A Year in a Motorhome, Travelling the UK Coastline - Berwick Upon Tweed - Newcastle - Durham - Beamish Museum - Week 20 (10 Years On)

 SUNDAY, 11 JANUARY 2015 Week 20

After the hectic few weeks leading up to Christmas and then the travelling around for Christmas and New Year, Del and I had a pretty quiet few days off. (Plus, someone caught man flu, but all is well now.) From Edinburgh, we made our way down the East Coast and passed back over the border into England.

We stopped off at Berwick Upon Tweed, but due to sickness, we didn’t do much. To be fair, the place wasn’t even worthy of a photograph—it was that pants! 

(Del stood on the borderline between Scotland and England)

 

China town and St James park in Background (right)

Millennium Bridge and The Iconic Bridge on The Tyne (below)

Finally, we hit civilisation again in the form of Newcastle–Upon–Tyne. We did all the usual touristy stuff, including Angel of The North, The Tyne River Quayside regeneration, Chinatown and St James’ Park… ‘Why aye man, fog on’t Tyne’ and all that. Del finishes with his Mrs Doubtfire impressions and is now talking like a spender! Had a little chuckle at the supermarket check-out, though; all the women sounded like Sarah Millican.

Angel of The North. I am by the statue - If you can spot me!

I was pleasantly surprised by Durham. It is a little gem of historical importance and beauty in the heart of an old industrial area. It claims the best preserved Norman Cathedral in the country, one of the oldest universities housed in the castle, no less. All this is perched on the hill overlooking a cute stone-built market town surrounded by a lovely river. 

Before we left and headed towards Teeside, we visited the Beamish Open Air Museum, and boy was it brilliant! I took a lot of photos; I loved it that much. Basically, it is a working museum, where you catch a tram to a 1900s coal mining Village of Beamish. The village has mostly crumbled and collapsed into the mines, but what’s left has been beautifully preserved.

 Durham Castle and Cathedral

A working farm preserved in 1940’s Britain, with your very own Home Guard and Land Girl to answer any questions and bake some very lovely cheese scones in an old wood-burning range. We caught the tram to 1900’s town, which, according to the Barclays Bank Manager, had been built from original buildings that were to be demolished from elsewhere, taken down brick by brick and rebuilt at the museum.

 

Beamish Village. I could always see myself as a strict disciplinarian in 1900's village school!

Home Guard - Full of World War II stories.

Barclays Bank Reminded me of the Barclays at Deansgate Bolton I used to work at in 1990 before they modernised it. It was so cool; it even had the old vaults underground. Ahhh, it brings back good old memories.

Amazing, they even had an old Masonic Hall, all decked out inside with original furniture and everything.

The traditional bakery smelt AM-AZ-ING! They’d just finished baking hot cross buns and the scent of cinnamon and bread baking made my tummy rumble… so we bought a warm loaf…. Mmm!

We had a nosy in the Dentist Surgery,, and he told us some gruesome stories about pulling teeth, so we went to the Music teacher’s house, and she’d just baked some cherry cake in her wood-burning range. 

After all that food, we needed to wash it down in the local pub. We warmed up by a roaring fire and then headed to the sweet shop, where they'd just made some lime and sherbet-boiled sweets! Del warming himself by the Pub fire.

By this point, I was getting some severe cases of Déjà vu, and it was bugging me so much that I asked the tram conductor if they had ever allowed filming of period dramas there, and it turns out they had. Catherine Cookson? I inquired, and I was right. The Sweet Shop was the giveaway for me, and as I love the Catherine Cookson films that are made for TV, I was really chuffed to say I’ve been on a film set of The Wingless Bird!

We’re off to Bridlington on Monday, and we’re staying there for a week because nobody seems to want to camp in the winter in Yorkshire… In other words, nothing is open! Except Caravan Club, Yay, hardy Caravan Clubbers!

