Peebles to Innerleithen

Blue skies......white puffy clouds.....sun shining......get out and walk!

It just so happens that today was already a scheduled walking day (rain or shine) with my friend, Isobel, whom I met last year on a trip with Marty.  We stayed at her B&B for a few days, and we've kept in touch since.

When I visited in June with Marty, (and I was relaying my stories of getting very lost along the Coastal Trail), Isobel suggested that I let her know when I would be in the area and she'd be happy to take a day and go walking with me.

Well, I took her up on that suggestion, and she invited me to come along with a "Strollers" group that she is part of.  They would be walking from Peebles to Innerleithen, did I want to come along?

You betcha!

I had anticipated the strollers being a bit more relaxed on their walk, but such was not the case.  They started off at a pretty quick pace and I had to work at keeping up with them because I kept stopping to take photos.

The day was SO picture-perfect.....how could I resist?

We were following a macadam path that had once been the site of the rails of a steam engine in days past.   This is in the part of Scotland called the Borders, because it "borders" along England.

The trail took us through spectacular countryside offering breathtaking views. 

At one point, we were walking alongside a golf course.

Notice those men in the distance?  It just after this point around the corner and a bit down the trail, when I heard a WHISH right by my ear, then a KERPLUNK right next to my left foot.  

Can you guess what that was?  An extremely errant golf ball, which narrowly missed my head!  Don't know if you'd be reading a blog right now had it landed there!

We crossed a bridge over the River Tweed.

where we saw some beautiful horses along the side of the trail.

Further along, I couldn't resist capturing this photo with the horses in the field along the river, and a mama duck with her ducklings in tow, in the background, hurriedly swimming up the river.

Just a bit further, I spotted this man fly fishing, but didn't see him actually catch any fish.

Actually, he'd have to be on speed catching, because there was no stopping that group of strollers!

We ended up in the quaint town of Innerleithen.

A very nice fella on the walk with us offered to take us back to the car park in Peebles. We could have ridden the bus, but we decided to take advantage of the free ride.  By then, my tootsies were burning!

Here is the view of Peebles from the car park.

Quite lovely, don't you think?

Isobel then drove us back to Inverkeithing, where I hopped the train back to this quiet little town of Aberdour.  I took this photo from the sitting room in our B&B.

When Marty arrived back from work, we walked up to the Aberdour Hotel for dinner, which was a bit complicated for my order since peppers seemed to be in nearly everything that I found interesting.

I settled on the Fish & Chips simply because we are on the coast, and I was told that the fish was fresh caught.  It was quite tasty.

After the 7 mile walk, I thought I'd go ahead and try some dessert.  The description was a Turkish Pana Cotta with some sort of embellishments involving pistachios and chocolate.

Here's what I got

If you're drooling....don't bother.  Marty appropriately described the flavor as tasting like soap.  The little pink squares were like gelatin and tasted like rose hip perfume.  And I find it hard to believe that those shortbread cookies were "home made".  If they were,  they weren't baked in the last few days, that's for certain!

Lesson learned:  No more Turkish Pana Cota.

After dinner, we walked down to the harbor.  It was once again a beautiful clear night. There is a set of benches along the beach, and we sat and enjoyed the stillness and beauty.  I wish that I could capture the moment and share it with you. 

Darkness, but the city of Edinburgh reflecting off the water.  Bright stars glimmering above.

The quiet whish of the waves lapping up over the rocks.

Not a sound to be heard around us.

And then, we heard the echoing wail of a seal, obviously quite close to shore, with a response from the other side of the forth.  It certainly was entertaining, waiting to hear them having a conversation from afar.

Marty commented that if he wasn't working....he'd have thought that he was on Holiday!

Dr. Livingstone......I presume?

So we're all somewhat familiar with the phrase, and most of us probably have some idea regarding the story of David Livingstone.  But did you know that he was Scottish?

Well, even if you did.....I never really gave it much thought, and today was certainly quite a learning experience for me!

But before I delve into that fascinating story, let me start at the beginning of the day.

