Leadhills and Wanlockhead

Fun journey today as we meandered along  B-roads heading towards  Leadhills. A certain husband laughed at me following roads on the map so I put it away… until he got worried that we were lost. Ha!.
Anyway, we sauntered along through Sanqhuar, before taking the Mennock Pass up towards Leadhills and Wanlockhead. TOTALLY spectacular, massive hills, [...]

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Public Monument and Sculpture Association

I love sculpture, in all its lunatic forms, so I love this PMSA website, which records loads of sculptures around the UK. It’s nowhere near complete, but the Glasgow section is fabulous, listing loads of instantly recognisable images and plenty of wee gems I hadn’t noticed before. I’m surprised that the Heavy Horse isn’t mentioned, [...]

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Bothwell Castle and Dechmont Hill

Took plenty of photos at Bothwell Castle at the weekend, and despite the overcast, a quick look suggests that they’ve turned out quite well. In particular, there’s a nice green tinge from the moss that didn’t show up in bright sunshine. On the other hand, it may look terrible on the computer screen. I’ve noticed [...]

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Black Isle 2009

I have been looking forward to returning to the Black Isle so much. I’ve been looking at ideas for days out, places to revisit, suggestions from contacts about what we missed last time. And now it’s done, and I’m totally exhausted, to the extent that there’s been a beautiful summer’s day going on outside and [...]

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Black Isle Wildlife Park

A return from last year, mainly for the zebras. It is hot though, so the animals are seeking shade, much like we should if we weren’t quite so insane.
First though, we are forced to discuss the meaning of the word “maximum” with the woman behind the desk. She won’t sell us a family ticket (2 [...]

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Day 1 – Cars and beaches

The car (more like a van with seats and windows) that the parents have hired turns out to have two bald tyres, which have to be replaced. So instead of leaving at 10ish, it was closer to one o’clock before we got on the road. We had been considering travelling up the Great Glen, but [...]

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Days 24, 25 Calderglen

Shoved the weekend together cos both days we took the kids out to have a look at the sad non-remains of Calderwood Castle. That end of Calderglen seems sadly ignored, although obviously much loved by the locals and their dogs. In particular on Sunday we met a huge black beastie called Rocko. His owner claimed [...]

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Day 18 Avon

Two photos today concerning the River Avon. This first one is the river in a calm moment, out for a wee wander.
Actually, when we talk about the river, what’s being referred to? It can’t be the water itself, because it’s constantly flowing away. But it can’t be the course of the river, because when the [...]

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Day 17 – Crossbasket

Took a wander down to Crossbasket House today. It’s one of those places that you’ve passed almost all your life without being aware of it. But before we entered the grounds, we were stopped by the police. They ask, with wary faces, if we’ve seen a cow loose on the road. No, we haven’t, and [...]

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Day 11 – Blustery

Another blustery, rainy day. Any second, Winnie the Pooh will come round the corner in an upturned umbrella. But at least I got outside for a bit, even if it was for less than five minutes total.
Driving past burns and rivers, the water level was scarily high. There’s a bridge just outside Strathaven that’s close to [...]

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