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A Year in a Motorhome - Scotland - Edinburgh - Royal Yacht Britannia - Hogmanay Week 19

 

FRIDAY, 2 JANUARY 2015 Week 19

This is the final leg of the Scottish part of the tour, and what a week it has been. Oh, half a week. I’m doing another half-blog because there’s so much that happened and so many photos. We set off to Stirling, and the trip there was fairly frightening. Probably because I was driving, and our stupid Sat Nav took us up some icy mountain pass, and I couldn’t turn around. We slipped about a bit, and I pretended to be the calm, efficient driver, when all I wanted to do was scream like a big girl every time we did a bit of skid. Below, Stirling Cemetery on a foggy day

Amethyst on a cold and snowy morning. (We're not the only mad ones!). We made it to Alloa near Stirling in one piece and we discovered Stirling Castle was open all year round! Hurrah!! I’ve been starved of culture for a couple of months. It was bad enough when the seaside town attractions closed down for the winter on the East Anglia leg of the journey, but then all the castles and museums were shut in Scotland, too. Humph. It was a joy to see old buildings and learn a spot of Scottish history.

Stirling Castle - what an amazing place. It was so beautifully restored to the glory of what it would have looked like during the Stuarts' reign. This was their Palace, and James VI (England’s James I) was crowned King of Scotland here when he was just One Year Old. I also finally managed to clear up my confusion over Mary Queen of Scots and Mary Queen of Guise from the film Elizabeth!

Stirling Castle. Mary of Guise (her bedroom at the castle above) was French Grandmother to James VI , and Mary Queen of Scots was his mother and daughter of Guise, which was why the woman was talking in a French accent in the film. (I know you probably don’t want a history lesson, but I love the history behind the British Monarchy, and I have certain gaps in it thanks to the hotchpotch way GCSE History was taught when I was at school)

So I learnt (in no particular order) The Battle of Bosworth, The Tudors, The Victorians and then the Second World War, completely missing out on the Stuarts and the Civil War, Georgians and the First World War! Anyway, everything had been restored to look like the royal court of the Stuarts, and it was all very impressive. Me in the Great Hall and Del on the throne in the Great Hall pretending to be King. The little girl wanted to be a Princess and wouldn’t leave her throne for the photo... Haha)

We also got a free tour of ‘The Earl of 'Somewheres' House in the old town of Stirling called Argyle Lodge. I tell you, these Earls were constantly fighting amongst themselves to be top dog in the Royal court or attempting to overthrow the monarchy back then… I’m surprised we have a Royal Family or an aristocratic society left with all the plots, attempted executions and beheadings amongst them all. (Two of the Earls who lived at the Lodge were executed for treason and one of the widows was allowed to continue her life of luxury there because her first husband had been a loyal subject of King Charles II who her second husband had tried to overthrow!!! Mental!). 

Above - Some spooky woods we walked through to catch a bus to Stirling. (To the side) A wee shop in Stirling town - The Picture says it all... So Cute, I want one! No more history lessons for now…

We were heading down towards Edinburgh for New Year’s Eve, or Hogmanay, as it is called in Scotland. Del told me he had a surprise, and boy, was it ever. I was guessing the cinema or a nice Thai restaurant. He even laughed when I asked if it was a ferry trip to some remote island, but no. It was a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia. (Below) Me in the Admiral's Chair.

Besides History, I also love learning about the current Royal Family. Their lives are so different to ours, born to privilege but also living in a goldfish bowl - every aspect of every day is pretty much mapped out for them, and for that, they are compensated with opulence and luxury. Although the jet-set lifestyle may be great, I would hate to have paparazzi shoving cameras in my face every time I was in a public place. I can understand why the yacht would have presented itself as a haven away from prying eyes.

The Britannia was the Queen's Holiday Home. Like we have a motorhome or such, well, she had her own yacht and 200 staff to serve on it. I was in awe of the place, to think that this was where the Queen had sat or eaten, or slept, and it was just truly thrilling for me, especially when you see that famous picture of Diana greeting Wills and Harry on the deck. I now know what it looks like on the inside… Regarde!!

Oh, and we also ate on the yacht. The food was amazing. I even took a photo of my plate! The waitress must have thought I was mad when I also took a picture of the menu whilst she was trying to take my order!!! My Royal Lunch - Roast Beef sandwich platter with mushroom soup. Mmm.. The Deck, where the Royal Family takes their group photo every holiday. Officers' Mess, where they play Wombat Tennis—can you spy the Wombat?

The family lounge! The Queen Actually relaxed with her family here! 

