October 20,2017- Scottish Boarders and Home

Greetings All,
We decide to try and get one more historic site on our way home.The ride down the Scottish Boarders is my kind of drive. Secondary roads with little traffic to the last site we hope to visit. It is very over cast but Mother Nature co-operates and we get our last site in Jedburgh Abbey. Towards the middle of the 9th century ,when the area was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria there were two Gedworths as they were known then. The southern one has long disappeared and the only mention of it is with a burial  of a assassin of William Walcher a Bishop of Durham.

 In 1811 Prince David established a foundation of canons regular to
the order of St Augustine before ascending to the throne. It started out as a priory, then a monastery and in 1147 a full fledged Abbey to the Virgin Mary. The nave and choir were built in the 13th century and continued to grow in stature and importance.  During the Protestant Reformation the monks were allowed to stay  but the abbey became a Kirk (church ) to the reformed religion. We are able to climb up to what would have been the second floor of the Abbey and get a good view down to the ground floor.

In in its time it must have been a most impressive Abbey based on the ruins we see today. Sadly in 1671 the abbey started to fall into disrepair with the movement over to the western part of the nave. The situation continued until in 1871 the Abbey was no longer considered safe for worship. The Marquis of Lothian started repair work but in 1917 it was handed over to the state and is now in the hands of Historic Scotland.

We now are on our final journey home and I enjoy the rather quiet roads until we have to hit the motorway  on the last bit of our journey. Mother Nature finally gives way and the heavens open. We are

now on the motorway and I have quite a few "Holy Shit" moments. I feel for Fred as I am sure I don't make his driving experience any easier. We do stop at a Tebay a rest stop that has a shop that sells produce from the area. We pick up some venison and pheasant to enjoy at home.
If you do decide to visit Scotland and are in the area for a short time I recommend that you take advantage of a Historic Scotland Explorer Pass it is well worth the money and a great saving, we certainly got our moneys worth out of ours.
We hope you have enjoyed this segment of our travels . So till our next adventure,

Ta Ra

Sandy & Fred.

October 19,2017 - Exploring The Lothians - Scotland

Greetings all  ,

We have a good start after a nice breakfast so that we arrive when the palace opens.  Our first stop of the day is Linlithgow Palace. The palace was one of the principle residences of the monarchs of Scotland during the 15th and 16th centuries.The picture on the right is of the Gate Entrance to the grounds built by King James V around 1533. The engravings in the gate are the 4 orders of chivalry which King James V belonged to, The Order of the Garter, Order of The Thistle, Order of the Golden Fleece and Order of St Michael .

In 1424 a great fire partially destroyed the town of Linlithgow and King James I started rebuilding the Palace as a grand resident for Scottish royalty as well as the Church of St Michael. Over the following century the Palace developed into a formal courtyard structure with significant additions by King James III,IV and V . Mary Queen of Scots was born here in December  1542 and occasionally stayed here during her reign .
The Duke of Cumberland's army destroyed most of the palace by burning in January 1746. We spend only a hour here exploring a picture taking as it is a true ruin. We also have a quick look in St Michael's Church which is still used as a place of worship today.


Our next stop is Blackness Castle built by Sir George Crichton Lord High Admiral of Scotland in the 1400's on the Forth River. It served as a residence to Sir George as well as a prison until he handed the Crichton lands including the castle over to James II  of Scotland in
1453 and has been crown property ever since. Known as the Ship That Never Sailed because of  boat like shape. We spent a good couple of hours here exploring as the castle is largely intact.

 The picture on the left is of the great hall that was in the residence side of the castle. Strengthened in the mid 16th century the castle became one of the most advanced artillery fortifications of its time.
A century later it fell to Oliver Cromwell's Army . It again served as a barracks and prison and was a ammunition depot until 1912. During the First World War is was used by the army for a brief period of time.  From the pier we get a great view of the Firth of Forth Bridge as pictured on the right.

Our last stop of the day  is Craigmillar Castle. Building started in the late 14th century and continued into the 15th and 16th centuries. The castle was a prison for he younger brother of James III and is best known as a retreat for Mary Queen of Scots. A proposal to renovate the castle for the use of Queen Victoria in 1842 was put forth but nothing came of it. Victoria did visit the castle in 1886 were much restoration work has been done by the current owner Walter Gilmour. From the upper tower you get a fantastic

view of Edinburgh Castle as pictured on the right. This was taken with my camera on it telephoto lens .  Also they are building a movie set on site for the filming of a British production of medieval time but we do not find our what the film will be called. The last picture is one of the constructed peasant hut. It was interesting to watch as the workers used some of the old ways of building to make the hut and walls around the little village look authentic.

We have enjoyed a full day and head back to the hotel for some refreshment then dinner at the mall. Tonight we head out to Pizza Express  and enjoy a leisurely dinner before head back to pack for the trip home.

Bye for now,
Sandy & Fred

Oct 18-19,2017- Exploring Central & West Scotland

Greetings all,

We are having a mini  mid week break away to Scotland as we have points on our Mercure account the we want to keep current  and not lose  them for our trip to Spain next year. I have wanted to do Stirling Castle so we book a Mercure Hotel in Livingston which is central to what we want to explore. Our drive up is a mixture of secondary roads and highway and we check late in the afternoon and take a a stroll . It turns out our hotel is basically across the street from a large outlet mall that also has a number of eating places. Our first night we have booked our meal in which allows us to plan our two days of exploring.

We are up and out reasonably early as most sites do not open until 10:00 AM. Our first stop of the day is Inchmahome Priory on Lake of Menteith. A 7 minute boat ride to the island . Founded in 1238 by the Earl of Monteith, Walter Comyn for a small community of the Augustinian Order (the Black Canons) .  The priory has recieved many notable guests ,
King Robert the Bruce, Robert the II and Queen Mary. The decline of the monasteries and priory where hasten by the Scottish Reformation and land falling into secular hands. Much of the 13th Century  structure remains and this is what we visit today. We also walk around the island  taking in the sights. While here we purchase a 3 day pass which allows us to visit Historic Scotland  with a great savings.

Our next stop is Stirling Castle.Pictured on the left is Robert The Bruce that is just outside the castle walls. Stirling is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland both historically and architecturally . Sitting at the top of a crag it is surrounded by cliffs on three sides giving it a strong defensive position and until the 1890's was the furthers downstream crossing of the River Forth. Most of the castles primary buildings date from the 15th and 16th centuries with the outer walls dating from the early 18th century.  Before union with England the castle was home to many Scottish Royalty and served as  much as a palace as well as a fortress. Many monarchs were crowned here including Mary Queen of Scots in 1542. Many were born or died here as well. The castle also has a tumultuous history with war seeing it change hands many times between the Scottish and British. We spend a good three hours exploring the castle and palace.
They have volunteers dressed in period that welcome you and explain bit about what happened  during Mary Queen of Scots reign . The picture on the right is of the great hall in the palace. The roof  has been recently repaired due to wood rot and woodworm using the old ways of construction. It is a very impressive bit of construction  especially when you consider the time it was built. We have had a full day exploring and head back to out hotel for some refreshment and a bit of rest before heading out to dinner. A leisurely stroll over to Wagamama a Japanese restaurant.
To see more pictures of our day out check out my Facebook wall (Sandy) as I have posted many more here.

Cheers,
Sandy & Fred