Stepping into history - 28 August 2006

An excellent way to avoid Bank Holiday Monday traffic was to tour the edge-of-the-world highway across the top of Scotland.

We set out at 7am to catch the sunshine, which was only promised for the morning. The first highlight of the morning was the Whaligoe Steps. These are 365 steps leading down to a tiny harbour. At the peak of the herring fishing era women used to carry baskets of herrings up the steps from the harbour. The entire flight of steps is wide enough for two-way traffic. There is not really a harbour at the foot of the steps, just a small bay with sheer cliffs all around, so the men sometimes had to chain their boats to the cliff to keep them safe from storms. There were no problems when we visited, as the weather was perfect.

The next highlight was a trip, out on a headland from Wick, to Castle Sinclair. Time has made this stronghold of power into a picturesque monument.

After that it was on to John O’Groats. This is not the most northerly point of mainland Britain but is probably the most northerly town so is treated as the top in all the “from Land’s End to John O’Groats” type phrases. It is equally miss-able as Land’s End. The rain arrived as we did, so we took the obligatory photo and left.

We saw an advertisement regarding the Queen Mum's holiday home (read Castle) which is on the north coast of Scotland. She spent two holidays at the Castle of Mey every year after she bought and restored it in 1952 just after she was widowed. The sun once again shone brightly, as we looked around the castle and gardens.

From there we drove through sun and rain all around the north and west coast of the Highlands. During the sunny spells, we visited the Smoo Cave, and the Falls of Shin. Smoo Cave is a huge limestone cave by the sea and just upstream the river that created it simply disappears down the proverbial ‘hole in the ground’. The Falls of Shin were fascinating in that we managed to see salmon leaping up the waterfall.

The day was rounded off with the very Scottish meal of Haggis, Neaps & Tatties.

Holy Island - 27 August 2006

On our journey north to Scotland we stopped of at Holy Island. The sealed access road is under water at full tide so one’s visit has to be timed with the tides which, fortunately, were on our side and access was possible at 9 a.m.

Henry 8th demolished Lindisfarne Priory, along with all the others. One of the priors was St Cuthbert, and as members of St Cuthbert's church in London, we were interested in reading his history.

Nearby is Lindisfarne Castle. This medieval castle was restored in 1901 as a holiday home. We loved the thick walls and cosy rooms. You could just imagine holidays there, sitting inside watching storms out the windows.

Back on the mainland we crossed the border and set off of Inverness via the very picturesque town of Pitlochry.

Scotland calls - 26 August 2006

After being woken up at 4am by our noisy neighbours we decided to get up at 5am and get on the road to Scotland early. Our first night's accommodation was in Alnwick, so we started our day by 11:30 am, with a visit to Alnwick Castle.
There are not many rooms open to the public, but those that are, are very opulent.

From Alnwick, we went out to the coast to Warkworth. This is another attractive town where we visited a ruined castle that had also been owned by the same family, the Dukes of Northumberland.

Because of our very early start, there was still enough time in the day to have a pleasant walk around Cragside Gardens.

It was then time to check into our B&B, followed by dinner at one of the many pubs in the town. We finished the day with a walk along the lovely local beach at Alnmouth. Beaches in the north of England have beautiful golden sand, but the water is far too cold for swimming.

Boats and Bricks - 19 & 20 August 2006

Reading probably does not figure highly in the list of “must visit” places in Britain but we were pleasantly surprised by what we found. The local museum has an interesting presentation on the history of the town and, amazingly, a full-scale copy of the Bayeux Tapestry; made in the early 1900s.

Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I as a place to be buried but, most inconveniently, he died in France. To preserve his body for the one-month trip back, it was sewn into a bullock’s hide. (I would not have wanted the task of opening the stitching at the journey’s end.)

Several Henrys later (1539) the abbey suffered the same fate as other abbeys in The Dissolution and was recycled as building material by the locals.

