Chiltern walks - 23 & 24 September

The weekend started at Little Gaddesden village church, where they were preparing for their harvest festival. From there we did a two-mile walk circling the village including a lunch stop at their traditional English Pub.






The large house for this village is Ashridge. We had read that the gardens were open in the afternoon, but when we arrived, the opening hours on the sign said they were open but also had a ‘Closed’ sign up. Since it was just a few minutes after the supposed opening time and the gate was not locked, we invited ourselves in for a quick look around. The buildings and gardens combine to give an inspiring picture of past splendour: quite an amazing place. (see more pictures)

Since we were a little unsure of our status in the garden we moved on to do one of the Chiltern walks based around Cow Roast. After a pleasant stroll along The Grand Union Canal we found the walk turned into our own harvest festival of sorts, as the path was continually lined with various trees and bushes covered in red berries.

One highlight of the walk was King Charles Ride. This is now part of the Ridgeway track and was an avenue of large lime trees, planted over two hundred years ago.

Sunday was too pleasant to stay inside, so we headed again to the Chilterns. After a pleasant pub lunch in Chalfont St Giles, we walked a loop track to Chalfont St Peter and back.

Chalfont St Giles is the perfect traditional English village: complete with village pond, green, several pubs and church, a very pleasant place to visit and the home of Milton, of Paradise Lost fame. (see more pictures)

Thames Festival - 17 September 2006

Sunday was a beautiful day to enjoy the London festival. The riverside on the South Bank was lined with artists of various types, from the stand-alone statue type to groups on stages. We enjoyed wandering along and catching various performances. The most effort award should go to a group who endeavoured to portray a Hieronymus Bosch's painting of Hell. Their costumes were colourful and imaginative.

During the afternoon we experienced a first for us: sitting in a deck chair on a lovely sandy beach, which just happened to be on the Thames riverbank. Looking out over the water to St Paul’s was rather different from that level.

Fortunately we were able to find a pub table on such a popular night and enjoyed a delicious dinner looking across the Thames.
At 7 p.m. a two-hour street carnival started: a very colourful end to a different day.

London Open House weekend - 16 September 2006

The annual London open weekend this year enjoyed beautiful late summer sunshine.

This year's first visit was to Marlborough House to see the Commonwealth Secretariat. We were able to imagine our representative sitting there behind the NZ flag. Next was a look inside the Treasury, two floors above us was Gordon Brown's office. This elegant building, Georgian on the outside, had been totally remodeled inside.

We also visited the Banqueting Hall to admire the beautiful Reuben's ceiling.









After that we sauntered along the Thames enjoying the various artists participating in the London Festival on the way to our final buildings. For us no open weekend would be complete without visiting a livery company and true to form we saw three over the weekend. The Vinters’ Hall and Apocatheries’ Hall both have very handsome buildings that date back to the Great Fire of London. As a contrast the Haberdashers’ building was only opened in 2002: their previous building being one of the casualties of the Second World War.

One last castle before home - 10 September 2006

The fabulous sunshine continued for our final day in Scotland. We spent the night in a beautiful Victorian townhouse in Dumfries and before leaving town had another look at the picturesque set of four bridges.


Having not quite filled our castle quota, we visited Caerlaverock Castle: a magnificent, triangular castle, still surrounded by a moat. It was never taken in battle, until a siege by King Edward I when the force of 60 finally surrendered to the besieging force of 87 knights, 3000 men and a collection of siege engines.

Saying farewell, at last, to Scottish castles we followed the tourist trail to Gretna Green. Judging by the numbers, this seemed to be the most popular tourist destination in Scotland, and also the best value.


What was fascinating here was to read about a conman who sweet-talked his way into a Gretna Green marriage with a wealthy heiress. The rogue was none other than Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a man we learnt about at school as founder of the New Zealand Company and who played a huge part in the settlement of New Zealand in the mid 1800s.

It was then farewell to Scotland, and we took the scenic route through the North Pennines along Teesdale, with one final stop for lunch at the cute village of Romaldkirk before taking the motorway back to London.

