A wee trip up to Scotland

The spectacular view from our hotel room, across the Firth of Clyde
- sunrise on the Isle of Arran, Western Scotland

Greetings from a very wet and blustery England, where Ledbury is currently feeling the edge of Storm Amy. We're only getting a small taste of it, fortunately, unlike Northern Ireland and Western Scotland which are battening down the hatches against gale force winds. Of course, just yesterday morning I had our exterior windows cleaned (grrrrrr....) but I'm not complaining too loudly in the circumstances.

We are not long back from a quick trip to Scotland, the primary purpose of which was to meet up with an old friend whom I had not seen since 1988. But prior to that we decided to head to the Isle of Arran for a few days. We love the western isles of Scotland and I was keen to visit another one. Kevin had made a brief exploration of Arran back in 2017 while we were cat-sitting in Ayrshire; one fine day he took himself off on the ferry, cycled around the island, and got the ferry back.

En route from Ledbury we stopped at a National Trust property just outside Omskirk in Lancashire - Rufford Old Hall, a timber-framed Tudor manor house built in the late 15th / early 16th century, of which only the great hall remains. A brick, Jacobean-style wing was later added in 1661, and then a further wing during the Victorian era. This was just a quick, but most welcome, break for lunch in the roughly six-hour drive to Troon on Scotland's west coast, where we would take the ferry across to Arran.

The Tudor section of National Trust property Rufford Old Hall, not far from Omskirk.
It was built in in the late 15th / early 16th century

The Great Hall inside the Tudor section of Rufford Old Hall, near Omskirk

Eeek... this suit of armour well and truly triggered my claustrophobia!
- in the Great Hall at National Trust property, Rufford Old Hall

View of the Jacobean brick part of Rufford Old Hall, at the rear of the house

Arran is a gorgeous place. It's also large enough that if Scotland does its usual weather thing, there are a few sheltered sights to see as well as enough hotels, pubs, restaurants and galleries to fill the wet hours. At 432 square kms it's Scotland's seventh-largest island, with a permanent population of about 4,600. People do describe it as being 'Scotland in miniature' as its landscape is quite varied, from rugged and soaring peaks to beautiful sandy beaches, lochs and forests, and with a good dose of history thrown in. 

Our ferry journeys from Troon to Brodick and back were a treat, with the boat being accompanied by pods of dolphins cavorting alongside for some considerable time. On Arran we stayed at The Corrie Hotel, about 15 minutes drive north of the ferry terminal town of Brodick, and our room afforded us a gorgeous view across the Firth of Clyde. Built in 1850 from local red sandstone, this is a TV-free small hotel which offers very comfortable rooms and good quality food, as well as a dedicated whisky bar, which Kevin appreciated. It's also dog-friendly - not only is there a supply of dog toys to borrow, and towels for cleaning up muddy paws, there is a dedicated dog menu by gourmet dog food company Sir Woofchester 😀

The ferry port at Brodick on the Isle of Arran

Pods of cavorting dolphins accompanied our ferry journeys to and from Arran

A magical ferry trip from Troon to the Isle of Arran, across the Firth of Clyde
- early evening, late September

Sunrise viewed from our bedroom window in Corrie, Isle of Arran

Our accommodation on Arran - The Corrie Hotel

Weather-wise we were fortunate; it did bucket down on one of the days but the rest of the time it was pleasantly sunny / slightly overcast with perfect temperatures for walking (about 14-15ºC). On the one rainy day we took the opportunity of visiting Brodick Castle which was handed over to the National Trust For Scotland in 1958 in lieu of death duties. There's been a fortress on this site since at least the 5th century, though most of the current building was constructed in 1844, increasing the size of the castle threefold. The site has been controlled or occupied by Norse kings and English and Scots royalty throughout the centuries. 

Not only did we tour the house, which is beautifully furnished and has an exceptional art collection, we stoically braved the rain and walked a reasonable percentage of the gardens. We almost gave up trying to find the squirrel hide which is in steep woodland but thankfully persevered, as it was well worth it. Since the introduction of grey squirrels from North America in the 19th century, Britain's native red squirrels have all but disappeared, with small colonies found in only a few areas of the UK. In England there are only two - on the Isle of Wight, and in the Lake District. Thankfully Scotland fares a little better and we were thrilled to sit in the hide and be entertained by two tiny red creatures feeding on nuts (see photo below). I do also have video of the squirrels' antics but unfortunately I've hit my limit on this cost-free blogging platform; over the past 11 years I've posted a number of short videos and apparently the limit is cumulative ☹️ 

Yours truly braving the rain with rain jacket and brolly
- at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran, Western Scotland

A sea of fuchsias at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Red squirrel lifting the lid of a feeding box, seeking out nuts
- at Brodick Castle's squirrel hide

 

Kevin emerging from the squirrel hide in the grounds of Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Coincidentally, my friend Lynn's daughter Tayler was visiting Arran at the same time of us, with a couple of Norwegian friends, what's more! We ran into them at the castle - I knew they were planning to visit that day and I heard an Aussie accent from a young woman accompanied by two tall-ish creatures with blond hair and unblemished porcelain skin... didn't take too much effort to join the dots. All three were friendly, interesting women and we ended up meeting them for dinner that evening at The Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot on the western side of the island. The following day we bumped into them again as we all made the most of the gorgeous weather to explore some of Arran's best-known attractions, the standing stones at Machrie Moor and King's Caves near Blackwaterfoot, the latter being a roughly two-hour loop hike from the car parking area with some steep climbing. The caves were formed around 10,000 to 6,000 years ago during an ice age and there is a legend that Robert the Bruce sheltered there just prior to the Battle of Bannockburn, but this is unproven. 

How nice it was to meet and spend time with Tayler, who hadn't yet been born the last time I saw her mother in 1988.

The truly lovely walk through fields to reach the standing stones at Machrie, on Arran's west coast.
It takes about an hour to walk out there and back again

A slightly awkward shot of several of the Machrie standing stones.
Some wally and two of his friends were hogging the site for ages, taking endless selfies just on the other side of the stone in the foreground - totally oblivious to others hoping to view the stones from that side

View over Machrie Bay on the 4.7km loop hike from the car park to the King's Caves and back, near Blackwaterfoot on Arran's west coast

Obviously I didn't go inside any of the caves because of my claustrophobia!
- King's Caves, near Blackwaterfoot, Isle of Arran

We spent our last couple of hours on Arran driving the coast road around the southern part of the island, heading back towards the Brodick ferry port. Truly, what a beautiful place and we'd happily return.

Here are some further shots of this gorgeous, scenic island...

Cioch na h-Oighe (the pointy peak) and the Devil’s Punchbowl (Coire na Ciche),
from a viewpoint between North Sannox and Lochranza, Isle of Arran

View towards Lochranza Castle on Arran's north-west coast

16th century Lochranza Castle, Isle of Arran

View of the bay in front of Lochranza Castle, Isle of Arran

Rippling waves on the Isle of Arran's west coast

And so, after three days on Arran, we took the ferry back to the Scottish mainland and did the short drive into the centre of Glasgow (less than an hour), a city we've visited multiple times. 

Glasgow is not a photographer's dream; this city has quite a hard edge to it, there are numerous buildings that have seen better days and quite a few homeless people. But we've always enjoyed the edgy character of Scotland's largest city.

Upon walking to our hotel we were somewhat taken aback to pass a long queue of perhaps 200 people, all dressed in Victorian attire, and period carriages parked along several streets and squares. Turns out the area right near our hotel had for some days been transformed into the 19th century for an upcoming Joel Coen film Jack of Spades. It's a gothic mystery film set in 1880s Scotland, featuring a cast that includes Josh O'Connor, Frances McDormand, Lesley Manville and Damian Lewis. Sadly the evening we arrived was the final day of filming there so we didn't have the opportunity to spot any of the stars or observe scenes being shot.

The Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow

Pride rainbow on Wilson Street in Glasgow, with two of the city's many murals in the background
- Keeper of Light (left) and Bow Down, Honour the Roots (right)

A closer shot of Keeper of Light, one of Glasgow's murals

Gritty Glasgow.
The old City of Glasgow College building (the Met Tower) has been vacant for 10 years.
Redevelopment plans were shelved in 2024, with economic woes cited as the reason

Clearing up after the area near our Glasgow hotel was transformed into a Victorian-era streetscape,
as part of filming for a new Joel Coen film, Jack of Spades

There were a LOT of carriages!
Just around the corner from our hotel in Glasgow - filming for the new Joel Coen film Jack of Spades

The next day we finally met up with Lynn at one of Glasgow's quirkiest bars, The Last Bookstore, on Hope Street.

Lynn and I had worked together for a while in Sydney in the early 1980s, and then Lynn continued her adventures around Australia for a few years before returning to the UK (she's from Glasgow originally). I did visit her in Bristol in 1988, when she and her husband were running a pub there, and we continued to be in touch for a number of years after that. Sadly, the combination of each of us moving cities and countries a number of times and Lynn changing her surname meant we lost contact.

Happily, Lynn found me on Facebook last year. She retrained as a teacher and has been living in a fairly remote part of Western Australia for the past decade or so. What a lucky coincidence that she also had a trip lined up back home to Scotland for a few weeks this year, and consequently I eagerly made plans for us to head up that way.

Poor Kevin suffered through lengthy reminiscences of people she and I had worked with, but we both sat in rapt fascination as Lynn regaled us with her life stories, including a 12-month trip around Australia with her husband back in 2021-22, which she blogged about. It's fascinating stuff, particularly if you have an interest in the more remote parts of Australia. You can access Lynn's blog here:

https://flannerysfootprints.wordpress.com/

The Last Bookstore in Glasgow - venue for my reunion with Lynn

Corridor in the upstairs dining area of The Last Bookstore

The bar area on the ground floor of The Last Bookstore in Hope Street, Glasgow

Unbelievably, neither Lynn nor I remembered to whip out our phones and capture the meeting for posterity - kind of amazing, given we are both accomplished bloggers and publishers on social media! Ah well, the occasion will just have to live on in our memories.

Meanwhile, Kevin and I are congratulating ourselves on having selected last week for our jaunt to western Scotland rather than this week. Most of the ferry services in Scotland have been cancelled due to Storm Amy and it would indeed have been a bit miserable - not to mention potentially dangerous - travelling about in gale force winds and rain, much as we are usually very stoic when it comes to weather.

The author and Kevin, with Cioch na h-Oighe and the Devil’s Punchbowl in the background
- Isle of Arran, Western Scotland

Bidding farewell to the Isle of Arran, on the ferry back to Troon

A post on our new house is still forthcoming... just awaiting the arrival of another rug and an armchair!

Until next time.

- Maree  xo

Interim update: A new life in Ledbury

The Grade II heritage listed Ledbury Railway Viaduct,
finished in 1861 and just a few minutes' walk from our new house

My goodness, it's been a while, Readers. 

Of course, I have a pretty good excuse. Since the last Tunnels of Green post we have moved house, leaving the south-east of England for the south-western edge of the West Midlands.

We now live in Belle Orchard in Ledbury.
Many of the street names in the town hark back to when the area was
full of apple orchards and hop yards

The top end of Belle Orchard - this massive expanse of white roses is tended by volunteers, I believe

After six weeks we are well and truly starting to settle in at our new house in Herefordshire. We officially moved on 31 July but spent a further couple of nights down at Frensham, camping on a mattress, while we scrubbed and cleaned the house and got rid of a couple of pieces of furniture we no longer required. Since then we've been unpacking, painting, gardening, getting tradespeople in for small jobs and doing bits of DIY ourselves. Also trying to source pieces of furniture and getting rid of some we brought with us from Surrey to 'tide us over' until we found their replacements.

I have been struggling with a couple of the rooms with regard to paint colours, rugs and furniture. We've moved so many times I'm aware it takes time to live in a house and get to know its light and conditions, but we've actually owned the place for nearly a year. Anyway, after multiple failed attempts to find the right paint colour for our garden room (having expended a frightening amount of money on tester pots), a colour consultation appointment at Farrow & Ball in Cheltenham has finally yielded a result. This room has the most bizarre natural light. It's at the darkest end of the house; it faces west and has long windows all along the western and northern* sides. This means a single paint colour looks dramatically different on each of the walls. Additionally, because the house is 125 years old we are obliged to buy expensive, breathable paint that is suitable for use on century-old lime plaster. It's been a learning curve.

* For my Antipodean readers, of course in the northern hemisphere south-facing rooms get the most light (particularly in winter when the sun is at a very low angle), and north-facing rooms are the gloomiest. The garden room is at the northern end of the house.

One of our lovely new neighbours baked these incredible sablés 
to welcome us to the street

There was a slight interruption to all this activity because a mere two weeks after we landed here we hosted our first guest! Graeme took time out of his trip to Finland, Sweden and Norway to visit us for nearly a week. 

We had fun showing Graeme our new town, including one memorable evening when we tried out the second of Ledbury's two Indian restaurants (we had some weeks ago eaten at the other one), and then stopped in for a nightcap at the 15th century Prince of Wales pub in historic Church Lane. By chance earlier that day we'd seen a sandwich board outside the pub advertising Wednesday evenings as open music night, and that particular Wednesday was to focus on folk. What a treat to have local musicians taking turns to perform a range of traditional and more modern folk. It's a teeny-tiny place which probably accommodates only about 30 people, but at one point in the evening the entire pub spontaneously joined in on the chorus of the classic Peter, Paul and Mary tune, Leaving on a Jet Plane. Most pubs these days are really restaurants housed in buildings that were once drinking establishments with accommodation; the Prince of Wales is a 'proper' pub. it does serve food, but that's secondary to the drinks and the social function.

While Graeme was here we also sampled the excellent coffee and cake at the organic supermarket and café and toured the historic 16th century 'painted room' that was discovered in the Town Council offices in the 1980s. We called into many of the local artisan stores and galleries. Ledbury has not one, but two specialist wine shops and the larger of the two regularly hosts tasting evenings. Just last Friday Kevin recently attended a single malt whisky tasting event in one of Ledbury's heritage listed buildings.

Church Lane, one of Ledbury's oldest streets,
with the Church of St Michael and All Angels in the distance, and the
Price of Wales pub in the foreground

The modern showroom of Roger Oates Design, makers of exceptionally high quality carpets, rugs and upholstery. 
All their wares are woven locally from their own special wool which is dyed and spun in Yorkshire. 
We have one of their stair-runners

The wonderful black-and-white Tudor façade of The Feathers Hotel in Ledbury's High Street.
It's been welcoming weary travellers for more than 400 years

This town really supports its local, independent businesses. 
So nice to see a traditional hardware store in this age of massive chain stores

Some of Ledbury's colourful buildings. This is just opposite the top of our street

A few days after Graeme's arrival we met up with friends Roy and Tracey in the Cotswolds. Utter madness, I know, to attempt the Cotswolds in summer when peak crowds mean parking is nigh on impossible and the streets are thronged with tourists. Still, it was a handy halfway point between Ledbury and Buckingham, where Roy and Tracey live, and Graeme had never been to the Cotswolds. I have a friend, a former London work colleague, who lives in beautiful Chipping Campden so we started the day with coffee and convivial conversation on the sunny outdoor terrace of a local café, admiring the gorgeous, centuries-old buildings of golden Cotswold stone. 

The rest of the day was spent doing battle with the aforementioned throng, in Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water and Bibury. We attempted to visit 'the Slaughters' (Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter), but gave up trying to find anywhere to park after about ten minutes!

Rows of terraced Cotswolds Stone houses in Chipping Campden's high street

Doorway in Chipping Campden, the Cotswolds

Ridiculously picturesque Bibury, once described by William Morris as 'the most beautiful village in England'.
This is The Swan (hotel); they were hosting a wedding on the day we visited

The River Coln in Bibury, one of the Cotswolds' most popular villages

Another view of the River Coln in Bibury

Cottage in Bourton-on-the-Water, Cotswolds

This is the famed ‘hobbit’ door of St Edward’s church in Stow-on-the-Wold.
It's believed to have sparked J. R. R. Tolkien’s inspiration for the “Doors of Durin”
(The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)

In between decorating and hosting visitors we do try, once or twice a week, to take a jaunt to places within about an hour's drive from home, often combining necessary appointments with sightseeing or attending special events. We've been to a food fair in lovely Leominster, to a choral mass in Great Malvern Priory, and visited Hereford with its glorious cathedral. Naturally we usually combine these sorties with a visit to a local café or pub. This area isn't quite as generous as the south-east in terms of in variety for vegetarians and vegans; the region is known for its meat producers, particularly beef. But usually we manage to find something and generally the quality is good.

I have to say since moving to Herefordshire I've been ruined for supermarket fruit, particularly berries. Not even Waitrose's finest selection of organic produce can compete with the local produce here. There are not one but two stands on the outskirts of Ledbury where you can purchase the local produce. During the day there's somebody there to take your money, but after 5pm there is a refrigerated 24-hour automat! The strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are among the best we've ever tasted, as are the local ones available from our small greengrocer in the high street. The organic supermarket and café also has amazing seasonal produce - the pears and apricots taste like actual pears and apricots. 

This whole region is known for its apples and its cider. Sadly neither Kevin nor I care for cider, so we can't attest to its quality, and apples are not my favourite fruit (I'll only eat them if there's nothing else on offer), but Kevin is enjoying them. Plus, apple trees are so pretty throughout the seasons, and right now Herefordshire is peppered with bejewelled greenery, vivid red orbs amongst the green leaves. Harvest is usually in October but after such a long, dry, hot summer I think the apples are probably ready now.

Last week one of Kevin's cycling group knocked on our door, having ridden over from his allotment, panniers full of a purple fruit that is a hybrid plum-damson. I took two containers full (several kilos), freezing some for later and using the ripest ones to bake an Italian plum cake which was absolutely delicious. 

Grange Court in Leominster 

Food fair in Leominster's Corn Square

What a find! We'll definitely return to No. 27 Drapers Lane in Leominster.
Superb food, friendly service and a great location in Drapers Lane

Drapers Lane in Leominster. The name stems from the number of traders who finished and sold locally produced cloth from premises there.
The buildings in the Lane vary greatly in age; some date back to the 1400s

Hereford Cathedral. Doesn't look anything special from the outside...

...but just take a look at the interior. Absolutely glorious!
The gold wreath (corona) above the altar was designed to resemble Jesus' crown of thorns.
It was made by Simon Beer, a silversmith from Lewes (assembled / launched in 1992)

Vaulted ceilings and stone pillars at Hereford Cathedral

And of course we finally have some time to explore our immediate locality. 

The photo at the top of this post shows Ledbury's Grade II listed Victorian railway viaduct, which is only about 10 minutes' walk from our house. It was constructed between 1859-61 from bricks made on-site using the clay dug out for the foundations, and more than 160 years later when you journey to Ledbury by rail, your train travels over it. 

Completed a little later, in 1881, was Ledbury's Skew Bridge, a really interesting piece of construction with a ribbed skew arch at an angle of approximately 45º. It was also designed for railway use but became disused following the closure of the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway Line in 1959. Happily, the Skew Bridge is now part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath.

Ledbury's Skew Bridge, a former railway bridge but these days it only carries pedestrian
traffic, as part of the Ledbury Town Trail

We had dinner one evening at The Greenman in the village of Fownhope, 
about 30 minutes from Ledbury, in the Wye Valley

The Greenman pub in Fownhope dates from the 15th century

I do miss Surrey's endless woods and tunnels of green; this part of England is far more agricultural. I have seen more tractors since moving here than I had previously seen in my entire life. They are everywhere, rumbling along narrow country lanes but also barrelling through the main street of town on a daily basis. A couple of weeks ago Ledbury hosted its annual carnival, and the star attraction was definitely a parade of tractors and other farm equipment. 

One of a series of vintage tractors that were the star turn at Ledbury Carnival

Ciderrrrrrrrrrr (said in best West Country accent!)
The Westons Cider dray, from the nearby village of Much Marcle, at Ledbury Carnival

I also miss not having a Waitrose close by! The nearest one is Great Malvern, about 25 minutes by car. Our former proximity to London is additionally a great loss to me, particularly with the new David Bowie Centre in Hackney (an extension of the V&A Museum) having just opened in the past week. Boo-hoo!

And of course I miss our friends at Frensham and the wider Surrey region, a social circle built over the past 15 years or so. 

But I suppose over time Ledbury will start to feel like home, and hopefully we will make more friends here. