A Day Engraved in History

 Today has been an historic one, and even more so for us, as we are amidst the people whom Elizabeth served as Queen.  It's a day of strong emotion for many, and we did spend some time watching ceremony, particularly the last hour in St. George's Chapel.  What an amazing tribute.

Of course, we are on holiday, (or we wouldn't be gallivanting) and we have obviously had to make some adjustments to our planned schedule.  We struggled with what would be appropriate, out of respect for the sovereign and her subjects, and decided what would be best for us, would be to get out into nature, and take in the sites of this quaint village called Moffat.

So, after we watched the ceremonial procession into Westminster Abbey, we headed out into the village to take a stroll along the river Annan.  

Along the way, we passed some interesting buildings

The narrowest hotel in the world (that's what the sign outside claims),

and the narrowest street in the country (well, that's what the map says)

Just a little ways past this church is the path to the river

and the sign for the Annandale Way.

At times it was fairly narrow

but it was easy enough to follow, as it was flat, if just a bit rocky in spots.

There were beautiful ripples of water

and apparently some brown trout spotted in more than one spot by Marty.  

Did that surprise you? 

I spotted this little bird, bobbing up and down in the water, making for a few entertaining minutes. 

Then he dove into the water and began to swim downstream.  I have no clue what type of bird this is, and its the best photo that I managed to capture. 

Along the trail are farms with sheep.  Lots of them.

Such breathtaking beauty to follow along the way.

And did I mention sheep?

I could hear a rooster in the throws of crowing, and a chicken clucking around, looked up and saw this. 

They aren't real....I realized that when I posted the photo.  Now I'm wondering if there actually was a real rooster and chicken. Would someone actually take the time to play a recording of bird noises?  Guess I'll ever never know. 

 

After passing by, we turned onto the road to make the trek back to our B&B.

Along the way, we admired the varied architecture of the stately homes that stand on this street. 

This last one shows a date of 1875 inscribed above the window, giving you a time frame of just when they were built. 

The houses all stand across from a luscious glen which boasts those gorgeous views.

The style of the homes change as one heads closer into town.  Most are white with varied colored trim around the windows.  The white on the exterior really shines when the sun is beating on it. 

Since nearly every establishment was entirely closed for the day, we felt fortunate to come across a local chippy where we picked up a Fish and Chips meal for our lunch, which we enjoyed while sitting on a bench near the War Memorial Statue in the middle of the village. 

I have to say....it was pretty fabulous!

Walking along the narrow streets, we stumbled upon a building that featured a statue of King Robert I perched on the top of the roof of a turret. The building itself stood out among the others on the street. 

And then there was the theater a bit further up the hill. It appears to feature live performances according to the billboard out on the street.

The vistas were really quite remarkable as we walked along.

I'll admit that our day was quite serene with few people on the streets due to the situation of the day, so our walking experience was relatively easy and uneventful.  We would certainly have missed a good bit of the charm of this village had we carried on with our original plans, which would have taken us out on the road instead of exploring the town. 

We both commented about how nice it was to keep the car parked for 24 hours.  We've been pretty much running since we hit the ground eight days ago. 

Now, before I sign off, let me just mention two important factors that were responsible for us being here in the first place.   The first involves our accommodations here in Moffat. We are staying at the Dell-Mar B&B.

It's no accident that I booked a room here.  I had stumbled upon Susan via Facebook, a couple of years ago, and her enthusiasm regarding hostessing guests caught my attention.  I found myself looking for her updates and thoroughly enjoying her laughable antics.  I showed them to my husband, and he commented that if we ever were able to get back to Scotland, we needed to stay here.

So, I made it work. 

And, to give you a bit of an idea of her sense of humor, this hangs in the breakfast room:

I don't know about you, but that really had me chuckling. 

Our experience here is everything that I would have expected from following her on Facebook.

And now, you might be wondering about the second factor.  

It's actually the pub at the Black Bull Inn.  Soon after our last trip to Scotland several years ago, Janie purchased this hotel and pub, and started a Facebook Page as well.

It seems that this is the oldest hostelry in Moffat and one of the oldest in all of Scotland. In addition, it has ties to Robert Burns, and that was what caught my attention when she began posting on Facebook.  I  found myself enjoying her updates and decided to follow her adventures as well.  It seemed only fitting to enjoy dinner in this charming pub while we were here, so I reached out to Janie and asked for a reservation, which she was happy to oblige.

We found ourselves settled in a comfy padded booth, with an interesting view of Bull Heads

and we thoroughly enjoyed our pub food, and I even decided to splurge on dessert.

I ordered the Moffat Mess

which, let me just say, was quite delightful!

So, cheer's to Janie at the Black Bull, and to Susan at Dell-Mar B&B.