After a delightful breakfast at our B&B, we loaded up the car with our luggage and began the drive to Craignethan Castle.  Finding it was a bit challenging, to say the least, as we wove our way up a very narrow, curvy road, praying that no one would be rounding the corner in the opposite direction.

My first words to the proprietor were, "Do you get many visitors up here?"  He immediately realized that we had taken the difficult route up, and he was kind enough to give us directions that were quite easily maneuvered on our way out.

The castle was built in 1530 by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart and it stands on the edge of a natural gorge.

Heading down from the car park this stronghold is the only thing in view.
Believe it or not, but the sun was shining so brightly today that it was difficult to get a photo of the castle.

The sun was definitely shining on Marty before we entered through the gate.

It's a good thing that he remembered his sun glasses!

This castle was the last of its type built in Scotland, as manor houses became the more comfortable residence.  But in its day, Craignethan is famous for having sheltered Mary, Queen of Scots in May 1568. 

The construction was unique, as it was a “double pile” residence.  The back tower cannot be seen from the front of the grounds.

It also had a caponier, one of only two built in Scotland, and the first built in Britain.  

The grounds were quite vast and in remarkably good shape, although there were some areas that were off limits as the NTS is attempting to stabilize them.

This is the view from the front tower.

  Here you can see the gorge from the top of the tower.

And this view is from the back tower looking towards the front entrance.

After a rather extension exploration of Craignethan Castle, we headed towards Chatelherault, located in a village called Ferniegair.

This magnificent place was built as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Hamilton in 1734.

It has been preserved in a large park that offers 9 miles of wooded walks, and it was the perfect day to go out and explore the area.

 First, we walked through the lodge itself, which had some  absolutely stunning rooms.

 And we couldn't resist a little fun!

From there we got an excellent view of the gardens.

Then, we hit the trails and headed to Cudzow Castle, now a set of ruins, 

then we walked the trail to the Cudzow Oak trees which are over 800 years old!

This photo shows Marty standing next to one so that you can get an idea of just how large these old trees are.

Isn't it great that I have Marty to help put things into perspective?

One of the unusual residents of this hunting lodge is the White Cow.  The reserve is attempting to establish another herd that was depleted on these grounds.  This was the closest that I could get to the female.

 But, the views from that spot were pretty spectacular.

There was also a World War II memorial on the grounds:

We could have stayed longer, but we didn't want to miss the opportunity of visiting the David Livingstone Center just a few more miles up the road.

So, we made the drive and I, for one, am certainly glad that we did.

The story of this man was fascinating!

He was born in the village of Blantyre which was known in the early 1800's for its cotton mill. The similarities to New Lanark were amazing.

His father changed trades from working in the mill to becoming a tea salesman.  At the same time, he preached his Christian beliefs.

David grew up with a strong Christian faith, and he was determined, after studying at the University, to go to Africa to spread his religious faith.

The center went into great depth explaining his life and exploration and there was a remarkable amount of his personal letters, writings and equipment on display.

We had a lovely guide who gave us the complete run down on his life.

After touring the center, we walked through the gardens,

and strolled down to the river Avon where we actually did manage to see a salmon attempting to jump over the waterfall.  

Unfortunately, I could not capture the moment on film.

We then headed to Aberdour to our B&B.  This is a lovely little town, and after a delightful dinner at the Woodside Hotel, where we ate in a room that is actually the dining room of a restored Ocean liner,

and a delicious raspberry and strawberry Pavolva

we strolled down to the banks of the forth and enjoyed a remarkable view over the forth.

I'd say that was quite a day.....wouldn't you?

New Lanark: Robert Owen's Dream

The morning began with our exploration of the village of Biggar.  We had seen the sign for a Puppet Theater near our B&B, and we made that first on our list. Sure enough, we found a beautiful old mansion which housed a Puppet Theater.

Marty was kind enough to stand outside the wall that featured the Sign for Purves.

We checked the performance schedule, but when we saw that the only showing today was for "Pippa and Panda Meet the Tooth Fairly", we both decided that our time would be better spent on other things.

So, we walked around the town and found some real surprises.

