A wee trip to bonnie Scotland

 First stop Penrith, England

Carlisle

 The Cathedral

 The Cloisters

 The Castle.  Not the best view from across a busy road

Then on to the Scottish Borders of Dumfries and Galloway where there are many castles and abbeys bearing witness to its skirmishes.  Dumfries was supposed to be our first stop, but parking was difficult so we  went on the Castle Douglas.

 The high clock tower od Castle Douglas

Next was Kirkudbright  (pronounced kir-coo-bree by the Scots)  at the mouth of the River Dee.  The town is full of art galleries that the dog prevented us from visiting.

Onwards to Stranraer via Newton Stewart, Girvan with a view of the island of Ailsa Craig,  and the prestigious golf clubs of Turnberry, owned by Donald Trump, and the golf club of Royal Troon.

 Ailsa Craig

The Ferry to Ireland used to leave from Stranraer but now goes from a little further up the coast.

On our return journey we stopped at Alloway the birthplace, now museum of Robbie Burns.

We drove through such beautiful scenery of coast, lochs, forests and mountains that I often forgot to  take photos!

The Lake District: “The loveliest spot that man hath found.” William Wordsworth

A painful toe made a short break in the Lake District a bit like a visit to an all-you-can-eat-buffet when on a diet; you can look but can’t experience it first-hand!   However, I did manage to do and see quite a bit, my toe has been sorted out and I can only imagine what it must be like to live with limited mobility.

Our base was Stainton, a small village very convenient for Penrith, Ullswater and the major roads.  Here are a few of the places we visited:

Brougham Hall

 

Once known as “the Windsor of the North” because members of the royal family stayed here but sold off by the 4^th Lord Brougham to pay off gambling debts, this site on the outskirts of Penrith is now being restored and has some interesting craft shops and teashops in its courtyard.

Penrith

 A small but busy town with many independent specialist shops and eating places

Ullswater

 On the Eastern fringes of the Lake District, the Ullswater Way is a 20 mile route for walkers around this lake.  Unfortunately my sore foot wouldn’t allow me to walk any distance, but we stopped off at both Pooley Bridge and Glendenning for a brief stroll. 

We then drove on to Lake Windermere over the wonderfully scenic Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside, then Bowness, which I have often visited as my sister had an apartment there.

 Kirkstone Pass

 

 beautiful planting scheme near the pier at Bowness

 On our way home, we visited Threlkeld at the foot of Blencathra, where we spent a lovely holiday in the hot summer of 1976  and Keswick where there was a wonderful market full of stalls selling local food and crafts.  I couldn’t resist buying a couple of plants.

 I hope to revisit the area again, this time spending more time on foot!