Summary of our trip north

Warwick Castle

Evening at Lake Windermere

Back to ancient roots

Falkirk Wheel - it's a long way from lower to upper canal!

two viking warriors discovered in York

Day 9 to Windermere


On the way to Warwick we drove through Stratford upon Avon and visited Anne Hathaway's cottage. it is a pretty town and the cottage has been well preserved. One of the facts that caught our attention is that the thatching is regularly renewed (every 30 years partially and 60 years fully) and is now netted to stop various animals, such as rats and squirrels from nesting there. The period pieces included a four poster bed with tester (canopy) that was imperative to catch any animals, and droppings from their activities, from falling on you during the night! And we all thought four poster beds with canopies looked romantic!


We were then on our way to spend the majority of the day at Warwick castle. We saw a trebuchet working (a type of canon come huge slingshot), falcons, a ghost tower complete with a ghost story (the fantastic actors made even the adults jump!). There were many displays and exhibitions with very realistic wax work models. One of which told the story of the preparation for battle in 1471 showing the making of armour, the blacksmiths and other activities and relevant stories.


We reached our B&B at The Lakes District in the early evening and enjoyed a meal at a carvery restaurant on the edge of the lake where we watched the sunset and the rain fall.





Day 10 to Edinburgh

We woke to heavy rain, the first since 11th September we were told. That sounded like a long time to the landlady but only 3 weeks without rain didn't sound so long to us. Still, we enjoyed exploring the area by car. In some places it was a case of imagining what view might have been behind that cloud.


On to Scotland. We detoured from the main road to a town called Auchinleck which is in the region James Boswell was the Laird. James Boswell is famous for being a companion to and writing about Samuel Johnson. Kylie's maiden name of Affleck is the anglicised version of Auchinleck. We then drove on to Glasgow, where Kylie's father's family emigrated from when he was a boy. Not as gloomy a city as I had imagined. Probably helped by the fact that it was a sunny afternoon. From there we drove onto Loch Lomond and saw Ben Lomond behind. Another afternoon sun over the lake but this time sunny. Still not having seen enough, we drove to Falkirk and saw a fantastic feat of engineering. To join two canals very different in height they have built a mechanism where the boat drives into the lower "bath" and the wheel turns to lift it to the higher canal and vice versa.


At last we drove into Inverkeithing, a suburb of Edinburgh, where we stayed in a private hotel and again heard ghost stories from the manager and swapped travelling tales with other guests. Great fun, and fortunately no ill dreams or night time awakenings.





Day 11 Edinburgh to York


We walked to the local train station and caught a train into the city, approx 30 minutes including a crossing of the Firth of Forth. It was low tide and the boats seemed to be stuck on the mud for metres out from shore. We arrived in the city and walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle where we spent a few hours exploring. We returned down the hill to Holyrood House and views of the volcanic outcrop called Arthur's seat.


Returning to the car by train we drove on to York arriving after 8pm at the most luxurious of our lodgings to date and only 10 minute walk from the city walls. We had dinner at a pub at the base of the old walls called The Punchbowl, a familiar name to those who work near Bankstown.





Day 12 York to Marlow


We walked into the old city and went to Jorvik village. This is a recreation of what a viking village would have been like prior to the "modern" townships of York. There was also a museum of important archaeological items found when they were excavating for a new shopping mall. Another piece of the British history puzzle we have witnessed.


From there we walked the city visiting The Shambles (a collection of old buildings which seem to rely on each other to stay upright), the York Minster (the largest medieval church in Europe), and even an outdoor market which gave the feel of an ancient market town but with modern trading. After lunch we walked along part of the city walls and then down to the Micklegate bar, gate, and then back to the car for a 3.5 hour drive home.


Now for catching up on the washing and sorting out all our bits and pieces. Rachel has developed a cold, which is verging on croup symptoms, at least we have the medication with us if necessary.
We have heaps more photos which I'm going to try and burn onto a CD today, ah, the marvels and wonders of modern technology which I'm still trying to get my head around!

We hope all is well in the Land of Oz.