Here you can see the oldest house in the village of Biggar. 

 It was once an inn and it housed retreating Jacobite rebels from the army in 1746.  

 Marty was happy to demonstrate just how low the doorway was.

We stumbled upon a Gas Works museum just a block away from High Street.

We were surprised to read that Coal had been used as a fuel to make gas which was then pumped to the houses in Biggar for heating.

Marty was impressed with the wheels at the tops of the tank that allowed it to "float".

Outside the community center there is a statue of a snow shovel:

It was invented by an engineer named Cutherbertson who came from Biggar.  If you look closely, you can just catch Marty admiring it.

Finally, we passed by the Moat Park Heritage Center, but it was too early to actually go through it.

Actually, all of the sites in Biggar had late openings, so we decided to jump in the car and head to New Lanark.

This place was fascinating.  It is now a preserved Unesco World Heritage site and it is set up so that as you descend the steps from the car park, you actually feel like you are being transported back in time to the early 1800's.

At that time, there was a working cotton mill and housing tenements on this location.  Hydraulic power was used to run the mill and it actually continues to work as such, but with wool rather than cotton.  

In fact, Britain led the world in developing steam power in the 18th and 19th century.

In the early 1800's a man by the name of Robert Owen purchased the mill.  He was responsible for setting up this community where people had decent housing, free medical care,  and were encouraged to maintain cleanliness by sending health visitors known as "Bug Hunters"to every family residence. 

He began the first nursery school and set up education on site for the community.

Here Marty poses next to a globe that is a replica of the original from 1828 which was 19 ft in circumference.

Some other interesting facts about Owen were that he did not believe in punishment, but rather, depended upon the Book of Character to keep people honest and hard working.

Owen firmly believed that well educated people were the best workers and that there would not be any tendency to stray towards crime.

Owen was responsible for one of the first cooperatives, purchasing high quality foods in bulk, then selling them in the New Lanark store at a much lower cost than what could be purchased elsewhere. People ate better because they could afford it.  You have to admit, this was really radical thinking on the part of the business owner in the early 1800's.

Unfortunately, Owen succumbed to the pressure from other businessmen who did not understand his compassion for the working class.  He ended up selling the mill and moving to Harmony, Indiana, where he attempted to build a similar community.

There were several building which we could tour that took us back in time to understand the living conditions of these mill workers.  And, we were even able to watch wool being spun onto skeins in large quantities.  It was fascinating to see the machinery at work.

On the top of Mill #3, there is a lovely rooftop garden.

Marty wanted his photo taken with these bunnies.

As I mentioned, hydropower is used to operate the machinery, and we had the opportunity to seek out the source.

We need only follow the badger to the Falls of Clyde.

And here they are:

But they weren't the real source of the hydropower.  Hiking up a pretty steep hill offered us the view of the Corra Linn Falls.

Now, those were spectacular

The loud rush of the water filled the air.

There was another set of falls yet further up the mountain, but we decided that we'd had enough climbing for the day, so we headed back down to the village see just what we might have missed.

I'd have passed on this room but Marty seemed pretty fascinated playing with this bat.

Don't bother asking me what this exhibition encompassed because I high tailed it out of there as soon as I took the photo.  Too creepy for me!

My favorite part of the day involved a conversation with a woman named Leslie who stamped our tickets in Mill #1.  She recognized our accents as being "foreign" and she asked us where we came from.  We told her that we were from Pennsylvania in the United States, and she eagerly asked us if she could have our opinion on something.

We agreed, and she pulled out a book on Traveling Route 66.  It has apparently been this woman's dream to come to the United States and travel Route 66 from Chicago to California.  Her original thought had been to take a bus tour.

Well, during the conversation, we found out that Leslie has a friend named Louise.  Louise also was rather interested in making this tour with Leslie.

By the time that we were finished with our conversation, Marty nearly persuaded Leslie to forget about the bus tour, fly into  Chicago, rent a Mustang Convertible, take along Louise, and drive it herself.

I'm just hoping that if Leslie does follow Marty's advice,  and brings Louise along, that she has better luck than Thelma!