They both welcomed us with open arms and helped to make our stay that much more enjoyable.

You just can't ask for better Scottish hospitality than that!

 

Over the Border to Scotland

 This morning was our final one in the Lake District, and we bid fond farewell to Margaret, our hostess, and to the new friends that we met while staying at the Dower House.  Marty made one last drive along the walled curvy roads, into Ambleside, where we managed to find the Mater Amabilis Roman Catholic Church for 9:30 Mass.   We never did find the church parking lot, but settled on a Pay and Display Lot several blocks away. This resulted in us hiking uphill for those several blocks, but we still managed to get inside before Mass began.

Mass included some lovely prayers for the Royal Family, as well as the new King, as they cope with the loss of their dearly loved queen, who we must remember, was also their beloved mum and grandmum. 

Heading back down the hill to the car presented quite a challenge, as the roadsters were driving as if they were in the Great Race.  And, you know what?  This sign didn't even help us!

So much for that!  But we finally did make it to the lot, retrieve our car, and headed to Cockermouth.

It didn't take long for the roads to widen, making the drive a lot less stressful. 

In this village stands the childhood home of William Wordsworth, noted Scottish poet.  

The house stands from 1760, and was home to John Wordsworth and his family.  He was employed as a legal agent for the First Earl of Lonsdale, and it is quite obvious while touring the house, that this family lived quite a comfortable life here.

The kitchen was one of the largest that I've ever seen, particularly for such a modest sized house. 

The dining table was set with creations that would have been served in the late 1770s. I found the hedgehog to be quite entertaining. 

Note the ornateness of the bedrooms

John and his wife had separate, adjoining rooms.  Her's led to the hallway and was across from the parlor where the family would have entertained.

The wooden piece holding books in the right side of this room actually belonged to Wordsworth, and was donated by his granddaughter to the National Trust. 

The children's bedroom held some unique toys that would have been in fashion during the same time period.

A tiny child's chair stood next to the fireplace in the parlor. 

The back of the house featured a lovely large garden that led out towards the river.

We were told when we entered the house, that it was set up to reflect the same house that William would have lived in at the time.  But his time spent here would be short-lived, with his mother dying when he was at the age of eight.  At this point, he was sent to the school in Hawkshead, which we actually saw yesterday, but had no idea that there was a connection.

It was the white building on the left.

His childhood story was a sad one, with his mum dying when he was eight, and his father dying five years later.  At that point, he would never set foot in this house again.  But his fame is well known here as he helped to launch the Romantic Age of English literature. 

We took a few minutes to ramble through the village. There was a retired brewery

a castle ruins visible from along the river

and beautiful display of flowers leading up to the statue of the Earl of Mayo.

And there were the beautiful tributes to the queen displayed in shop windows.

Our final destination for the day was Moffat, but we decided to make a stop in Gretna Green, as we had plenty of time to do so.  

The village brings to mind those novels in English literature, where love struck runaways, too young to marry without parental permission in their English village, would escape to Gretna Green to be married in the Blacksmith Shop.   The tradition of marriage in Gretna Green continues, but only as a romantic gesture, and we were witness to many young men and woman dressed in wedding attire. 

There was a bagpiper for entertainment

and a horse and buggy to deliver the bride to the doorway.

All in all, it was great fun to watch and to just walk around.

But it began to rain, (no surprise there), so we opted to head onto our final destination, Moffat.

We checked into our B&B, where we were greeted with tea and lemon drizzle cake. 

Wasn't that a nice treat?

We then headed into the town for a stroll.  The village is nestled in a valley with hills rising up around, and is actually quite a bit larger than what I had anticipated. 

This unique statue stands in the center of town, adorned with colorful flowers at its base. 

I knew that Marty would enjoy this bench that had several eagles carved into it.

There was a WWI memorial

and a lovely clock tower.

I had reserved dinner at Brodies, and, once again, we were fortunate that I did so, because they were fully booked when we arrived. 

This was a unique restaurant, and far different from our usual venue, but I must say, I'm sure that it is the best meal that we have had on this trip!  The attention from the staff was excellent, and the food was fabulous.

The view was pretty nice as well

Once again, the village had the queen's image displayed in various shops, and here is another one that I had yet to see. 

We were returning to our B&B after dinner, when we spotted a crowd standing outside the town hall.  Tiny candles flickered in the dark, then we heard the chiming of the town bell, and a bagpiper began to play while the bell chimed on.  I then realized that there was one ring for each year the queen had served as regent. 

It was truly a touching and memorable experience to witness such a solemn event.  

Tomorrow is the state funeral for the queen, and nearly every establishment will be closed out of respect for her final ceremonies.  Who would have ever dreamed that we would be in this beautiful country for such a historic event? So, rather than fret over cancelled plans, we will make the best out of whatever the day offers us.