Our York trip took us back to Edinburgh via the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. Our first destination was Millers Beck (our accommodation for the night) just out of Kendal in the Yorkshire Dales. We drove there through narrow winding roads, through small colourful villages where flowers festooned the window boxes to a renovated corn mill, now B&B. After settling in to our room, which overlooked a lush green field and stream, we headed off to a local pub for dinner. We had a great traditional meal of Cumberland sausage and Steak and Ale pie.
In Grassmere, we wandered the town and bought gingerbread from a small shop that has seen three generations prepare and cook gingerbread. The story of Sarah Nelson, who first began to make the gingerbread in the early 19th century, is an inspirational one of dedication and overcoming hardship. Next door, we visited the Daffodil Garden of remembrance of William Wordsworth who lived in Grassmere for many years.
We spent the night in Thirlmere, in a B&B called Barn Gill Guest House, interesting accommodation in which the owner had chosen to decorate the rooms using every possible mix of colour, texture and design. She also seemed to favour fairy lights that were a feature across the bedhead and in various parts of this converted barn.
Our final day in the Lake District had us driving through Keswick to the Scottish Borders. David had found reference in a tourist guide to Castlerigg, where ancient boulders form a ring on the hilltop. How these large boulders came to be positioned is a mystery that cannot be explained - as was how David was to get the car down the extremely narrow lane leading to it!
Near Keswick, we took a walk high above the Derwentwater to one of the most photographed bridges in the UK. This small stone bridge at Ashness, looked like something from a fairy tale and crossed a beautiful running stream. Further up on the edge of the hill overlooking the lake, green moss sat like pillows on the tree roots and rocks. This area had breathtaking views. Everywhere we went in this area we saw people hiking through the hills, many with their dogs as companions.
As we travelled though the Scottish Borders, you could not help but be in awe of the beauty of the countryside and its remoteness. We headed towards Innerleithen, our accommodation for the night, close to where the Porteous cairn is located in Peebleshire. This was very pretty countryside. High mountains embraced the narrow road where the sheep wandered or just lay oblivious to the oncoming cars. As the weather was a little warmer and the sky was free of rain clouds, we headed straight to Tweedsmuir, the closest village to the cairn, more like a speck than a village. Having gained explicit directions from cousin Richard Porteous, including photo, diagrams, maps and directions, we set off. The directions took us eventually to Fruid Reservoir. Here we were to ignore the "No Admittance" sign and walk across the reservoir, along the tarred track and over the hill. It was almost eerie as there was not a person in sight, we were surrounded by lush green mountains and the calm expansive waters of the reservoir, with the only sound being the sheep bleating in the distance. The track took us over the hill to where a stoned walled paddock could be seen opposite us, with a structure sitting at the high end of the field. After crossing a small dam, hopping over the fence, and wending through the thistles, we reached the cairn and the monument to the Porteous forebears who had inhabited the area in the 1400s. I can now check this off my bucket list!
The next morning, we left for our last destination, Edinburgh. On the way, we visited Rosslyn Chapel built in 1444 to save the soul of Earl William Sinclair. Its intricate stonework had mysterious symbolism and therefore not surprisingly it had been used for movie sets such as the Da Vinci Code. We spent a while here with our necks craned upward searching for the stone carvings and reading about their intriguing meanings.
After checking in to our hotel out of the city, we caught the train into town to attend mass and then to begin exploring. We caught the Hop On Hop Off Bus around part of the route before heading off to dinner in a pub named The Last Drop, known for its medieval ghost and the fact it was the site of the last hanging in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh. We then set off in a bleak, rainy evening for desert at The Elephant House, the cafe where J K Rowling wrote some of the first of her famous book series.
The next morning the weather was particularly nasty, so once in the city we retreated to the warmth of the Hop On Hop off bus and took in the sights, in the dry, but noisy bus. Our first hop-off was Edinburgh Castle, which looms over the city, and we spent about 3 hours walking through the various exhibits in the castle, in and out of the rain, wind and cold. Edinburgh is preparing for the tattoo and I could not help but think how unpleasant it would be sitting in the open air stadium in the weather conditions we experienced.
After completing a full lap of the city on the bus, we had time for a late lunch before heading off to the airport. Our England/York trip was now at an end. Back to an equally cold Dublin to wash and prepare for ... Germany, Switzerland and Croatia!
Here's hoping for some warmer weather!
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