The town was founded at the confluence of the Thames and Kenet rivers and thus provides plenty of riverside walks.


Sunday we explored Aldermaston lock, unusual in that it has scalloped sides. Just below the lock is a lifting bridge that creates a reasonable delay for the traffic while the bridge lifts, the narrow-boat passes underneath and the bridge returns to the horizontal.


En-route back to London we stopped of at Dorney Court an amazing timber and brick Tudor Manor House that has been in the ownership of the same family basically since it was built. It is often used as a film set.

Turvey & Turville - 5 & 6 August 2006

The weekend was spent exploring small and attractive villages (now's there's an original idea for this country!!)

Saturday was spent in Northamptonshire / Bedfordshire border, cruising around villages on the River Great Ouse. Our favourite was Turvey, where we did a walk from the village, and ended up having a late lunch at the pub alongside the river - excellent value.

Sunday was spent in the Chiltern hills. Neither of our destination villages were on a riverbank, but very appealing non the less. Ewelme has escaped being modernised, and they think the church escaped because even Cromwell's troops could not find it. The church, almshouses and school are like another film set.

We finished up at Turville, apparently used as a village base for the Midsomer Murders TV series. Most attractive architecture, and even has a windmill on the hilltop beside the village, with wonderful views over the entire village. The pub is very popular, but having sampled its wares we decided that its popularity is because of the charm of the surroundings, not the excellent value of its food.

Garden getaways - 29 & 30 July 2006

An idyllic summer outing is a visit to a beautiful English country garden, so we spent the whole weekend in Dorset around this theme.

Saturday started with Longleat: an amazing statement of wealth and power. Many of the features in this stately home were inspired by the Doge’s Palace in Venice and although we have seen the original, we were still impressed.

In the afternoon we visited Sherborne Castle, older, but more tranquil, on the banks of a 'Capability’ Brown lake. The house was originally built and owned by Sir Walter Raleigh.
The adjacent town of Sherborne as another 'film set' town, centered around the church and almshouses

Sunday was a series of different gardens. First Minterne: a lazy winding path threading through gardens built around a stream, that had been transformed into a series of lakes and cascades. The owner apparently rode over to Sherborne to get ideas from Mr Brown, as he supervised the garden alterations there.

Next was Mapperton. These were remodelled in the 1920's as Italian gardens and are a series of 4 terraces stepping down a wonderfully sheltered valley: a real treat to wander through. Equally lovely is their cafe - well worth a visit.

Forde Abbey was to be our final stop. It has an impressive house remodelled from the old Abbey. The gardens are also lovely for a summer's afternoon with fabulous flower borders, and the highest powered fountain in the UK. The vegetable garden in depressingly impressive. Impressive because of the neatness and size of the vegetables and depressing because there is not a weed in sight, unlike any vegetable garden we have ever had – really discourages one from ever trying again.

On the way home we decided to slip in one more – Heale House Garden. It was like slipping back in a time warp and we loved it. Apparently King Charles II hid there, and one almost expected to see him pop around the corner at any time!! Surprisingly, the Summer House in the picture has two streams running under it, the one pictured and another at right-angles that does not show in the photo.

The new and the old - 23 July 2006

Broughton Grange garden is a private garden of some 25 acres that is only open to the public on a few occasions per year. Having seen features about the garden, it took us quite a while to locate opening time information and, having finally prevailed in that quest, we were not going to pass up the opportunity to visit when we could.

It is hard to believe that this inspiring garden was bare land in 2000.

The next stop is also one with limited access, Stowe House. It is the centrepiece of the Stowe Landscape Gardens (National Trust) but is now a school – the one Christopher Robin, A A Milne’s son attended.

It is a place with a salutary tale of the rise from sheep farmers to aristocracy and then from the peak of opulence and wealth, two generations bankrupted the family resulting in a grand sale as the place was stripped. Fortunately, unlike some other grand estates, the house was spared, rescued by a benefactor, so once again; we took advantage of one of the few open days.