Scottish Borders

Hello!  I have finally got around to posting my journal of our holiday to the Scottish Borders.  If you can't see any photos, don't worry - I am adding them gradually within the text.  If you can't wait to see the photos, you can view them in my picture gallery: https://picasaweb.google.com/brocklehurst79/ScottishBorders2009

Thanks for your patience! :o)

Siobhan xx

Saturday October 10th

This morning we got up at 7am. We had packed the majority of things the night before. Still, this didn’t seem to minimize the rushing about in the morning! Mathew put most things in the car by the time I’d got downstairs, and we were still packing things like loo roll, tea towels, vitamins, sauces….

I sorted out our lunches and I got my waffles out of the cupboard, but Mathew put them in the toaster too soon and we both got distracted with more packing. The waffles got toasted a second time and weren’t popped up mid-way – so they were burnt and crispy! AND Mathew had also packed the raspberries in the car – which I was going to have on my waffles!! I managed to eat said waffles with raspberries and maple syrup, and decided to have a normally toasted extra waffle.

Making sure everything was packed, we left and got onto the motorway.

Before realising I had left my coat.

My large, black, warm coat.

!!!

Yes, we returned home, fortunately we hadn’t gone far. It only added 20 minutes to our journey time so everything was fine! We had the radio on in the car hoping to get some frequent travel news, but we soon realised that, unlike during the week when there is s report every half and hour, there was nothing on a Saturday! This we found strange, because surely, a lot of people start their holidays on Saturdays?? Well, it didn’t matter in the end, as the traffic was light, we stopped once for a comfort break before continuing on to Belsay Hall and Castle.

On the way, we were very entertained my Jonathan Ross as he was talking about ladies in the Swedish Army had complained about their bras being too easy to take off, that they were popping off when doing strenuous training exercises and to make matters worse, they were apparently VERY flammable….! How they discovered that one, I don’t think I want to know!!

Anyway, back to the journey. We arrived at Belsay Hall in Northumberland at around 12:00 noon, and we looked around the hall first, before stopping to have lunch and then moving on to the Castle.

The Hall, I have to say was very unlike any other Hall I have visited in the UK. First off, it didn’t look grand from the outside – it looked like a large house possibly with large rooms, but it looked very understated and …well, not very exciting really. There were two Greek style columns at the entrance, but these were very simple and understated also. This was a “Greek revival villa”.

When we stepped inside, we walked into a large atrium, surrounded by more simple Greek-style columns. There were rooms off each side, a staircase leading to a second floor with a balcony looking down into the atrium, also with rooms off to each side. Everything was so simple, nothing grand at all – and the most unusual aspect of this building was that it was totally empty.

No furniture, no books, no paintings, no fancy ceilings – nothing. Just the occasional bit of 1920s or 1930s wallpaper, but otherwise EMPTY. I have never visited an empty Hall before, so this was quite surreal for me – but in a way I quite liked it not being cluttered and over-cluttered with unnecessary flouncy objects. It seemed sad, yet I really liked the building. The second floor was the same – with ice fireplaces too. The most interesting thing in there was actually the 1933 conical fire extinguisher! I had never seen one like that before so I had to take a photo of this vintage piece!

After lunch, we walked to the Castle which took around 25 minutes through the gardens. Now, the Hall was built from local stone – VERY local. In fact, it was quarried from the grounds of the place. So this was why the HUGE gardens we walked through, was actually an over-grown quarry. A quarry garden apparently inspired by the quarries of Sicily – in a way it was more grand and impressive than the Hall and the Castle put together!

The garden grew around the quarry. Not only this, but little alcoves had been turned into benches or little steps put in places down to ponds – just because this was how the ground lay. It was very impressive and had a romantic air about it. The autumn colours were brilliant so I took a few photos of the leaves so I could refer to them – I thought they might inspire me to make more jewellery!

