Impressions of our trip from Holland to the SRGC Discussion Weekend 2009

[Lvandelft]

After a hearty breakfast, the landlord persuaded me to try the special smoked haddock from Eyemouth for breakfast. They were indeed very good, but not really healthy for a heart patient (too much salted!)
But when we are traveling in other countries we always try to eat like the locals do and don’t take anything from home, like many people do 
B&B smoked haddock                               
B&B breakfast                                   

[Lvandelft]

We drove into Scotland while it was raining and because it was only a driving time of three hours to the hotel, we decided to visit first Floors Castle in Kelso.
(There were some interesting nurseries in the area too, but alas )
Because of the rain only a few pictures.

Kelso - Floors Castle                             
Kelso - Abbey

[Lvandelft]

From Kelso we took a route through the Lammermuir Hills. Half way there was a road block and we were lead via another road which obviously brought us almost (5 miles) back to Kelso.
So from there we tried another road which was just broad enough for one vehicle and this, obviously seldom used road, lead us about half an hour through woods and just here an there a farm or a house and let us really feel lost in an endless landscape in the rain.
So we lost very much time and when we came to the main road we decided to use our navigation system and find Polmont near Falkirk. When I typed Polmont, the system asked in which part of the Lothians and I had no idea, so typed the first on the list (When I am right there are three different Lothians) Obviously I typed the wrong one because after an hour we arrived at Polbeth in West Lothians. Almost one hour in the wrong direction
But at last, after 7 hours driving time (instead of three!!) we arrived safely in the Hotel where the Discussion Weekend took place.

Lammermuir Hills 2                                
Lammermuir Hills 1
SRGC Discussion Weekend Hotel  

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2552.msg112729#msg112729  etc.

more later  

[Luc Gilgemyn]

So we lost very much time and when we came to the main road we decided to use our navigation system and find Polmont near Falkirk.

Shame on you Luit - your Dutch ancestors navigated around the globe without Satnav.... and you are complaining about different Lothians... 
How about a good old roadmap ?? 

Enough jokes !
You seem to have had a great time Luit - so much nice scenery !
Thanks for showing !
 

[Katherine J]

So nice places!

Until now all my friends which had been travelled through Scotland have shown only rainy pics. I think I have seen sunshine in Scotland only on Ian Young's pics...

[Katherine J]

And what a breakfast, mmm...

[Lvandelft]

After the Discussions Weekend we visited Edinburgh and decided to find a railway station for taking the train to avoid parking problems in the city. A station was easy to find but parking the car near the station is the same as in our country and almost impossible because short of parking places
When we arrived in Edinburgh we were shocked to find the famous Princess Street broken up because they want to re-introduce a Tramway through the city. So we made our way to the Castle and made some pictures, which I show below:

Edinburgh

[Lvandelft]

Some more pictures of Edinburgh.

And then we took the train back to our car and stayed overnight in West Linton on our way south.
West Linton is a quiet picturesque village with an old church, which dates from 1781.

West Linton St. Andrews Church

[Lvandelft]

From here we wanted to reach the Lake District early in the afternoon, but made first a stop in the city of Lancaster.
We did not visit the Castle, because the biggest part of it is in use as a prison, but adjacent to the castle is the Church of St. Mary, dated from the 11th century.
Most of the building now is 15th century. It was just sunny at the moment so the windows were beautiful to see.
After a short walk through the city we left and drove to the Lake District while it was raining again.

Lancaster

more later

[David Nicholson]

Nice to see the pics of Lancaster Luit. My mum was born in Lancaster and was christened in St Mary's and a lot of childhood holidays were spent in that area.

[Lvandelft]

Nice to see the pics of Lancaster Luit. My mum was born in Lancaster and was christened in St Mary's and a lot of childhood holidays were spent in that area.

Glad, I showed them David. Did not make so many pictures there.
Your roots seem to come from a great part of Britain, don't they? 

[Lvandelft]

Leaving Lancaster it started to rain again and as we wanted
to stay some nights in the area of Keswick, Cumbria we and rain did not stop
we tried some addresses for B&B.
This was not so easy as expected during this time of the year.
Seemingly many people traveled like us in the quiet time for tourists,
so many rooms were already occupied.
But at the Tourist Information in Keswick we found a suitable place near
the city center with a good view over Derwentwater.
The good thing of sleeping near the center is that there are many restaurants
close by, but the whole place is sooo touristic and not the place we really
liked.
I show some pictures below:
One is in the city center with the Tour. Inf. office and one is of a street
nearby with only B&B.
The 3rd picture is a look from our B&B window early in the (next) morning.

[Lvandelft]

Because it was raining in a steady way we left Keswick for a short drive to Windermere and
make a visit to Holehird Gardens.
We were told at the Discussion Weekend not to miss this garden and Holehird
is one of the nicest gardens I ever visited. Everything is so clean and tidy
and all the work is done by volunteers.
Despite the rain we stayed there more than two hours which resulted in a
lot of pictures
I show several batches of a selection below:
 
Holehird
Colletia armata 1                
Colletia armata 2

The next pic. shows how wet it was

Alstroemeria 1              
Alstroemeria 2              
Schisostylis cocc. Mollie Gould      

Gladiolus  (probably G. tristis?
           Can somebody confirm this?

[Lvandelft]

Holehird Garden 
Prostanthera cuneata   
Alpine house Water Feature                       
Gentiana       
Meconopsis   

[Tony Willis]

Luit I am glad you liked Holehird it is a wonderful garden at any time of year in beautiful surroundings.

I should give up on the SatNav if it took you to the Lake District via Lancaster from Scotland but then you would have missed a lovely city