Abbeys - oh, and a castle - 9 September 2006

The perfect weather forecast for the weekend made today's trip down the coast road from Kilmarnock to Dumfries a real treat.

Along the south coast are a number of ruined abbeys, the first, Glenluce, had a fascinating display of interlocking clay water pipes: they looked 21st century not mediaeval. Each pipe was marked so that the system could be lifted for cleaning and replaced with every pipe back in the correct location.


Whithorn Priory, the next, was the birthplace of Christianity in Europe. However, the abbey we liked best was Sweetheart Abbey. It is so named because the founder, Lady Devorgilla, is buried holding her husband's embalmed heart.

Before Sweetheart Abbey, we made a stop at a castle in a most romantic setting. Threave Castle is the only Castle in Scotland on an island in a river. Visitors are ferried across to explore the ruins including the remains of the little castle harbour which still exists: a magical place to visit on such a lovely day.

Dumfries is a very attractive town, built in striking red stone. No doubt we saw it at its best, arriving in the late afternoon with the setting sun illuminating the perfect relections in the river spanned by four handsome bridges: the oldest of these was built in the 13th century by Lady Devorgilla, using the same red stone as Sweetheart Abbey. We enjoyed walking around the town on a surprisingly warm September evening.

Just for a change, we visit a castle - 8 September 2006

Our holiday was literally ending on a high. A big high was situated over the whole of the UK, and the forecast was for perfect weather for the whole country until Sunday.

We followed a coastal road to Culzean Castle. This was a fortress castle on the sea cliff edge and was converted, into an imposing “grand house” by Robert Adam in the 17th century. His beautiful interiors were then modified in the 19th century. The result is an imposing, graceful castle in a very dramatic location. We spent most of the day enjoying the gardens and walking along a cliff-top path.

We then drove inland to a small loch. Like many of the lochs in Scotland, Loch Doon is now part of a hydro-electricity scheme. When the damn was built in the 1930s, they relocated the castle on its shore to higher ground.

Around the area were relics of a WWI target practice range for aircraft. The Ministry of Defense spent a shed load of money on this project only to mothball it, unused, when they found that the weather prevented flying on most days of the year. Doh! Surely that would be question number one?

Starting at the dam outfall was a walk along a gorge, Ness Glen. This loop track was very picturesque, and reminded us of NZ, especially the return path alongside the river. The rapids through the gorge are either grade 3 or 4, depending on the weather and water flow conditions.

We then drove back to Kilmarnock, looking out for a picturesque pub to eat at. This is not as easy in this part of Scotland as it is in England, but we were fortunate and came across the Stair Inn: the perfect solution for our high expectations.

The power of ideas - 7 September 2006

As the sun was shining brightly we decided to do leave Perth via a scenic route past two lochs. Loch Earn and Loch Lubnaig. St Fillians, on Loch Earn, is a popular holiday spot, and a lovely place. We passed several pretty villages on this, the best day we had in the loch areas.

We headed into Edinburgh, to enjoy a great tour on the Royal Yacht Britannica. An audio guide takes you through the whole ship: from bridge to the royal apartments, reception rooms, crew quarters, galleys, hospital and engine room.
Having previously visited Edinburgh we simply drove through the city centre on the way to our next destination. Dan Brown has ensured that no trip to Scotland would be complete without visiting Rosslyn Chapel. It is certainly a worthwhile destination to have made so popular. The dream of one man, it is an amazing achievement and also amazing is the fact that it has survived nearly six centuries.

On the way to Kilmarnock, we stopped by the UNESCO world heritage site at New Lanark. It was, by then, closed but we were able to wander around the buildings. What was once a busy woollen mill, is now a scenic spot in a sheltered valley. This too was the inspiration of one man, David Dale, but it was the ideas of his son-in-law, Robert Owen, who revolutionized this place and helped change the world for the better with concepts like childcare, education, healthcare and cooperative shopping for his work-force.