The Castle was small and sweet, built in the 14th century with joint Jacobean mansion ruins. It was ruined and charming. There was an exhibition on the second floor which I thought was quite stunning. In 2004, there was a “Fashion at Belsay” exhibition, and a temporary exhibit then, had recently come back to the Castle once more. This was Stella McCartney’s “Lucky Spot”, a crystal horse sculpture created by 8000 large Swarovski Crystals suspended from a platform above. I loved it, I had never seen anything quite like it before!

After the Castle, we walked back to the Hall, a different route this time, but still through the quarry-garden. It was a wider path which took us back, which we later discovered was meant for carriages, and the previous path for walking.

Onward we went to Duns in the Scottish Borders, which we reached at 4:30pm. Out holiday cottage within the Duns Castle Estate was called “The Pavillion” – basically, a tower on the Gatehouse!! It was small, but comfortably so, more than enough room for two people. It was square on the ground floor, with a round tower at the top. The second floor was closed off, presumably the attic or something similar. The stairs went around and up to the circular bedroom on the first floor. It was quirky all over everywhere and it was perfect. We unpacked and had some tea and cake.

Sunday October 11th

This morning we went to Bamburgh Castle – again in Northumberland which I quite liked because it wasn’t full of lurid wallpaper, too much furniture and gold-leaf ceilings. It wasn’t empty like Belsay, but it was grand and simple, not too many paintings, simple wooden ceilings which I loved, and the walls were left bare and had been carved in so many places – this I also loved….unfortunately we were unable to take photos inside, which was a great shame, but I might be able to get some from their website! Originally the probably stronghold for a local King, 6th century Kings chose this castle as their Royal Capital, and is now known as “The very foundation stone of England”.

After exploring the Castle, we walked along the beach – but we had to cross the sand dunes first! Most people know I hate walking on sand! But once we were on the actual beach, it was fine. It was incredibly windy, and there was LOTS of sand-drift going on, which reminded me of the beaches in Tofino in Canada which had the same thing going on! It was fun to stand in it, but quite difficult to walk into – which we had to, to get back! I also found a piece of sea glass which I decided to keep – I might be able to turn it into a pendant……!

Time for lunch, and we went to Lindisfarne. We crossed the causeway and had lunch in the car, looking at the view of Holy Island. We continued on, first visiting the Abbey ruins, and then onto the Castle.

The Priory ruins were really nice, and I thought it was an atmospheric place to be. The stone was very pretty – it was pink and rough hewn but well carved, and the nature of the stone made it easily erodable by wind and sand I should imagine, as we were right on the coast of Northumberland still, actually on an island. The ruins FELT old, and it is rarely that I can actually feel the atmosphere of a historical place like this. This was one of the most important centres of early Christianity, which was unfortunately attacked by Vikings. Something I learnt here I thought was very interesting, and made me think of First Nations’ Totem Poles in Canada. Carved stone crosses were used all over the place for several different reasons – not only grave stones but Market Places, Town Centres, Wells, all sorts of uses. It just reminded me of the Totem Poles in Canada and their various uses – inside buildings, outside buildings, entrances, marriages, deaths. I wasn’t aware of this curious similarity until now – not being a Christian myself I had not known about these uses for the cross, and I thought this was very interesting.

Not knowing anything about the place previously, I didn’t know what to expect when we went into the Castle. I felt it was more recent, and it was less atmospheric. It turns out that it was more recent – it was built in the 1550’s using stone from the demolished Priory. Even thought I was hoping it would be a Medieval Castle, I still liked it inside because of its quirky layout and the rooms were furnished modestly – as if someone were still living there, but not a very wealthy family. I really liked it.

On the way back to the car, I had an ice-cream (yes, I know it was windy and slightly on the cold side, but this is a thing we Brits like to do – have ice cream on cold, windy days!!), and we stopped off at a couple of shops, and a small garden. I was looking for something of a Cross-Stitch project to do, but it seems there is very little of this craft in Northumbria, which surprised me. I couldn’t find anything. We were quite annoyed that we had just missed the last admission to go and see the Lindisfarne Gospels, which would have been nice to see. Well, nevermind. We went back to Duns and bought our dessert – Lemon Cheesecake – before coming back to the cottage for the evening and enjoying a nice Sunday Pork Roast.

