Europe Part 3 - Scotland and England - August 2025

After recuperating from our trip around England and Yugoslavia we next set off to visit a few places in Scotland.

Bradwell Well Dressing

We set off on a Tuesday morning stopping at Bradwell on the way to check out their Well Dressing.  Another fine example - this one a biblical theme of Rebekah at the Well.

The Portpatrick Hotel above Portpatrick Harbor

We pickded up our friend John from Preston train station and drove on to our destination of Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway,  We were staying at the Portpatrick Hotel, quite a large old hotel sitting on top of the hill above the harbor.  It is a little faded now, but in its day it must have been a wonderful place.  My other college friends Stuart (and his wife Maureen) and Paul were already there. We dined in the hotel and then started on a bottle of Scotch in Stuart's room. We almost finished it. For me that could have been a recipe for a hangover (particularly considering the wine and beer that preceded it). Fortunately I was spared that feeling.

Princess Victoria Memorial

The next morning I took an early morning walk into town.  There were a series of steps from the hotel down to the harbor.  At the bottom of the steps there was a sculpture memorializing those lost in the sinking of the car ferry, Princess Victoria, in 1953.  It is a quite disturbing sculpture - two arms with hands desperately clinging to an iron girder.  135 out of 173 on board the vessel lost their lives.

Portpatrick

There are a couple of pubs along the harbor front, an award winning bakery that apparently has Scotland’s best Potato Scones and Carrot Cake.  I didn’t try either.

The Mull of Galloway

The Lighthouse at the Mull of Galloway

After breakfast we drove out to the Mull of Galloway.  As I learned, Mull means End.  So the Mull of Galloway is the bit at the end the most southerly part of Scotland.  There is a nice lighthouse there with a foghorn lower down the cliff below.  There were views over the Irish Sea to Ireland and the Isle of Man.  None of us seemed particularly confident as to which was which.

Entrance to Lagan Botanic Gardens

We next paid a visit to the Lagan Botanic Gardens.  These gardens were a real surprise. The entry is through an long avenue of palm trees (Chusan Palms).

Gunnera Plants

Inside the gardens themselves we found a rich collection of sub-tropical plants - many of them from Australia and New Zealand.  The extremely large leafed Gunnera plants were particularly exotic and out of place in Scotland. The effects of the Gulf Stream on the climate of Western Scotland are quite remarkable.  This garden was open to the warmer winds from the west and was protected by walls from the more hostile winds off the mainland. 

Steve, Diana, Maureen, Stuart, John, Paul

We retired to the hotel for tea and conversation in the bar and then in the evening we went into town for dinner at one of the harborfront pubs.  After dinner we congregated in our room to consume nearly all of a bottle of Scotch (Auchentoshen).

After breakfast in the hotel, the next morning, we said our goodbyes and went on our way.  We drove east and stopped in Wigtown for a look around.  Wigtown is promoting itself as the book capital of Scotland.  It has quite a few second hand book shops and hosts a book festival each year.  We walked around and browsed one of the second hand book shops. 

The Graves of the Wigtown Martyrs

We also walked down to the churchyard where there are graves of the Wigtown Martyrs, a group of women who in 1685 would not renounce their religious beliefs and would not acknowledge James VII as the head of the church. They were executed in a particularly brutal way for holding on to their beliefs. They were tied to stakes in the estuary and were subsequently drowned by the rising tide.

Threave Castle

We drove further east and stopped at Threave Castle in Kirkcudbrightshire.  This simple castle sits alongside the River Dee.  It is contained in a nice parkland with very well maintained trails.  They have nesting Ospreys there so it is quite popular with birders.

We then drove a little further and paid a visit to my friends John and Gabrielle.  They have a lovely cottage on the side of the Solway Firth near the town of Borgue.  They have quite the idyllic location and their cottage is beautiful - how lucky they are.

We drove into Borque for dinner in the evening.  Good pub food and many puddings with custard.  We shared the Spotted Dick and custard.

John, Diana, Gabrielle

The next day we left John and Gabrielle’s and drove north towards Glasgow.  Quite a nice scenic drive over towards Ayr where we stopped for coffee and cake.  Ayr is a rather drab town but there are some impressive old buildings that indicate that it once was an important town.

The Main Hall in Kelvingrove Museum

From Ayr we drove into Glasgow and went to visit the Kelvingrove Museum.   As museums should be, the Kelvingrove is free to enter.  It is a huge museum so we couldn't see it all. We mainly stuck to the art work from the so called Glasgow Boys.  They were quite an important group of artists in their day, which was 1890 - 1910.  They also have a few nice pieces by Glasgow’s most famous artist/designer/architect - Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

The Maritime Museum and the River Clyde

After Kelvingrove we walked down to the River Clyde and the Maritime Museum.  The museum was unfortunately closed, as it was quite late, but the building that houses it was by Zaha Hadid, and that is worth seeing.

Stirling Castle

The William Wallace Monument

We left Glasgow and drove east towards Stirling.  Stirling has a wonderful castle sitting on the hill above the town.  We drove up to admire it from the outside but again it was closed because of the late hour.  Across the valley from the castle is the William Wallace monument.

