So, without further ado, Muzette and myself set off about 3am the other day and drifted north for a 1,000km magical mystery tour of the north-east of England and the south-east of bonnie Scotland.
How’s this for a spectacular start to our tour at Tynemouth
Tynemouth castle & Priory
Tynemouth castle & Priory
Tynemouth Priory
Tynemouth castle
Tynemouth Priory, with the old Coastguard Station in the background
Tynemouth Priory
Tynemouth Priory, with the Oratory of St Mary or Percy Chapel in the foreground
Inside the Percy Chapel
I do hope she doesn’t make a habit of this
A gun from 1859 when the castle was used as a fortress....
....then in WW2 the prominent position was used to defend the entrance to the Tyne
King Edward's Bay, Tyne & Wear
St Mary's Island (3 miles away) and Lynemouth power station in the distance (8 miles away)
Wallsend. It does what it says on the tin, the end of Hadrian’s Wall as it goes into Swan Hunter shipyard and into the Tyne
Or is it Walls-start?
Parts of Hadrian’s Wall still remain as it passes through downtown Newcastle
Denton Hall Turret alongside the A186
And so to Scotland to see if we can catch some haggis
There can’t be a more spectacular entrance to Caledonia than over the oldest suspension bridge in the world....
....still open to vehicular traffic – the Union Chain-Bridge across the river Tweed....
....from Horncliffe in Northumberland to Fishwick in the Scottish Borders.
The decking is timber and it doesn’t half wobble when you drive across
Only one vehicle on the bridge at any one time and 2 tons maximum weight
The supports are iron chains, the wire rope cables were added later.
Ayton castle, Berwickshire
Lunch at Giacopazzi's, Eyemouth. Looks like they had a special offer on
....a free haggis with every portion of fish & chips
After despatching the wrappers, Muzette didn’t waste the chance to get some ice cream
It’s never too cold
A cormorant pretending to be one of the Liver birds
Coldingham Priory, Berwickshire – I’m sure this is what they modelled the Bunny Suicide cartoon on
Coldingham Priory, Berwickshire
Coldingham Priory, Berwickshire
Coldingham Priory, Berwickshire
Pease Bay, Berwickshire....
....fording Pease Burn
Stolen from all over the place
Brave souls venturing out in the middle of winter. Dunbar, East Lothian
Oooh, I do believe this is our campsite for a couple of days then
Room with a view? – Wild-camp view of Eyemouth
Hume castle, Berwickshire
Hume castle, Berwickshire
Finally, an ideal opportunity to take care of some unfinished business from a previous tour, the Bear Gates at Traquair House, Peeblesshire, closed since 1745 and not to be reopened until Bonnie Prince Charlie returned, victorious.
Photographed in fading light to bring down the curtain on another fabulous year of Bongoing....
....but unlike The Young Pretender we will return next year
Oh, we did manage to restock our supply of Lorne sausage, fruit pudding and clootie dumpling. And Wee Willie Winkies
