Arriving in Scotland - 25 August 2008
Today we crossed into Scotland. My maternal grandfather was a Scot and Suzi was very keen to explore some of her ‘beginnings’. As everyone knows, its emblem is the Thistle.
It’s money is Scottish and because we couldn't take a photo of the Forth Bridge, even though we crossed it four times, we thought we'd take a photo of the note instead! It was interesting that I got some funny looks from English retailers when I got back to England and proffered my remaining Scottish notes!
And we’d expected to hear lots of music played with these – but we didn’t!
Before we actually crossed the border, we decided that, as our hotel was on the eastern outskirts of Carlisle, we’d travel further east along the A689 and visit Hadrian’s Wall.
On our way we passed Lanercost Priory, one of the most romantic and superbly preserved mediaeval monastic sites in northern England.
It was founded in about 1169 and became the home of a community of Augustinian canons. For five months in 1306-07 the Priory unexpectedly became the focus of national affairs during a prolonged visit by Edward I. Lanercost was dissolved in 1537 during the Reformation and its buildings were converted into a grand residence. During the 18th century the house was abandoned and the whole nave of the priory church was restored and re-roofed and continues to serve as the parish church.
Only a few miles further along the road we came to our first evidence of the famous Hadrian’s Wall.
On the orders of Emperor Hadrian, work began in AD120 on a 73 mile wall, to be erected across northern England to mark and defend the northern limits of the British province and the north-west border of the Roman Empire. Troops were stationed at ‘milecastles’ along the wall and large turrets, later forts, were built at 5 mile intervals. The wall, now the responsibility of English Heritage, was abandoned in AD 383 as the Empire crumbled, but much of it remains.
More evidence of the wall appeared beside the road as we drove along. Look - a tiny bit of blue sky!!
We arrived at Birdoswald, which is a well preserved turret and pre-war signal tower, where there’s much more evidence of a fairly large fort having existed.
We saw some very healthy cattle nearby
and sheep
all of which were sufficiently tame to allow us to touch them. Because of the enormous amount of rain that’s fallen in Europe this summer, the land, and consequently the animals grazing on it, looked extremely well nourished!
Although our first two days had been relatively fine, rain was predicted for this day, but we were fortunate that it didn’t start until we finished our visit to the wall. As we were still so close to Carlisle, we decided to go back into the City on the A69 to visit the Cathedral and the Castle. Suzi had been told by a friend that Carlisle was ‘eminently missable’ and although she agreed somewhat with that opinion, I was impressed with the City for a number of reasons.
It was raining by this time but despite the wet weather, market stalls remained up and traders continued to sell their wares. They were very cheerful and friendly.
From the town centre, we strolled in the drizzle to the Cathedral.
An earlier church close to the present cathedral has long been suspected by the number of 8th to 10th century cross fragments found in the vicinity. Evidence of the Christian graveyard used between 700 and 1000 came with excavations in 1985 and 1989. Viking-age objects were found and burials may have been those of immigrants, perhaps even real Vikings!
Founded in 1122 it boasts stained glass windows from the 14th to the 20th centuries and an amazing ceiling. In 1122 King Henry I replaced the original building by founding the priory. Ten years later, perhaps more to consolidate the Border than for any ecclesiastical motive, he created the Diocese of Carlisle. So the priory church became the cathedral and Athelwold of Nostell in Yorkshire its first Bishop. Most mediaeval cathedrals were ruled by Benedictine monks. Carlisle was unique in being in the care of Augustinian canons.
Because of its proximity to the Scottish border, Carlisle has long been a defensive site. It’s one of Britain’s oldest cities and dominates the borderlands between England and Scotland. Originally known as Luguvalium by the Romans, it was an outpost of Hadrian’s Wall. Carlisle was sacked and pillaged repeatedly by the Danes, the Normans and border raiders, and suffered damage as a Royalist stronghold under Cromwell. The Celts, Romans, King Arthur and Bonnie Prince Charlie have all left their mark on Carlisle. Today it’s the capital of Cumbria.
The Norman Castle has a small museum devoted to the King's Own Border Regiment. The Castle dates from 1122 and features a decorative east window.
But the weather was pretty dreadful by this time, with fairly heavy rain and a strong wind so we decided to forego our sightseeing and only managed to take a photo of the Castle as we drove past on the other side of the road.
And so we set off for Loch Lomond, our destination for the night. Travelling on the M6 from Carlisle to Glasgow in driving rain and heavy mist was very disappointing and we were quite glad to divert north-east on the A701 to find an attraction recommended by a friend, the Devil’s Beef Tub, near Moffat. Whether it was the weather or the lack of a signpost, we don’t know, but we missed it completely and spent the next couple of hours doing a tiki tour to get ourselves back on the right route via all sorts of small country roads.
We have no idea where we went but the weather began to improve and we stopped to have a picnic as soon as we felt comfortable that we knew where we were! Looking out onto the hillsides covered in purple heather and realizing that the sun was finally emerging from the clouds, we began to enjoy the beauty of Scotland at its best.
By-passing Glasgow, an accident on the M8 from Edinburgh to Dumbarton (the road we’d just joined from the south) caused a diversion which must have cost us about an hour. Fortunately the road the rest of the way was just fine (can you hear the Scottish intonation?) and we arrived at Luss, on the western edge of Loch Lomond, with plenty of daylight left to explore and the sun appearing magically to enhance the views. Before we checked into The Colquhoun Arms Hotel, we passed these two delightful cottages on the shores of the lake.
and noticed that most of the cottage gardens in this village are similarly well stocked and cared for. This was the view they enjoyed.
We walked down the main street – our view from our bedroom window!
When we reached the jetty, we weren’t surprised to find that even the ducks couldn’t get enough of the view.
Loch Lomond is considered to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. A mere 14 miles north of Glasgow it’s hard to believe that this awesome natural beauty spot is less than an hour’s journey away from more than 70% of Scotland’s population. For all its accessibility, it remains a gloriously unspoiled place. It’s now the centerpiece of Scotland’s first National Park. The Trossachs National Park came into being as recently as 2002 and covers a huge area of 720 square miles.
The Loch (lake) looked truly beautiful in the setting sun with Ben (mountain) Lomond towering over it.
Twilight was approaching, but there was just time to take a speedboat ride and see the view from a different perspective. Loch Lomond is the largest surface area of fresh water in the UK. It’s 24 miles long and 5 miles wide and 600 feet deep at its deepest point. There are 200 species of birds on the islands and over 25% of Britain’s wild plants have been recorded there. Although Loch Lomond is not the deepest loch, it has claimed more lives than any other loch because of its dangerous waters.
The Loch contains 38 islands, one of which, called Inchlonaig (Yew tree island) is just off the coast at Luss.
The yew trees after which this island is named are reputed to have been replanted by King Robert the Bruce after using the wood for the bows of his archers. The island was owned for centuries by the Colquhouns who farmed deer here. The island is one mile long and has a maximum height of 200 feet.
This was an exhilarating end to another splendid day.