Edinburgh Hogmanay was amazing to be amongst it all. There were street performers, and the Christmas markets were still on, which was so beautiful and cosy and a bonus because I thought I wouldn't get to a Christmas Market this year. I even had my first German Sausage, and it was so tasty that I was quite surprised.

We walked up to the Castle, and it was packed with tourists. I couldn't believe it after struggling to find places open in other areas of Scotland. We went into a Tartan weaving museum but got no further than the shop because no one else wanted to see the weaving. So I bought my ‘Anderson’ clan sword Kilt Pin. The clan motto is ‘Stand Sure,’ which I like very much. I also bought a tartan shawl, which I wore for Hogmanay evening.

Unfortunately, we didn’t stay out in the city for the full event because we discovered that although the council put banners up all over the city boasting that they fund the Hogmanay Street Party, the minion masses still have to BUY a ticket to get in. As we didn't have one and I’d also 'pinged' my back earlier that day, we had our meal at Browns (which was the best Ribeye Steak I’ve had since I arrived in Scotland).

We then headed back to the campsite at Morton Hall to ring in the New Year. The bar was open until 3 a.m., and we spoke to some friendly locals and listened to a live band, so that was fine. Browns New Year's Eve.

So, there we have it. Scotland has been extensively travelled, but I would like to go back to certain places in the summer or at least during the tourist season, like the Isle of Skye, the Orkneys, the Shetland, and the Hebrides, as these would probably have been too treacherous. And the elusive Northern Lights will have to stay hidden for now; there's always another time. Happy New Year, and on to Northumberland.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Touring the UK Coastline for a Year in a Motorhome - Christmas in Inverness - Aviemore - Nairn - Durnock Castle - Week 18

 TUESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2014 Week 18

On Christmas Eve, Del and I were getting very excited. We arrived at The Royal Highland Hotel early afternoon and discovered we couldn’t get into our room until after 3pm, so we went for last-minute shopping and found a traditional Highland Tartan shop. As we both have Scottish roots, we bought an Anderson Tartan (my grandma’s maiden name) and a Ross Tartan (Taggart is part of the Ross clan). Then Del suddenly announced that we should go for a Christmas Eve drink!! In the afternoon!! 

We went in search of eggnog, as I’d never had it before, and I suddenly decided at 42 that I wanted to try the eggy, noggy beverage synonymous with Christmas cosiness. Well, I was mightily disappointed – not an egg or a nog in the whole of Inverness. However, we did find a cracking Scottish pub called the Hootenanny, where they serve traditional Scottish fayre and have a good old Ceilidh (a bit of Gaelic for you all there) , meaning jolly old knees up to Highland folk music. When we arrived back at The Royal Highland, we were a little merry, but the entrance was still impressive and very Christmassy. I got very excited, as I always do when I see lots of twinkly lights, and the tartan carpet just set it off nicely.

Christmas Eve was a little odd. I don’t think people must celebrate it as much as we do back in Lancashire. We went for a Chinese (about six of us in there!) The pubs were pretty much the same, so we decided to go back to the hotel for more drinks… Still no egg nog, though – humph.

Christmas day was fantastic. We went for breakfast and everyone decided to wear Christmas jumpers and Santa hats! A bunch of Japanese and American tourists were being taken out on a coach trip! On Christmas Day!!!  Although I did look up Haggis Adventures on t’internet, and it did look like a rather exciting five-day extravaganza for ‘Wild and Sexy’ young tourists around the Highlands. (Although I wasn’t sure about having a snowball fight and making snow angels on Christmas Day was the way forward – A cosy fire and Egg Nog sat in a Val Doonican chair was far more appropriate). They arrived back at teatime and all sat on the big yellow bus looking a tad shell-shocked in Santa hats! I wish I’d had my camera with me. Actually, it was a Kodak moment.

Del and I went for a beautiful walk along the River Ness, it was crisp and cold, but the sun was blazing. We went to light a candle, but all the churches were shut!!! Hmmm. After working up an appetite watching all the mad joggers out on Christmas morning, we went back to the hotel, had pre-dinner Bucks Fizz drinkies, then Christmas Dinner (Haggis, neeps and tatties for starters – Oh Boy! Yummy yum yum.) We noticed that we didn’t have party poppers or balloons like the other tables, so Del asked the staff for the kiddie's Christmas box, and naturally, he was the first to let off his party poppers and let the big long (farting) balloon in the restaurant! 