Monday October 12th

First thing this morning, Mathew opened his Birthday presents! After breakfast, we set out to St. Abb’s Head via Eyemouth on the Berwickshire coast, which is just in the Scottish Borders. In Eyemouth, we bought a couple of interesting looking “Empire Biscuits” to eat later.

St. Abb’s Head was a 3 mile coastal walk where I wasn’t sure if my new walking shoes were good enough. My feet usually ache at some point during a walk, and I have usually worn Saloman walking shoes and crocs, both of which are brilliant for my feet. If I wear one in the morning, then crocs in the afternoon, its like wearing a new pair of feet – its wonderful! One hour into this walk and my feet were hurting. I started to think about possibly buying some walking shoes by crocs. Perhaps I should invest in a pair!

After many coastal photos later and admiring the rugged coastline, we ended the walk, had lunch and went on to Tantallon Castle, which was VERY fun, even though it was a ruin. Tantallon Castle was built on a site which supposedly could have been the origins of King Arthur’s Camelot, and was destroyed in 1651 by Oliver Cromwell’s army during his battle with the Scots. There were plenty of passageways and staircases to investigate, and by the time we for here I had put my crocs on and everything was magically pain free!

When we had finished, we moved on to Dirleton Castle, which was also a ruin, and just as fun with all the passageways and stairs. Built in three phases, this Castle passed ownership between the Scots and the English several times during the 1200s and 1300s, and was eventually slighted by Robert the Bruce after the Battle fo Bannockburn in 1314 to prevent its further use by the English. It had large gardens which were very nice to walk through, before we came to the Castle itself which we really enjoyed exploring.

We had almost finished exploring, when I went into this passageway I had yet to go in, when……….I fell over!! I hadn’t fallen over my own feet, as is usually the case, but I had gone from a light place into a dark place, didn’t let my eyes adjust, and although I could see there were two steps, I didn’t see the very first shallow shelf of a step before them, and my right ankle rolled underneath me and I landed heavily on my foot. I sat down on the step, and I heard Mathew coming over – I had shouted out as I had fallen, so he knew something had happened! I wasn’t in too much agony, but it was aching for quite some time – until we got back to the Cottage anyway. When I took off my sock, I discovered a graze on the front of my ankle, and the right side of my foot had swollen, although not too much.

When we got back to the car, we ate those Empire Biscuits, which was quite nice – they were like Viennese Whirls – two slices of shortbread with jam in between, topped with icing and a cherry. Very nice! Mathew also got a call from his sister which we had decided to meet on Wednesday at a part of Hadrian’s Wall in between where we are staying and where she currently lives in the north of the Lake District. She called mainly to say Happy Birthday to Mathew , but also to confirm that we’d both be able to get to our meeting place.

The journey back was fun – a long, windy, twisty and bumpy road through the Lammermuirs of Scotland. The Lammermuirs are very much like Moorland – no trees, lots of heather, rolling hills, and lots of sheep. It was a very nice drive and in some places we could see burning heather – done as a conservation measure to promote new growth and to prevent the heather from growing too bushy. We got quite close to a patch of burning heather, so we decided to stop and take a photo. When we got out of the car, it was very eerie – there as no birdsong, traffic, and it was so incredibly quiet. But thinking about it, there wouldn’t really be much on a Moorland for many birds – plus it was late in the day.

After the Lammermuirs, we were still in a similar landscape, but it gradually turned into small farms along the country road. We got home and sat down for a cup of tea and I had a closer look at my ankle, The graze looked fine, and the swelling wasn’t too bad. A bruise was fast developing near the graze, on the front of my foot, slightly to the right where the actual impact was. I elevated my right foot until we went out for dinner.

