Craigmillar Castle and on to Jedburgh

Craigmillar Castle and on to Jedburgh

We had quite a lie in this morning and did not have breakfast until well after 9am. It was a lovely sunny morning and the loch and hills beyond looked beautiful. We rolled away from Kinross at 10:30 back on to the M90 heading south. First stop today was Craigmillar Castle in the southern outskirts of Edinburgh. We had tried to visit here last year but an active police incident involving an armed woman(!) had closed the site! This time

Snow in the Cheviots

Snow in the Cheviots

We left Prestonpans at 10:15 under a glowering sky with a strong wind buffetted Bertie. The plan to day is to visit various border castles with a stopover at a cafe near Lindisfarne in Northumbria. First stop was at Hailes Castle beside the River Tyne (not The Tyne as in Newcastle but another, Scottish River Tyne!). We had seen the sign for this castle several times as we drove along the A1 over the years. This time we wanted to

Gartmon Dam, Tasty Breakfast and The Hermitage

Gartmon Dam, Tasty Breakfast and The Hermitage

The highlight of today was planned to be Stirling Castle. However having negotiated the steep narrow road up to the huge car park on the esplanade outside the Castle we were told in no uncertain terms that motorhomes were not allowed – not even for the day. There had been signs saying no caravans but we had assumed that this would affect us in a motorhome. Eileen was not happy and we have never been back to Stirling since that

Bannockburn disappoints and a rough drive through the Southern Uplands

Bannockburn disappoints and a rough drive through the Southern Uplands

Tuesday morning was bright and sunny giving glorious views as we drove east to Stirling along the base of the Ochils. We had discussed today’s activities at length and in the end chose to visit Bannockburn Battlefield Centre over Stirling Castle as time is short and we have quite a few miles to do today. We had enjoyed Culloden visitor centre which is also NTS run. Sadly Bannockburn was nothing like that. A serious amount of money had been spent

Over the Ochils to Castle Campbell

Over the Ochils to Castle Campbell

 It rained last night. It is October in Scotland. It is going to rain. Rain on Bertie’s roof is noisy. Bertie’s roof is only just above our heads in bed and thus the noise is easy to hear. We cheer ourselves up by remarking that lots of rain fills the burns and rivers and makes for very impressive scenery and especially the waterfalls. We also decide that on balance we prefer wet noisy nights and dry sunny days! we We

South to Killiecrankie and the Lin of Tummel

South to Killiecrankie and the Lin of Tummel

Bertie is off on his wanderings again. He has been parked up for too long. The plan is to spend all of October on the road including 11 days on the Isle of Man and then returning via Cumbria and South West Scotland. We cross on the ferry from Heysham on Thursday so we have four days to cover the 372miles from Forres to Heysham. We left Forres at about noon after a short visit to Lidl for iced buns

Sheildaig Trip

Sheildaig Trip

Over Scotland toward Skye! Eileen’s cousin Irene and her husband Bill were having their annual holiday in their caravan at Sheildaig on the west coast of Scotland. They had been in touch suggesting that they drove over to see us in Forres but on a wild impulse we thought let’s take Bertie over and have a night with them at Sheildaig! We did not want to be away for long as our daughter was expecting to give birth to our

Bertie Goes North

Bertie Goes North

Today was the day that we left our house in Suffolk for the last time as residents and the next time we come her it will just be as visitors as we prepare to sell it. From now on our home will be in Forres, Moray and this journey was to move Bertie to his new home. We had taken the car north just a few days before and had flown straight back from Inverness to Luton by EasyJet for

Forres to Suffolk

Forres to Suffolk

This was a simple A to B drive with only two overnight stops. That is quite a quick drive for us with daily drives around 320Kms. We had a lazy start from Forres (via Lidl for pre journey top up!) and we were on the road about 11am. First stop was by the side of the old A9 near Newtonmore for a coffee stop. Easy drive over Drummochter but the traffic stopped just south of Pitlochry near Ballinluig so we

Cromarty Firth and the Black Isle

Cromarty Firth and the Black Isle

Tuesday 28th March We set off from Forres at 14:20 for Inverness. Tonight we have tickets for the Yamato Drums at the Eden Court Theatre and have decided to stay over in Bertie and then have a few days exploring northwards up the Caithness coast. We drove straight to Invermess, with a quick victualling stop at Lidl in Forres en-route, and filled up with diesel at Morrisons on the way into Inverness. We drove through the middle of Inverness to