Bow Fiddle Rock is a natural sea arch near Portknockie on the north-eastern coast of Scotland and it is so called because, funnily enough, it resembles the tip of a fiddle bow.
This might be my shortest post, ever. Not a lot to say about it, apart from sorry from the dust on the lens and it was a cool sight.
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This is exactly the sort of thing we were looking for last summer in Scotland... Not really your major sights but the smaller, less common, but cool things.
This wee kirk is certainly all that and a bag of chips! Even voted one of the top 10 buildings in Scotland in 2016 and has similar intricate carving to Roslyn Chapel.
It was built in 1881–6; and substantially extended from 1906 to 1914. The heavy oak beams in the cloister are believed to have come from the (then) recently broken up wooden battleships, HMS Caledonia and HMS Duke of Wellington. An eclectic blend of church styles, from ancient Roman to Norman, it is built of local stone. It consists of a nave and chancel, with the chancel-stalls being canopied. Large, unsmoothed boulders of granite from nearby Ben Cruachan, form the piers which carry the chancel arch, and the transepts make the Sacred Cross.
What to do in a place you've been to a gizzilion times? All of the definitive must see sights and sites have already been seen (plobly!) but there must be other stuff. Atlasobscura is great for finding those non-A list attractions. Sometimes they are still pretty major things but perhaps a bit odder than average. Anyway, this was one of their things to see in Edinburgh... A disused railway tunnel.
In the hay-day of steam, the locomotive train, the city of Edinburgh was served by a network of railway lines. The advent of the automobile caused a massive decline in rail travel starting in the 1920s. Miles of tracks would lie dormant for several years around the city. It wasn’t until the end of the 20th-century that many of these abandoned pathways were converted into walking and cycling routes.
This particular train track was once traveled by novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, who would take the train to see his grandfather, Dr. Lewis Balfour and one of the poems he wrote is about his memories of riding along the rails. The poem was called From a Railway Carriage and is the inspiration for a public art installation that adorns the walls of the Colinton Tunnel.
Pictured below is part of the mural of RLS sat at his writing desk musing on the poem.
The Castle dates from around 1200 CE and for most of its existence was owned by the Hepburn family (Part of the Douglas claan). Originally built by the de Gourlay's: a Northumbrian family, they chose the wrong side in one of the many English Scottish skirmishes and had the house taken off them by the Scottish crown, who gave it to the Hepburns, who built it from a fortified house into a castle.
The first in a series of shortish posts. We had a number of trips out from our North Northumberland base over Christmas. These are not in chronological order.
These are, basically, two giant horses heads that you see as you whizz past Falkirk on the M9.
They are an impressive 30 metres high and were designed by sculptor Andy Scott. They are supposed represent the horses that powered much of Scotland's heritage. Kelpies, according to myth, possess the strength and endurance of 10 horses; a quality that is analogous with the transformational change and endurance of Scotland's inland waterways (or so their bumpf says!). The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coal-ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area.They are also supposed to link 16 different communities together, but how they do that is a mystery to me. They are cool, though.
Earlier in the day we visited Roslyn Chapel on the outskirts of Edinburgh and the weather, for December at least, was magnificent. The sun was just starting to sink so we decided to add 30 minutes to the journey and head further West and see these. All the way there the sky was a magnificent orange but had, unfortunately, past its absolute best by the time we had arrived. Still, there was still enough colour to provide a decent backdrop and, tbh, you're lucky to have any kind of blue in central Scotland at this time of year.
This is one of my favourite structures on the planet. I love the elegance of the engineering of it and the difficulty that they must have building it without modern lifting machinery in a fairly inhospitable stretch of water. I could have spent a long time at South Queensferry taking photies and still come back the day after for more.
Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities. Although the Georgian New town is lovely it is really the Old town that I like (They are both UNESCO world heritage sites). The only problem is, in the summer, the tourists and, all year-round, the weather. It is nice sometimes in Edinburgh (I know this must be true because I've seen pictures) but it always seems to be grey and overcast when we are there: No matter what time of year!
Victoria Street which leads (kind of) from the High Street down to the Grass Market is one of the most picturesque parts of the city. This HDR shot of it gives an idea of the colour and interest that all of the independent shops give. It's a real shame that these only now seem to cater to the richer tourist rather than have quirky stuff the average local may want to buy (which it used to, at least that's how I remember it).
The old town seems to be full of dark little alley ways and closes and appears to be a real hotchpotch of chimneys, spires and roofs (had to check the plural and apparently rooves, which I prefer, is so unusual to not be considered standard!) on the skyline. J.K. Rowling lived in Edinburgh and, I think, one can clearly see some of the descriptions of places like Diagon Alley and some of the homes of dark witches and wizards in her books in Edinburgh's Old Town.
As pretty much everyone knows, Edinburgh used to be known as Auld Reekie, because of the smoke and soot from all the chimneys. This is the look I've been trying for in these black and white shots of it. That, plus the dull weather puts pay to colourful shots of buskers on the mile or anything for that matter.
This is what comes of reading too much Nigel Tranter novels! Ooh! Lets go there! On this occasion it was a good call though. This was a top morning out. If you've got a car and are in Edinburgh on a nice day then the 20 minute drive (or train) out of the city to North Berwick is just the ticket! Its as windy as: Even on a beautiful summer's day like this one and not overly warm, exposed as one is here.
Tantallon Castle is the ruins of a 14th century fortress on the East Coast of Scotland and was the historic base of the Red branch of the Douglas clan (The Earls of Angus). Although there were fortresses on this site since at least the 1200s.
When I lived in Burnmouth for a year, this was an occasional (read long) walk along the coast from our house. We then had the problem of the return journey, plus the weather had to be spectacularly good to walk along that coastal path and enjoy it: Hence only the occasional. I had forgotten just how amazing the views of Coldingham from St. Abb's Nature reserve are.
Back way back when, I used to come to Melrose at least once a year with a party of school children, I've played rugby there (and won!), driven through and round it numerous times but never really looked at the Abbey apart from in passing.
High time to put that right. It is quite a significant monument in Scottish history. Several Kings are buried there, but it is probably most famous for being the burial site of Robert the Bruce's heart; the rest of him is buried in Dunfermline Abbey. The heart is thought to have been bought back from the Crusades to be buried there, which is more than a bit odd! However, it was 6 (yes SIX!) pounds to go in to look around. Its some ruins in a field! How can they justify that much (see Stonehenge too)? They are ruins! By definition there's no up-keep. A bit of mowing perhaps to keep the grounds looking half decent but I can't see where the money goes. Needless to say I was too tight to pay. I thought it was just my usual meanness but the week after we went friends were moaning about the same thing. They had the same solution too. If you walk to the right of the Abbey there is a little path that allows you to see pretty much everything you could see from inside the fence but, maybe, from 10 metres further away. |
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AuthorsWe are teachers and have worked in various schools in Europe & Asia. This is really a chronicle of out travels over the years. It is meant for us to look back on, reflect and remember where we've been, what we've done and all our little adventures. If you like it too, then fab! If you don't, do you think we care? Archives
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