Category: Scotland

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Duck Bay, Loch Lomond

Richard and Lorraine’s Bongo is faster and lighter than we are so, we took a look at the map and agreed to meet up on the shores of Loch Lomond rather than Richard and Lorraine be stuck behind us for a hundred km. Our arbitrary pin on the donkey was great – Duck Bay permits overnight stopping and we were literally on the edge of the loch, but nicely away from the road.  Our evening meal was at the Duck Bay Hotel and Restaurant and was an amazing meal. Great food and great company! Next day and we had time to get the kayak out for a brief paddle around and Richard even went for a swim. Brrrr. Then it’s off up the loch towards Oban.

  • Loch Lomond
  • Sea plane at Loch Lomond
  • Loch Lomond
  • Mothership at Loch Lomond
  • Loch Lomond
  • Loch Lomond
  • Loch Lomond
  • Toby at Loch Lomond
  • Kayak at Loch Lomond
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Kelso, Scottish Borders

Early start and onto the A68 for the slog to Kelso in the Scottish Borders.  We stopped off at the border to have a look around and see how the Scottish might build a barrier to keep the English out once they join the EU….

The running club event was in the Agricultural Showgrounds on the edge of Kelso town. We arrived to meet Lorraine and found out the club had arranged for the Monday night to be campable to allow stragglers to sort themselves out.  So we blagged a night at Kelso. A walk around the town with a beer and pasty for lunch down by the river. We didn’t get to see the famous Floors Castle this trip – maybe on the way back South. An evening meal with R&L in the Queens Head Hotel.  Chicken breast stuffed with haggis for T and a haggis in a burger for S. What can we say. Scrummy. 

  • Scottish Border
  • Scottish Border
  • Kelso
  • Kelso. Beer and pasty by the river
  • Kelso Abbey
  • Kelso Abbey
  • Kelso
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AotN & Hadrian’s Wall, Bellingham on the North Tyne

From Redcar, it is back on A1M and onward and upwards with a stop-off at the Angel of the North and then Hadrian’s wall. We had problems finding a paying site, so it was a quiet lay-by near Bellingham on the banks of the North Tyne. Richard organised a 4km hike along the river and up a steepish hill overlooking the area for a great sunset photo. Pasta in the van chased with beer and whisky.

  • Angel of the North
  • Bellingahm Sunset
  • The wall that Hadrian built
  • Richard showing us what a ‘footpath’ looks like!
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York visit & Redcar Rugby club

No stop-over here, but a day at the railway museum and exploring the town.  York with the Mothership is great – they have special areas for motorhome parking – check out Foss Islands Road, which is right outside the city walls. No overnight stopping permitted, but perfect for our flying visit.  Last time we were here was five years ago in a rental campervan – pre MS1. Exploration of the museum and a walk back to the mothership via the city wall and then off to Redcar another 69 km North for a £7 over night stop.  Quick Pub trip with Richard and a lovely van meal. Rugby club stopover is great – rustic but has fresh water, toilet dropoff and you can use the rugby club showers and toilets. Great value and cheap beer too!

  • R and S in York Railway Museum
  • Really annoying – some while ago I thought I had invented a new engine layout with pistons opposing each other in the same cylinder. Turns out that this was done years ago in Deltics Diesel engines
  • York city wall
  • Redcar beach at Sunset
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Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire

We grabbed Richard from Bookham and set off North. Our first night away after a nightmare M1.   We had a few stopovers planned depending on how the roads were and this one was the furthest south of the possible options.  Our stopover was similar to an aire – a flat area in a garden centre & golf club complex for the fine sum of £6.

Into the village with Richard and a minor pub crawl.  It’s probably lucky that there were only two pubs. Hollybush Inn followed by The Three Horseshoes and a great meal. Early-ish start the next day and back on the M1!

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Scotland part 1

OK, so we didn’t quite get back into home life.  Lorraine was in Kelso, Scotland for a running event (drinking event) and it seemed like a great opportunity to take her hubby Richard up to meet her and enjoy Scotland some more.  Mothership one visited briefly a few years ago, but MS2 has not been North of the border. Plus we can start tracking down our Munro heritage and making sure that we can move North once the Scots get their next independence vote sorted and then apply to (re)join the EU!  Och Aye for Scotland! Plan A is to tour with Richard and Lorraine for a week and then for us to have a solo week. Let’s see how we go!