Mathew didn’t really feel like going out for dinner, despite it being his Birthday. We’d had a look around Duns and didn’t find anywhere we thought would be a special place to eat, we found very little in the way of cosy looking country pubs and restaurants. In fact, as we rode around today, we kept out eyes peeled for a nice looking country pub but there didn’t seem to be many around. I often wonder why is it, when you’re after something like this, you cant’ find what you’re looking for. And when you aren’t looking for it, there are LOTS of them,…or is it just us….?!

Anyway, while in Eyemouth earlier, I suggested that, if he wanted, we could just go and have fish and chips – and the mention of this got him salivating!! We went to “The Ship Inn” in Eyemouth, and both chose the “Fish Medley” with chips and vegetables, and finished off with a delicious white chocolate and raspberry brulee cheesecake. We were stuffed!!

Tuesday October 13th

This morning we got up and the first thing I did was check out my ankle. It was fine, and the bruise was coming out quite quickly. Swelling was still there but it wasn’t too bad. I suggested we go into the village to get something to strap it up with for the rest of the holiday, but fortunately, Mathew had a bandage and a safety pin in this “walking box”. As a walker, he always carries a box of useful things in case of emergency, such as plasters, a whistle, spare cash, a knife, and a bandage. So this is what I used, and it worked just fine. I was going to wear crocs today but the weather forecast predicted rain so I wore my usual Saloman shoes.

Today we went to Edinburgh. At first, we saw the park and ride and parked there, but when we got to the main building, we found it quite strange because there were no dedicated buses for the park and ride – just a timetable of all the buses which stop there. The building was only open for a few hours during the day too – so this wasn’t a real park and ride system here! It turned out to be a large bus stop with a big shelter which was only open for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening.

We got back into the car and left, deciding to drive into Edinburgh – as much as Mathew doesn’t like driving into town centres, this "park and ride" would more than likely only make it harder for us to get back to the car, as the buses were usual buses just passing through the non -park and ride. Still, we managed to find a car park not too far from the Castle itself.

Its been 15 years since I last visited Edinburgh Castle so I don’t remember a great deal about it. It was very good though, and we had lunch in Queen Anne’s Café, and unfortunately missed the 1 o’clock cannon. Still, we had a nice lunch, and I thought I would go for the “Individual pavlova”, thinking it would be a small, meringue nest with cream and fruit, but no. It was HUGE! It was an 8 inch long, 3 inch wide meringue, lots of cream and loads of fruit! I couldn’t believe it. And Mathew sat there with his little modest shortbread biscuit…!!! ;o/ The pavlova was very nice though…!!

I like Edinburgh Castle – this was the first time on this holiday that I actually felt I was in Scotland. I know in this holiday we’re visiting places both in Scotland and Northern England, but hearing bagpipes, the Scottish accent, and using Scottish banknotes made me feel I was actually in Scotland! Speaking of the currency, there is something which happens in England that I would like to inform people about, who visit Britain from other countries.

If you’re visiting Scotland during your trip to Britain, the coins are all the same, but the bank notes look different. Bank notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank look different to English bank notes. Now, there is no difference in the value or the currency – its all pounds sterling and its all legal tender in the entirety of the UK – Scotland, England and Wales. (I am unsure about Northern Ireland).

The stupid thing that happens here in Britain is that, if you have been to Scotland and then go to England, I would advise you to use up any Scottish bank notes before you leave Scotland. You CAN use it in northern English counties which border with Scotland, but try and use this money any further south, and you will have trouble spending it because it will be refused. This is a very, very silly thing, but it’s true. There is no feuding as such, but the further south in England you go, the less likely shops will accept Scottish bank notes, EVEN THOUGH they are legal tender and can and SHOULD be accepted. It’s because the notes are unfamiliar and not English, that most shops would be more likely to refuse a Scottish bank note – just because they’re not “Bank of England”. Its silly. Very silly, but its sadly true! This may also be a problem with Northern Irish bank notes as I THINK they are only legal tender in Northern Ireland. Still, its worth noting!!