The Kelpies, Falkirk

From Stirling we drove further east to Falkirk where the dramatic new sculpture of the Kelpies is to be found.  What a wonderful sculpture - two giant horse’s heads sitting by the side of the canal.

The Falkirk Wheel

Just a short way from the Kelpies is the Falkirk Wheel, a wonder of engineering opened in 2002 to lift canal boats up an incredible 79 ft from the lower level of the Forth and Clyde Canal up to the Union Canal.  What a ride that must be in a canal boat?

We stayed for the evening in Falkirk - the fairly adequate Premier Lodge.  Not the most beautiful town and not the easiest one to find a table for dinner on a Friday evening - we had to search high and low for a restaurant that wasn’t either full or closed.

The next morning we drove to Falkirk Railway Station (Falkirk High Station - there are multiple stations in Falkirk), parked the car and caught the train into Edinburgh.

The train service is wonderful - a 30 minute ride and trains every 30 minutes to either Edinburgh or Glasgow.  We arrived in the bustling Edinburgh Waverley Station and made our way up to the Royal Mile.  It was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Tattoo so the city was heaving with people.

  

Edinburgh Castle

We thought about trying to visit Edinburgh Castle, but that wasn’t quite possible - there were no tickets available until Tuesday, this was Saturday.  The huge stands were in place around the forecourt to the castle for the Tattoo.  Not my cup of tea but it is quite a major production.

Marker for where Elizabeth's coffin was placed

We went inside the St Gile’s Cathedral to admire its stained glass and wood carvings.  There was a tile on the ground marking the spot where Queen Elizabeth II laid in state before she was moved down to London.

Fringe entertainer on the Royal Mile

Fringe Entertainers on the Royal Mile

We did enjoy walking around and watching the various Fringe Acts around the Cathedral and along the pedestrian part of the Royal Mile.  Comedians, Jugglers, Magicians, Singers, Dance Troups…..  a little bit of everything and most of them were very good. 

Then it was a trip on the hop on hop off bus around the city.  This was an easy way to see the sights of the city without wearing out our shoe leather.

Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh

After the tour around the city we got off the bus at Holyrood Palace and went into the Palace.  Another wonderful palatial building, still used for formal occasions today.  

After a fine meal at a Michelin Restaurant on the Royal Mile, we caught the train back to Falkirk High and drove to our hotel. The night's hotel was the very nice Polmont Spa Hotel. 

Next morning we checked out early and drove to Polmont Station for the train into Edinburgh (parking was free at Polmont, unlike Falkirk).  Back in Edinburgh we had a breakfast of porridge at the cafe at the National Gallery of Scotland before going into the Gallery for the Andy Goldsworthy exhibit.  

Oak Passage by Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is one of my favorites and this was a terrific exhibit with bits and pieces from his last 40 years of work.  I particularly liked the walkway between an avenue of twigs and branches (Oak Passage), the strands of barbed wire and the blue painted tree.

Magician Street Performer at The Fringe

Outside the Gallery there was a magician performing his act.  He was so clever.  The usual card trick where a selected card suddenly appears somewhere else where it simply should not have been.  The way he included the audience in his act and his spontaneous improvisations with them were so clever.  He was an American from San Diego.  

Acrobatics on the Royal Mile

We walked part of the Royal Mile again and watched a few more acts - a singer, a musician improvising, a guy doing incredible acrobatic feats in a metal wheel.  All the acts now have a QR code you can scan to donate to them - no one has cash anymore.  The QR code links to their account on busk.com or something similar so you can give them money.

Dolly the Sheep

We paid a trip to a jewelry store for yet another pair of earrings for Diana before stopping into the Museum of Scotland.  We had a quick look at Dolly the Sheep, the first cloned mammal, and Mary Queen of Scots' casket and then went back to the station (via Bobby the Dog and his polished nose - touching it is supposed to be lucky).

The Forth Rail Bridge

We caught the train back to our car in Polmont and drove over to South Queensferry to see the Firth of Forth bridges - there are three of them and the rail bridge is particularly spectacular.

South Queensferry

South Queensferry was also quite nice.  Nice old houses, pubs and shops and a nice mosaic mural depicting the history of the town.

As we drove out of Edinburgh on our way south we saw the flames spreading up Arthur’s Seat.  Most alarming.  We had been looking up at Arthur’s Seat from Holyrood Palace the previous day and now the whole hillside was in flames.  Fortunately no one was hurt.

We drove south to Berwick on Tweed and checked into our hotel, The Roxburgh, in the adjacent town of Spittal, on the south bank of the Tweed.

The beach at Spittal

We had a nice walk on the beach before it got dark.  We learned that the Manchester painter L.S. Lowry used to visit Berwick and Spittal and painted many works there.  There is a Lowry Trail through the two towns of Spittal and Berwick.

St Cuthbert's Priory

The next morning we decided to pay an early visit to Holy Island and Lindisfarne as the tide would make return from the island impossible after 2:00 pm.  We drove onto Holy Isle, parked and walked over to the St Cuthbert’s Priory and the Chapel.  

