Touring Away from Serafina - Another Travel Log

With Serafina tucked away safely (we hope) in Apsley Marina and the local site seeing on the list completed we headed north for Liverpool with a lunch stop at Stow on the Wold in the Cotswolds. Stow on the Wold was only suppose to be a short stop for a cuppa and a walk around but it was hard to get our visitors back to the car, they were rather taken with this lovely old village.

Beatles Museum - Albert Dock, the Sergeant Pepper costumes. The museum told the story of the Beatles from start to finish with a little post-Beatles history too.

Strawberry Fields from the Magical Mystery Bus Tour. This was just one of the many stops made on this two hour tour. Rachael and I had taken this tour before but with our friends in tow we opted to do it for a second time, we enjoyed immensely; again!








From Liverpool it was off to Edinburgh, Scotland with a stop off in Gretna Green, just across the Scottish border. Once our visitors had been fleeced in the souvenir shops we went on to Edinburgh. An early afternoon arrival, just enough time to check-in and get the car parked for a three day stay. We were heading off on a two day bus tour first thing in the morning so there was just time to take our visitors up to Edinburgh Castle. We put them on a tour while we went and had a coffee in the cafe, we had had numerous visits to the castle before. Afterwards, it was off for a stroll down the Royal Mile towards the hotel.

Early Start in the morning to catch the tour, our wives are both keen Outlander fans so it was around the movie shooting sites. Just a few of the places we visited below.

Blackness castle (external) near Edinburgh, built 15th century.

Blackness Castle (internal), you had to watch your step it was very rocky.

Doune Castle (External), rebuilt in its current form in the 14th century. A very popular TV castle, used in Outlander and as Winterfell in Game of Thrones

Doune Castle (internal), rebuilt in its current form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany.












Fort Augustus - Moorings on the Caledonian Canal













Fort Augustus lock flight, plenty of room in the locks for everybody! They all seemed to be operated from a central control room at the swing bridge.

Standing stones at Balnuaran of Clavea

Bronze Age cairns or burial pits, also at Bulnuaran. Used approx 4000 years ago to inter important tribe members. (Bodies have been removed)

An hour and a half stop at Culloden Field where the Scots were rorted by the English army leading to years of hardship under English rule.

The Clan Fraser marker stone. These stones were spread throughout Culloden to mark where the clan members fell.

Midhope Castle, a 16th century tower house, was the final stop on our tour before heading to our hotel.
















A late afternoon arrival back in Edinburgh so there was little time for anything but a walk down the Royal Mile to our hotel. The next day we were off early for some more site seeing before a late afternoon trip across to Falkirk, our next stop. Some of our stop off points around Falkirk:



The Kelpies on the Union Canal at Falkirk are a monument to horse powered heritage across Scotland. The monument has a canal lock set in the centre of it.

Falkirk Wheel  (opened 2002)also on the Union Canal, consists of two tubs being rotated through 180 degrees to move boats up to and down from the Forth and Clyde Canal. The Wheel replaced a lock flight which closed in 1930.

A monument to Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland 1274 - 1329 at Bannockburn where The Bruce's army defeated the English in 1314, ultimately confirming Scottish independence.



















We were heading back south now to Lanark, the last stop on our trip.

The view of the River Clyde from our hotel in New Lanark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hotel is situated in part of the mill built by Robert Owen in the early 19th Century. Owen believed in providing a lifestyle for his workers and their families so work days were reduced to 13 hours and there was a minimum age before children could work in the textile mill, they would go to the school provided. Owen also provided housing and recreation facilities for the families.



Back to Apsley and Serafina where we had left her with the 12v refrigerator running and no land hookup. First time we had relied totally on the solar to keep things running. We came back to a cold fridge and fully charged batteries.

Overnight in Apsley before we headed north again, we were heading for Berkhamsted to drop our friends at the railway station.

Heading out of Berkhamsted