OK, pop-pickers, as I think Alan Freeman used to say on UK Radio 1, here’s an oldie but a goodie (and I don’t mean Tim Brooke-Taylor or Bill Oddie or Graham Garden). This song takes me back to when I was young and hadn’t a care in the world (other than trying to learn ancient Greek at school!) I hope you enjoy! 😊
In an attempt to catch up and get up to date, I’ve decided to group all my other holiday photos together. (I say my, but I’ve included 2 of Jude’s as well – suitably credited to her). As you will see we had some nice weather (unlike the rest of the UK at the time I understand) and we had yet another fabulous boat ride to the Farne Islands, where thousands of seabirds were nesting.
My apologies for all the bird pictures, but I know there are some keen birders out there following my posts. If any of them/you can identify the little brown birds in pics 2 and 28 then I’d be very grateful. I have my suspicions about the first but no idea about the second.
Judith and I spent the last week of our UK holiday in Northumberland. On our way down from Scotland, we dropped off Jo & Aaron at Edinburgh airport to continue their European holiday (in Berlin and Nice and then who knows where…)
We were quite fortunate with the weather and our first day out was to take a shortish walk along the coast from our base in Alnmouth to the next village north, called Boulmer (pronounced Boomer for some reason. How people ever learn English I’ll never know. It’s hard enough coping with the various accents without pronouncing things differently to how they look. Or maybe people just couldn’t spell properly in the old days!)
Anyway, it was a beautiful walk, with plenty of things to photograph along the way. 😊
For our last full day in the NW of Scotland, we drove around Loch Carron to Plockton and treated Jo, Aaron and Jude’s friend, Kate, to a boat ride on one of Calum’s famous* Seal Trips (where you are guaranteed to see seals, or your money back!) I have covered this village before, but I see that it was almost 3 years ago now, so I think it’s worth another post. Especially as, this time, Aaron and I went for a short walk to the viewpoint at An Fhrith Aird, where there is an exceptional view of where Loch Carron meets the Inner Sound between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. (See map at the end of the picture gallery).
*As featured on the BBC TV series “Paul Murton’s Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs”.
While Jude caught up with old friends at Kate and Geoff’s Waterside Café, Jo, Aaron and I drove just a few miles up the road to the Lochcarron Weavers to find some MaCrae memorabilia. We’d also been tipped off that just across the way there was a very interesting 10 minute walk up to the abandoned village of Stromemeanach, which was left to fall into ruin in the 19th century in favour of Lochcarron itself.
On the way back, we stopped off to view the ruined Strome Castle, where Jo actually broke into a run (possibly for the first time in 10 to 15 years) after taking some photos of the Highland cow and calf (in pic 11). I only took one picture of her running, but it turned out pretty well, so I had to post it.
Later that day I strolled down to Slumbay Island (though it’s inappropriately named as it’s still connected to the mainland even at high tide), where I captured a couple of shore birds and, as usual when I find myself on a beach, I found a few stones to stack. 😊
For our first full day in the NW of Scotland, Judith and I took Aaron and Jo on a tour of the Applecross peninsular – taking in the famous Bealach Na Ba (one of Britain’s steepest roads), the beautiful village of Shieldaig, a sandy beach at a place actually called Sand, a short walk to the ‘remote’ Coillieghillie beach and, finally, the multi-award winning Applecross Inn to watch the sun go down. Quite simply, a fabulous day out! 😊
After 10 days just outside Sheffield, in Hathersage, our next port of call would be the west coast of Scotland. My elder daughter, Jo(anne), now lives in Melboune with her Australian partner, Aaron, and he had mentioned that his ancestors (named MacRae) probably came from somewhere near Applecross. So we set off in the hope of making some family connections.
On our journey we stopped to take photos of Glen Coe and (possibly the most photographed building in Scotland) Eilean Donan Castle, which was founded in the 13th century and was the stronghold of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies, the Clan MacRae. (Sadly that was about as close as we got to any connection, as there are so many strands to the MacRaes in that part of Scotland and we had very little information to start with).
Last week Judith and I were back in the UK visiting our respective families. While in the Midlands, we had a few hours to spare, so we decided to take a walk along the canal near Great Haywood Junction. Though I should really say canals, as that’s where the Trent and Mersey canal meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. It’s like a T junction – see first pic showing a map of the area.
As you will see, it was a pretty grey day, but there’s always something interesting to photograph – not least, in this instance, Shugborough Hall and the fascinating design of Essex Bridge. Twice I had to step to one side into one of the V shapes ‘laybys’ – once for a jogger and the second time for 3 ladies on horseback. It was clearly a popular route. 🙂
For our second walk we chose to drive over the Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale in the north east of the Lake District. Often smaller peaks give you a much better all round view of the distant hills and Place Fell at 657m or 2,156ft did not disappoint.
Our route started from the car park in the village and ascended to Boredale Hause, before turning left (north) to the summit. From there we turned north-east and descended around High Dodd to the east side of Ullswater. An undulating path then returned us alongside the lake to Patterdale. In total the walk was 7 miles long with an overall ascent of 550m or 1,800ft.
Imagine our surprise when we (well, Jude) spotted 2 Alpine Club plaques on the side of a building next to the school – one of which was Swiss! It seems the former school canteen, which subsequently became Parish Rooms, have been turned into a bunkhouse. It was officially opened on 4th October 1975 and named the George Starkey Hut, after a former member who had recently passed away. It has 20 beds and can be hired by recognised clubs and organisations. For more information read here.
A visit to the Lake District wouldn’t be complete (for Jude anyway) without a trip on a boat. And since the forecast for the day was a sort of cloudy grey, we opted to catch a ‘steamer’* from the aptly named village of Lakeside to Bowness-on-Windermere.
*Our outward journey would be on the MV (Merchant Vessel) Tern, which was built in 1891, but I’ve since learnt that it’s not driven by steam at all but is motor powered.
After a little retail therapy and a nice lunch, we returned on the MV Teal, which was built in 1936. (See pic 8).
The boats link up with the Lakeside and Haverthwaite railway, which is only 3.2 miles/5k long but, during the season, (broadly April through to the end of October) mostly runs steam trains to take people back and forth, as you will see from the last few pictures.
A perhaps little known, but useful piece of information here, (for keen UK quizzers or maybe those who holiday in exotic locations by the sea) is that all British owned ships must fly a flag with the Union (Jack) flag in the top left corner. The remainder of the flag is either red, indicating a merchant vessel (as with the Tern and Teal); white, together with a St George’s Cross, for the Royal Navy, or blue for other ships, which have a special warrant from the Admiralty.
For more information on Windermere Lake Cruises, check out this Visit Cumbria website.