Anyway, back to the holiday. We continued on with the Castle exhibits, and I started getting the feel of how much Scottish history means to the Scots themselves. English history is interesting, but Scottish history is very important to the Scots and it means a lot to know your own history, especially if you’re Scottish, and I imagine if you’re Welsh or Irish too. In England, I have never been taught this. I personally was never actually taught British or English history so I know very little. It’s a shame not to have had a proper history lesson at school, even if it may have bored me, it would have been nice to know something at least!!

I guess I feel jealous of those people who were able to study English history, and who do know it. But the point I’m making here is that, in England, we’re not obliged to know our country’s history. Its not unusual for an English person to not know anything about various battles, and who was reigning when. But if you’re Scottish, Irish, Welsh, even American and Canadian I have noticed – having visited these places, I feel that if you’re from any of these countries, its very important to know your country’s history and its usually shocking for some people if they meet an American who doesn’t know anything about American Colonialism. I just find learning about another country’s history is more interesting that my own!!

So, after Edinburgh Castle, my feet were very painful because of all the walking. Those Saloman shoes are good, but I could have done with my crocs! Still, we went to the Royal Museum of Scotland which, although I found it increasingly painful to walk, I enjoyed it.

I know, it might seem odd to some to hear of an Archaeologist to look at more archaeology in a Museum, but this was slightly different. There were a lot of wooden artefacts here, and also lots of Roman things I had never seen before, like plate armour and tents! Lots of “celtic” patterns in the metal work too, and the jewellery and beads gave me more ideas for my jewellery making! The most interesting display was in the foyer – these metal robotic type men with display cases in their chests for ancient neckaces, on their wrists for ancient bangles. It was really quite an interesting way of displaying ancient jewellery in such a modern way. It looked really good.

All in all we had a good day in Edinburgh. We did have Craigmillar Castle on our list if we finished early, but I felt like my feet were falling off so we headed back to the car. On the way I fell over AGAIN, this time on the left foot – the same thing happened, only I didn’t trip on anything – my ankle just rolled right underneath me. But my left ankle is more used to doing this than the right, so I just pulled a bit of the muscle and that was that. Phew!

Hobbling back to the car park, we tried paying the ticket in the machine, but it was eating our money and not deducting it from the total on the digital screen. We had to call for help which didn’t improve the situation, so the guy told us to exit by car, put the ticket in the machine and they’d let us go after paying £4 of the £8 fee. But when we got to the machine at the barrier, we had to call for help again and explain everything all over again…..but we got out in the end. Half price parking! Hooray! :o)

Finally we got home to have a nice cup of tea and my left ankle was achy but fine, while the right one was still bruising up but was okay.

Phew!!

Wednesday October 14th

Today we went to Housteads – part of Hadrian’s Wall. We met up with Mathew’ sister, Amy. It was quite a long journey for us, but it was a good idea as it was the halfway point between her and us. She had Birthday presents to give us both, plus she also got to see us in person!

We walked along part of Hadrian’s Wall, although today my stomach was feeling quite sensitive. The roads didn’t help, what with being windy and bumpy! These roads are a lot of fun to drive along, but not when your stomach is feeling sensitive!!

Still, I managed to get through the day fine, I had cravings for salty and savoury food….possibly related to that pavlova yesterday…… ;o/

I thought I had been to this part of Hadrian’s wall before, but I couldn’t find my favourite place, and it didn’t look familiar at all. This was all new to me. After lunch, we moved on to Vindolanda, and I had not bee here either – it turned out that it was “Chester’s Roman Fort” I had been to! Now I have been to all three!

We bade farewell to Amy as we went back to Duns and she went back to the Lake District. She had suggested Mathew take a week’s holiday and dig at Vindolanda voluntarily. In the car, whilst trying not to feel nauseous from the bumps and twists of the road, my mind began to wonder. I started wondering how life might be like if we were to move up North here – Mathew as an Archaeologist, and I could have my own little van set up in an appropriate location near a part of Hadrian’s Wall perhaps, or something historical and / or archaeological, selling my jewellery, greetings cards, and perhaps some hot drinks to tourists and walkers.

I started thinking how I would have racks or shelves of jewellery, tea and coffee making facilities, and a laptop to check out my etsy store online and sort out mail orders during quiet spells during the day. I could go out early, come home early via the post office where I could send all my postal orders.

Before I knew it, we were back in Duns and after a little food shop, back in our nice warm cottage.

Thursday October 15th

This morning it was my turn to open my Birthday presents! We went downstairs and I had waffles for breakfast. This left me with none for Saturday – but I was sure we’d find something similar like Scotch pancakes!

I was still feeling a little unwell this morning, but we continued with our plan for today. First up was Linlithgow Palace which – again – was a Palace like I had never seen. Never having read up on it, I was expecting a stately home, when in actual fact it was a ruin! Nevertheless, it was SUCH a fun ruin with SO many passages, stairs, doorways – yet ANOTHER labyrinth to explore. I decided that Northern England and Scottish Castles and Palaces must have had some sort of rule meaning they had to have lots of passages, halls and stairs. Honestly! It’s like a warren in most of the places we had visited so far! Most of the Stewart Kings used to live here, and we were informed that this was the Scottish version of Hampton Court Palace.

At one point, I was at the top of one of the towers, and Mathew was on the other side two floors down! How did I get there? Inevitably, we both explored the Palace individually, managing to meet up in the courtyard when we had finished. Thank goodness there was a courtyard!

We moved on to Blackness Castle which wasn’t in the itinerary, but we saw a sign for it and it wasn’t far away. It was a very nice little Castle, the walls were in the shape of a boat, and this Castle was used in many films like Braveheart and the TV series Ivanhoe. It looks across the River Forth and was mostly reconstructed in 1537 and 1543 under King James V. The courtyard had lots of natural rock and had not been paved, and it was quite a miracle I didn’t fall or slip there! The man in the shop had a really nice accent – strong Scottish but not too much to not understand him. Just right! He was very informative and knowledgeable about the Castle! :o)

After lunch, we headed to Edinburgh again – this time for the Zoo. When we initially saw the map / guide there was no sign of the Polar Bear. I was growing concerned that she had been moved already, even thought the website stated she was to be moved this weekend. The Zoo is on a massive hill which was very frustrating! Honestly! Why do people have to build everything on hills?! And we had to get to the top of the hill to see Mercedes the Polar Bear, and she was lovely. She was sleepy at first, but was moving around later on. She was really big – I can only imagine how large a male Polar Bear would be. Mercedes is 20 years old, and she is being moved to a Highland Wildlife Park – a larger enclosure of about 5 acres. I think she should be happy there!

I was concerned at first about seeing her because I don’t like to see animals looking sad, but she looked quite content, and when she was moving around later on in the day, I’m sure she was posing for the cameras! Also at the Zoo we saw a couple of Koalas which look SO soft and fluffy! They were very cute. We also saw LOTS of penguins!

We got back to the cottage late, having only half an hour to spare before going out for dinner, and fortunately my stomach was feeling fine again. We went to Eyemouth again, but this time we went to a restaurant called “Oblo” where I had a steak which was very nice, although it could have done with some Stilton sauce on it! I had a herby butter instead which sufficed. I followed that up with a Malteser Crème Brulee which was delicious!

We returned to the cottage in Duns and promptly went to bed on happy, full stomachs!

TIRED!!

Friday October 16th

Today, instead of doing what we originally planned, we decided to stay close to the cottage. Our original plan was to go to Incholm Island, but driving to Edinburgh was a long way, and we’d already done that drive twice this week. We had a long journey back home the next day, so we thought that – since Mathew was doing all the driving – we would investigate some things locally, which I thought was a good idea! And we did SO much!

First off we went to Greenknowe Tower, built in 1581, which was an open access Tower which was very cute!

Next up was Scott’s View where Sir Walter Scott liked to stop and admire his favourite bit of the countryside of the Scottish Borders. Apparently, when his body was being taken to its burial place by horse and carriage, the horses were said to have stopped for a couple of minutes at the top of the hill, as they had in life with their master, to admire the view.

We then went to the Wallace Statue – NOT the monument because that is in Stirling! After a short walk of about 15 minutes, we came upon this large statue of William Wallace depicted as a Greek God. Opposite him was a statue of an urn with some poetry carved into it, but it was hard to read and quite worn, so I found it off the internet:

Peerless knight of Elderslie

Who wav’d on Ayr’s romantic shore

The beamy torch of liberty,

And roaming round from sea to sea

From glade obscure of gloomy rock

His bold companion call’d to free

The realm from Edward’s iron yoke

Also close to the path was a little box in which Mathew had a nosey, and found a pad of paper and a pencil in which lots of people - visitors to the statue – had written things. Some normal comments about the statue, and other random things like “why was he played by an Australian?”, and I cringed at “Where’s Gromit?”, and rolled my eyes at SO many “FREEDOM!” comments.

Honestly – do people really believe everything in movies? Do people really think Wallace shouted this? Have they read about him? *sigh*

Next up was Dryburgh Abbey which was the burial place of Sir Walter Scott. It was a very nice Abbey, and quite a lot of it was remaining for example, the Chapter House which had some faded but existing painted wall plaster which was nice to see. There was a CD playing in there of monastic chanting, which was quite haunting and atmospheric – a good idea actually, because you could hear it all over the Abbey and you didn’t’ know where it was coming from until you found the Chapter House.

Next, we went to Melrose which itself is a very pretty little town. Its small, but it has lots of things like plenty of places to eat – café’s and restaurants, pubs and bakeries. There were also quite a lot of clothes shops for a small village, a cute little Post Office, and quite a lot of gift shops too.I bought my new hat and scarf here – you can never have too many scarves and hats! :o)

We went to Melrose Abbey which was – like Dryburgh – also very nice, and some parts still remained like art of the roof, which was quite impressive. I managed to find the stairs up to the top as well!

Tiem was passing, so after lunch we moved on to Floors Castle which is a stately home – more like the usual over furnished one this time, and a few more paintings. Still, there was less than I expected. The place was pretty empty of visitors what with coming to the end of the season, and as a consequence, we ended up getting told quite a lto of information by the guides in the rooms…which were all very interesting of course! We were told that the owners had actually changed some of the interior because they thought a lot of it was “too much”. Things like ornate ceilings being flattened or just painted white. It was quite nice to hear!

We didn’t go into the gardens as yet AGAIN, my feet were killing me! So we went back to the cottage via Hume Castle which only Mathew went into. It was locked for the season, but there was a cottage nearby where you could get the key from if you really wanted to go in – but Mathew said from the outside looking in, there wasn’t really anything enticing him to go inside. From the outside, it looked like a cardboard cut-out – it didn’t look real! But it was, and it looked strange because the parapets we saw on it weren’t actually parapets – they were the bottom half of windows. Plus the whole thing was just four walls. Not very exciting really!

We went back to the cottage and packed for tomorrow, and then we relaxed before going to bed.

Saturday October 17th

Today was the journey home, although we stopped off at Barter Books in Alnwick for about an hour and a half where both Mathew and I bought some books (its SUCH a great second hand Bookshop!  Even if you don't buy anything, its worth jus tlooking around!), and the on to The Angel of the North. Just outside Gateshead, we managed to find a place to stop and park. We thought we would stop by and actually have a look at it since we were passing it, and neither of us had been up close to it before.

It really is quite odd, but in a good sort of way! Its interesting. Plus, I had no idea how it was fixed to the ground, but knowing exactly how large it is…..it kinda needs it really! Its huge, dramatic, and pretty cool.

We went on to Markfield arriving at around 4pm. It was good to be home!