During the summer, different towns in Scotland host Highland Games, resembling county fairs with a wonderful Scottish flavor. We visited the Highland Games in Blackford, a small village, where we enjoyed bagpipe contests, Scottish dances, and athletic events like caber tossing. Several competitions were for younger participants, including foot races and track and field events. There were several bicycle races. Jackie explored the various crafts stalls. Naturally, kilts and bagpipes were abundant, adding to the festive atmosphere. We thoroughly enjoyed our Highland Games adventure.
Tag: uk
2023 – A day in the Peak District of the UK
From certain places around Manchester you can look to the southeast and see big hills off in the distance. Our day in the Peak District took us out into that area, known as the Peak District – home to deep valleys, flowing streams, steep green hills, and pretty towns and villages. We used Rabbie’s Tours for this trip and we do recommend them.
The drive out of Manchester into the heart of this beautiful area is just over an hour but the change from big city to rural beauty is dramatic. We stopped in two towns where we had plenty of time to look around.
The first was Castleton. The ruins of a medieval fortress, Pervil Castle, overlooks the village. Some climb up the hill to enjoy the panoramic views. We opted to wander around town and take photos.
We went to the town of Bakewell for a longer break where we had a nice lunch. The River Wye flows through the village (interestingly, “Wye” means “River” so it is actually “River-River”). The railings of one footbridge is jam packed with “love locks.” Couples get padlocks and put their names on them. They attach them to the bridge rail and then toss the keys away. Bakewell is also known for a particular jam and almond pudding called, appropriately enough, “Bakewell Pudding.” There is a sort of copyright on it, and only in this village can it be called “Bakewell Pudding.” Of course, we had to try some with our lunch and it was quite good!
The scenery was wonderful. One interesting stop was the overlook above the Monsal Head Viaduct. This was built as a railroad bridge but when the rail line was taken out of service the line was turned into a hiking trail that is very popular. Our stop there was just for photos so we didn’t get to walk any of the trail, but we did enjoy seeing the viaduct far below.
Our other major attraction of the day was Poole Cavern. We’ve been in bigger caves but this one has a lot to offer. Our cave tour guide was knowledgeable and interesting and we learned about the caverns and the infamous Mr. Poole who used the cave as a hideout in the 15th century.
We’re glad we took this tour as it gave us an opportunity to see an area near Manchester that we haven’t had opportunity to explore.
2023 – The East Lancashire Railway and Bury Transport Museum
There are several vintage steam railways around the UK. One not too far from us is the East Lancashire Railway, Bury – just north of Manchester. In fact, Bury is at the northern end of the Manchester tram line. We rode the tram about an hour and a half up to Bury to ride behind the Lady of Legend coal-fired steam locomotive. The line runs along the River Irwell about 8 miles to the town of Rawtenstall. The weather started off cool, but nice. As we rode the train it began to rain followed by small hail! The weather didn’t delay our trip any, but it did dampen our desire to do much exploring! We opted for a coffee shop break followed by a return ride on a vintage diesel train, with a break for lunch and then another ride behind the steam locomotive.
The other half of our adventure was a visit to the Bury Transport Museum. It was fun checking out a wide variety of antique vehicles there – ranging from an old tractor to double decker busses to another beautiful steam locomotive.
It was a nice day trip for us, and we recommend it to anyone who likes the old trains.
2022 – York, UK Christmas Market
York, England is about 70 miles from where we are staying in southern Manchester. The train trip, including the journey from our flat to the train station, is about 2 hours. York, which was founded in 71 A.D. has Roman walls, a huge and famous church, an ancient and still-operating shopping district, a castle, and is the home of the National Rail Museum. Honestly, there’s more than anyone can hope to see in one day.
This time of the year, famous Shambles Street is the epicenter of a huge Christmas market. We checked out the wall, which is easily reached from the rail station and then headed to the Christmas market. Our plan was to look it over and then visit York Minister – the world-famous church.
Our plans didn’t work out because the Christmas Market was absolutely amazing. Every time we thought we were coming to the end of the market we would look down a street and see another street filled with stalls of food and gifts.
By the time we finished, we were running out of energy and time. We may well return to York in a few months just to see some of the above-mentioned sights. At least we have a better idea of what to expect on a future adventure there.
2022 – Manchester Christmas Market
We took the bus to Manchester Piccadilly Gardens and the Christmas Markets. There are many food and gift booths. We enjoyed a sandwich and fries. Jackie also bought some good fudge. In spite of our going on a Tuesday afternoon in November it was pretty busy with lots of shoppers. The weather was good for this time of the year – in the 40’s, overcast, but no rain. I took a few photos, but my photos don’t do a very good job of capturing the energy of the event. Still, it was a fun and interesting way to spend our Tuesday.
2022 – Stockport Air Raid Shelters
Just a few minutes from the campus of Nazarene Theological College where we are volunteering is Stockport, still within the confines of the Manchester metro area. We’ve visited the shopping mall there several times. Today, we visited a historical site just steps from the mall. The Stockport Air Raid Shelters are tunnels dug out of limestone to provide protection for the citizens of the area. Today, this site serves as a reminder of what life was like for the people of this area during World War II. Because Manchester was a major manufacturing hub of England it came under German fire many times, including a major attack over Christmas of 1940. Hundreds died and thousands were injured during the Manchester Blitz. During that raid, and others, people in the Stockport area found shelter in these tunnels. It was sobering to imagine women and children hurrying into these tunnels as air raid sirens sounded the warning.
2022 – Northern Wales
Our bus tour to north Wales was amazing. We enjoyed the towns, good food, and beautiful scenery. Honestly, it was hard to believe we were less than a two-hour drive from Manchester.
Llandudno is a seaside town that is especially popular with beach goers in the summertime. There’s a long pier with a Ferris wheel and all the things you would expect of a summer destination. We walked around a bit, stopped off for a nice snack, and took photos. It was a bit windy and our bus driver, Frank, remarked that that was an indication that it was going to be very windy at our next stop. He wasn’t kidding.
From town we drove up a steep series of twists and turns to the top of Y Gogarth Great Orme Country Park. In addition to the road up, there’s also a cable car that makes the steep ascent. The views out across the Irish Sea are great. On a clear day, we were told, you can see the Isle of Mann off in the distance. And, yes, it was a tad windy. My guess would be 50 mph. I say that because it was a challenge to walk! There’s no telling what the wind chill was, but after making the final climb while fighting for balance, we took some photos and joined everyone else in retreating back to the bus. It was all quite invigorating to say the least!
We now headed inland and onto highway A5 – the route into Snowdonia National Park. The highway passes through tunnels and some climbs up into the park. Our driver took us off the highway to a one lane road on the opposite side of the valley from the highway where we enjoyed some stunning views. It would be hard to imagine a more beautiful setting. From there it was on up to the nearby Ogwen Partnership Centre and a beautiful waterfall.
Our next stop was the village of Betws-y-Coed – a town with the nickname “Capitol of Snowdonia National Park.” We looked around a bit and then found a place for coffee before boarding our van for the next stop.
I’ve never seen anything like the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. To understand it, you have to know that England has a vast network of canals. These canals were originally used for transporting goods on long, narrow barges pulled by horses on a tow path. There are many hand-operated locks that allow navigation up and down the terrain. In 1795 the decision was made to link two canal systems that were divided by a deep river gorge. That was accomplished by building an amazing aqueduct across the gorge. This is no small bridge. It is 126 feet high and over 3 football fields long and took 10 years to complete. The tow path is now a walking trail and long boats, now very popular for recreation, can still use the Aqueduct to cross the gorge.
The weather was no longer windy, but it had been raining off and on throughout the day. It was raining when I started across the aqueduct, but suddenly the sun broke out in the west. As the light rain continued, but most beautiful rainbow I’ve ever seen formed to the east. It was a complete, bright rainbow – the perfect conclusion to a wonderful day!
Everyone had told us that northern Wales is a special place, and we agree. I recommend the Busy Bus tour, but honestly, they can only offer a too-brief taste of this beautiful area.
2022 – Day trip to Liverpool
It’s less than 40 miles from Manchester to Liverpool, so we hopped a train for a day trip there. The early October weather was decent, although the wind made it feel rather chilly and we were glad we wore warmer coats. There are a lot of interesting things to see there, really, more than you could see in a short visit. It will come as a surprise to no one that Jackie loved seeing the Central Library. As you can see from the photos it is a beautiful and impressive building. We did a bus tour of the city; that gave us a nice overview of things. I think on a future trip that we might want to focus on the two major cathedrals there – very impressive buildings. Then, after grabbing some lunch, we joined a Beatles Tour. The guide was entertaining and gave us a lot of information about the group. We made two stops for photos – one at Penny Lane where we saw the barber shop, bank, and other spots mentioned in the song. The other stop was at Strawberry Field, where we learned the story of John Lennon’s connection there. We drove past the nearby house where he was raised. I think those who have a deeper fascination with the “Fab Four” might want to take a small, private tour because some of the significant places in the history of the group aren’t accessible by a big tour bus. We also walked up Liver Street (pronounced “Live-er” we were told) where we checked out some of the shops and enjoyed a nice coffee break. From there it was back to Lime Street train station and a ride back “home.”
2022 – American in the UK – random observations
- Apparently, all overcoats zip on the woman’s side
- Even if you think you are a fast walker you’re still likely to be passed by young mother pushing a stroller
- Dogs are almost universally well behaved even when off leash
- Even though people usually ignore others when they meet on a sidewalk (called “pavement”) if you’re a couple in your 70s holding hands they will smile
- No outlets in bathrooms
- Public bathrooms are called toilets… Or the loo, or gents – but not bathrooms unless you can take a bath (or shower) in them
- Just because it is raining it doesn’t mean the sun won’t be out in a minute or two… Or the reverse
- Americans tend to be louder than Brits in public settings
- Because of TV Brits know most American ways of speaking, but at first, they may have to ask you to repeat so they can adjust their listening for an American accent (which is okay, I often have to ask for a repeat too)
- From what I can see Brits like coffee better than tea
- People in the UK like lots of milk (not cream or creamer) in their coffee
- UK bus drivers are amazing
- Brits have no idea what side of the pavement to walk on – most every time you meet an oncoming walker you have a moment of figuring out which side is correct for this specific encounter
- When an ESL student from Asia doesn’t understand you repeating it in Spanish doesn’t help
- Nazarenes in the UK sing with more enthusiasm than we sing in the United States
- At any given time you will see people wearing tee shirts and shorts and others in heavy hooded coats – over the next 30 minutes or so, both will be properly dressed for the weather
- Tylenol is paracetamol here, it is cheap, but you can only buy small packages of bubble cards of them, and no more than two packs at a time. Prescription meds come the same way
- $13 will buy enough Chinese food to feed two people for two meals each
- You never have change in your pocket because everyone everywhere does credit card tap and go, my smallest charge so far was 60 cents – I think this might be especially tough on street people asking for change
- Using grocery delivery makes all kinds of sense when you would otherwise have to carry it all home about a third of a mile
2022 – Around Edinburgh Scotland
Edinburgh, Scotland is a great tourist city. We spent four days there and could have spent another four days continuing our exploring. The main attractions are all fairly close together so it isn’t hard at all to see a variety of things in one day. However, it needs to be noted that there are some serious hills there. This takes its toll on even people who walk on a regular basis.
We enjoyed trying out some different food places while we were there. Check out our photos of “Oink;” this is a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in – well you can guess! We ate at a local Turkish bakery near the train station. We liked it enough that we returned to grab some takeaway there to carry on the train on our return trip. We also had some good fish and chips at a nicer restaurant on Victoria Street near Grassmarket Square – an area with plenty of places to eat and shop. It is also where many public hangings took place in Edinburgh’s history. Of course, we checked out a few coffee shops along the way. Jackie loved the Chocolate Cafe where she got a coffee that was more chocolate than coffee! And, of course, we tried out the most popular soft drink in Scotland. It’s an orange colored soda that tastes to me like a cross between Big Red and Cream Soda. It’s not bad, but I think I’ll stick to my Coke Zero.
It was fun just being on the streets, looking at the shops and seeing the architecture. One secret is to look up! There are many building features like statues and gargoyles that are easily missed from street level.
We already posted a couple of site specific entries, but, as I mentioned earlier, we could have spent another week and seen more without ever repeating an attraction. We missed some biggies like Holyrood Palace, the Royal Yacht Britannia, several museums, and the Botanical Gardens. And that doesn’t even take into account the many other places to visit across Scotland.
Here are some specifics for anyone planning a visit to Edinburgh. (Note: this is based on just one visit, so there are likely many alternative approaches that a person might want to take.} I priced motel rooms in the central city and found them to be uniformly high priced. Instead, we opted to stay out at the Airport Premier Inn. The key to that location is that the tram (light rail) stop is just outside the motel. By buying online I was able to get us multiday tram tickets. Trams run every few minutes and, after a 20 minute ride, we arrived right in the heart of the city. Along the way the tram stops at both major train stations and, it just so happens, right at the Hop-on-Hop-off bus hub. We bought multi day Hop-on-Hop off bus tickets. There are three different bus tours included on that ticket. After riding and listening to the tour information on the entire route of a couple of them we switched to using the busses as our way to get around the city. By the way, we learned that this particular bus service gives you a real 24/48, etc. hour ticket. If you activate the ticket at 11:00 on one day it is good till the same time the next day. That gave us just enough time for the last ride we needed to get back to the tram after we visited the Castle.
As you can see, we had a good time in Edinburgh and highly recommend it to everyone. Just know that you will need to do some walking and some of it up and down hills. And, when you go, be sure to try some Irn Bru and a pork sandwich at Oink!