Lindisfarne Castle

We then walked over to Lindisfarne Castle.  Our English Heritage membership got us in the Priory but the Castle is National Trust and that costs money.  The National Trust gets all the good places.

The castle is most interesting.  It dates from the 16th century but it was purchased by a Mr Edward Hudson, the owner of Country Life Magazine, in the early 20th Century and it was converted into a rather fine home.  Fine may not be the right word, interesting, beautiful perhaps but it must have been cold, damp and chilly most of the time.  

Bedroom, Lindisfarne Castle

Edward Lutyens the architect (Mumbai’s India Gate) was hired to remodel the castle for Mr Hudson  He added bedrooms and dining rooms and made the whole place more ‘livable’.

We left the island before the tide came in and drove back to Berwick on Tweed.  Unfortunately the A1 was closed for some reason (accident maybe) and we did an extensive tour around the neighboring farm roads along with all the other A1 traffic.  Quite a delay.  We walked around Berwick and had lunch in the Lowry Cafe before leaving on our way south towards Alnwick Castle.  

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick (pronounced Annick) is a magnificent castle, standing proud above the town.  It is private, being owned by the heirs of the Duke of Northumberland.  The castle was full of swords and pistols.  It played a part in the Wars of the Roses, being a Red Rose of Lancaster stronghold.

lnwick Castle

We walked through the castle gardens to a nursery and a children’s play area.  Alnwick Castle featured in the Harry Potter films and so it has received a lot of attention and a lot of visitors. It looked like the owners were really capitalizing on this tourist trade by building an extensive childrens play area. I am not sure I like this debasing of what is a wonderful old castle but then I suppose they have to maximize their profits to maintain the place. 

Alnwick itself is quite a nice town.  Beautiful old buildings, pubs and shops.

The Angel of the North

We drove south from Alnwick towards Durham, our stop for the night.  The road through Gateshead goes by the Anthony Gormley sculpture, the Angel of the North so we stopped to examine it.  It is an immense sculpture with a huge wingspan and the foundation is likely as deep as it is tall. 

Durhham Cathedral

We had a nice hotel in the middle of Durham - a Marriott.  After checking in we walked into the old part of town, the square, the castle and the cathedral.  As it was late, everything was closed but it was nice to see the area without too many other people.

Durham Castle

We dined in a nice Turkish restaurant in the old town - hummus, ezme and falafel.  After the meal it was raining very hard - the road back downhill to the hotel was awash.

Prior Castell's Clock - Durham Cathedral

The next morning, the weather was fine, and we walked back up to the Cathedral and went inside.  The Cathedral is another remarkable church building - beautiful stained glass windows, intricate wood carvings, a very large organ, a 15th century ornate clock and numerous graves with carved sculptures of their inhabitants.

The 1215 Magna Carta and the Forest Charter

The museum at the cathedral also houses copies of the Magna Carta.  In fact it has the only copy of the original 1215 version of the Magna Carta.  There is also a copy of the later and more accepted 1225 version.  There are copies of the Forest Charter too.  The Forest Charter was a document associated with the Magna Carta that gave free men more access to the countryside that was owned by the king and previously off limits to normal people.

Durham Cathedral was also used in the filming of one of the Harry Potter films, so just as in Alnwick, there has been an increase in tourist traffic from young people wanting to see the locations from the film.

Clifford Tower, York Castle

Leaving Durham we drove to York and paid another visit to the city we had visited only a few weeks before.  We walked nearly all of the city walls over to the castle and its Clifford Tower.  Then we walked down to the River Ouse and through the very busy old part of town, the Shambles area. Again we saw the influence of Game of Thrones and Harry Potter.  They have really drawn people to the city.  Too many people in my mind - oh to be able to enjoy these old parts of town without the crowds, without the Harry Potter kids.

York Minster from the city walls

York Minster interior

We again visited the York Minster as we were a little rushed the last time.  What a magnificent place and how nice to be in the quiet and relatively calm of the Cathedral and away from the world outside.  The stained glass windows are wonderful, the ornate wood carvings are beautiful and the organ is impressive - some 5400 organ pipes - how do they even generate enough air to blow through those and what could the control mechanism be like.

Eyam Church

After York we drove back home to relax for a few days in Derbyshire.  A visit to Eyam and the plague museum.  The bravery of the local village population in isolating themselves during the plague was a heroic thing.  What a great story.  It was interesting to note that a recent study of the DNA of plague family descendants from Eyam indicated they had the markers for a higher resistance to the HIV virus indicating that the plague may well have been viral and not bubonic plague.

Bodlean Library, Oxford

Christchurch College, Oxford

The final exploration on this trip was a walk around Oxford on our way down to Heathrow.  Wonderful college buildings and the River Thames as well as a bustling modern city.  The Bodlean Library is a magnificent building and Christchurch College is set in beautiful park lands and gardens.  Diana thought that while Cambridge is an obvious academic institution with a little bit of city added on, Oxford is more a city with a little bit of academia tacked on.  I am not sure what the locals think of that but we certainly felt that there was more of a normal city presence in Oxford.