Actually, it was amusing, and we broke the ice with the other guests- champagne, Bucks Fizz, and a couple of Pinot Noirs or Six- and we chilled out in front of the telly box. Boxing Day, we stayed off the drink and went for a wander around Inverness. We discovered the Castle was a courthouse, and buskers play the bagpipes here, albeit Les Dawson style, hee hee. We tried to go for a boat trip, but that was closed too. We really should try to be more organised and plan ahead.

On Saturday, Inverness came back to life, and we caught a steam train from Aviemore to Broomhill and back again. It was freezing. They wanted us to have the full age of steam experience! But the landscape and views were breath-taking. Now we're off towards Edinburgh for Hogmanay.

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And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Travels in a Motorhome for a Year - Ullapool - Melness - John O Groats - Aberdeen - Week 17

TUESDAY, 23 DECEMBER 2014 Week 17

Well we have had virtually a whole week without staying in Amethyst. The weather up here in Scotland has been challenging to say the least, so we decided to hire a car and see the Highlands in a four by four, which we hoped would keep us out of too much trouble. We stopped off in Ullapool first and again it was completely devoid of tourists at this time of year, the local caravan park we were supposed to have stayed in was empty and I was told we had permission to use their electricity, but no other facilities were available. 

I was actually quite grateful that we were not travelling this part of Scotland in Amethyst! On the plus side the views of the mountains and Loch Broom were breath-taking. I loved the little town on the edge of North West Scotland, with a biting wind and peace and quiet. We went to The Seaforth pub and sat by a gorgeous crackling fire in the grate and got ourselves all toastie warm with some delicious food before heading back out in the cold to find some accommodation.

Now we have had some trials and tribulations with finding campsites open at this time of year. Still, we did naively believe it would be far easier to find Bed and Breakfasts or even Hotels open with plenty of rooms available due to the weather and time of year. Hmmm, how wrong we were. It has been quite a testing week to find a bed for the night, but we got there in the end.

We stayed at the Ship Inn, in Ullapool. It was very modern and lovely, but I don’t think they had many guests as the corridors were freezing, but the food was amazing, and it was all decorated Christmassy, which I love. The name didn’t give much away to us, not even the next morning when the whole room shook as I heard a deep rumbling sound which went on for a good few minutes.

When I queried it with Del, he said, “Ah, it’s just the brewery changing barrels!”

Me: “I don’t think rolling barrels shakes a bedroom to its rafters!”

Anyhoo, we went outside to load up the car and there’s a dirty great big ship parked up in the harbour! Okay it was a ferry, but it was a BIG ferry. We found out later that it was the ferry to Orkney, I didn’t realise Ullapool was big enough to warrant it’s own proper port and if we hadn’t been on such a tight schedule to get the car back I would’ve like to have gone over to Orkney or even the Shetlands.

The next day, we drove up to Durness. We had a look around Smoo cave, which I thought was creepy and claustrophobic, but as you can see from the pictures very pretty. We also found the most amazing Chocolate factory called Coco Mountain; I loved it because I love the film Chocolat (with Johnny Depp) and it sells a certain kind of country lifestyle that is easy going. I’d love an olde worlde chocolate shoppe. When we entered the shop, the owner seemed a little flustered and preoccupied; there were boxes everywhere. “Great, you arrived.”

He welcomed us. “Erm, yes, we have! Can we have two deluxe hot chocolates, please…” The guy's face fell a little. “Oh, I thought you were the Packers… I’ve got all these boxes to fill for Christmas orders, and my packers haven’t shown up.” We offered our services, but he only offered us a kilo of chocolate as payment, so we settled for the deluxe hot chocolate instead. And it was the BEST hot chocolate I’ve tasted in a long time. Castle on the way to Durness. On recommendation, we went to the point, and it was brilliant but freezing!

There were meant to be two hotels in Durness, the town at the edge of the world, and they both claimed to be open all year round are closed. All B&Bs are closed. So, armed with just a bag of organic chocolate buttons, we headed further along the northern coast in the hope of finding accommodation. 

We came to a sign pointing to a hotel well off the beaten track in a village (hamlet) called Melness, and what a find. Not only was it open and accepting guests.

It overlooked the most beautiful sandy beach bay and Rabbits Island. Carragan Hotel was warm, pretty, and very comfortable. I can completely understand why holidaymakers go back year after year. We also had a little whisky-tasting session while we enjoyed haggis neeps and tatties… Mmm, yum, yum. The following day, we had a long walk along the dunes on the beach, then went back and had more haggis for breakfast. Aww, delights to my taste buds. We were informed of Dunnet, the northernmost point in mainland UK. I’d always thought it was John O’Groats, but we were wrong. 

We stayed for photos, quickly appreciated the views of the coast, and then dived back into the car for warmth. We headed up to John O’Groats, passing the Castle of Mey along the way. (The Castle of Mey was the Queen Mother’s private residence in Scotland, and it was very beautiful, too. It was just a shame it wasn’t open, but that’s the beauty of writing this. I can go back to this next year and start planning the places I’d like to revisit during the summer season, and these places in Scotland are definitely some of them.

The most northerly point of the UK! God, How Cold? The second instalment of Week 17 (titled Week 17 and a half!) It will be posted in a day or two. It was rather a long blog, and I haven't sorted out all the photos yet. Sitting in a cafe, I'm getting funny looks because I've been here blogging for over an hour as it is. Eek!

I'm picking up the blog halfway through the week before Christmas because last week was such a long blog. We headed back down the east coast of the Highlands after a night in Helmsdale, but there wasn't that much in Helmsdale to blog about, really. We spent a night in the Motorhome as we needed to pop back for supplies, then headed back out down the east coast, ending up in Aberdeen on Mad Friday, something I hadn’t really heard of until recent years. Still, it was the last Friday before Christmas, and it was mad crazy and a pleasure to be a part of. 

We went to The Grill, which is the oldest bar in Aberdeen, and the atmosphere was amazing. I’m an avid people watcher at the best of times, so it was interesting watching all the revellers – revelling… I love old-fashioned and well-loved old public houses like The Grill.

It hasn't changed in about a hundred years! We then went to a church converted to a trendy bar called SOUL. I did feel a bit sacrilegious, especially when I realised the DJ was in the pulpit, but it was an incredible place to be. 

Do any of my Mancunian friends remember The Athenaeum on King Street in the '90s? Soul was like that, with an all-original interior and an uber-trendy bar slapped bang in the middle of the ground floor. From Aberdeen, we headed down to Stonehaven, a lovely little seaside and harbour market town with a Lido and good old-fashioned seaside holiday loveliness. We found a great little coffee house called Maggie Mays. Oh joy, I just wish I could’ve stayed longer to try a few of the dishes on the menu. We both chose the Steak Strips on Baguette with a home onion chutney… I’m salivating, just writing about it.

We went to Chanory Point to look for dolphins and saw the tiniest speck bob up out of the sea by Fort George. A professional spotter with a wide-angled camera lens told me it was a seal head. Humph, I was so excited, only to be crushed. It was very cold, but lovely scenery. We then headed back up north as the car had to go back, but we did stop off overnight at Grantown On Spey after riding through the snow-topped mountains and passing through a little ski resort close to Corgarff Castle of Strathdon and the Lecht Ski resort. We travelled through the country in the snow!

Grantown was another picturesque highland town in the middle of the Cairngorm National Park. Corgarff Castle at Strathdon

Lecht Ski Resort. Strathdon lies in Upper Donside in the Cairngorms National Park. Strathdon is an area rich in scenic beauty and places of interest with marvellous opportunities to observe wildlife.  There are small communities scattered throughout Strathdon, the largest of which is Bellabeg.  Every year on the fourth Saturday of August the Clansmen of the Lonach Highlanders march through Strathdon to Bellabeg Park for the Lonach Gathering, a unique and friendly Highland Games.

I did take a few photos but try to imagine acres of pine trees with intermittent splodges of snow-capped peaks. We stayed at lovely B&B called Parkburn and Fay, our host was brilliant, very cosy home with piping hot traditional full Scottish breakfast, just how I like it!
No sign of the Aurora Borealis (northern lights to you and me) yet! We gave up on that little mission.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales