gun.

A STEAM driven Merry Go Round…

The Railway…

Some Scottish Highlander Soldiers practising with a rather LOUD Corporal!

Then we made our way over to the large Marquees for a look inside…

Super sized Leeks!

These Ladies were the ‘Judges’ in the Cake Baking contest, and the ‘tasting samples’ were being consumed quite easily…

We then found a Bee Keeping demonstartion and were told that the Queen Bee was the one with the ‘White Spot’ on her back!

A fabulous 2 year old Fish Eagle…

Ladies ‘Pedal Power’

Threshing machine with the crew in traditional costume..

The ‘Steam Engine’ and ‘Music Organ’ of the Round about…

Next a ride on the Tram over to..

The Colliery & Village…

The village school, Infants, and then Seniors…

Miners Houses…

The Pit Head. We were told that the flag was flying at half mast for the 4 Miners who were killed 3 days ago in a Drift Mine accident in Swansea (South Wales) by the Ex-Miner who was operating the Engine in the Winch Room.

A Miners House Vegetable Garden…

A Picture ‘Projector’ inside the Village Chapel…

Open Cast Mine Coal Shovel..

The ‘Refurbishment Garage’

It was then time to depart from Beamish Museum after a really nice and nostalgic day and make our way back to the ‘Tin Tent’ and on the way we spotted these…

The views over the countryside were excellent…

Next stop Bowes.

**XCovlov70** · 09-22-2011, 10:13 AM

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Bowes for High Force Waterfall.

After another relatively short journey we arrived at our next stop out in the countryside at a village called Bowes and thankfully the Sun is currently shining but again would dissapear later!

Our first ‘outing’ after we got set up was to ‘High Force Waterfall’

There it ‘rumbles’!

Nice and quite downstream…

While along the pathway is this explanation about the rock formation…

While back on the road on our way back we get to see this landscape…

Our trip takes us into a small village called Middleton-in-Teesdale which was rather nice…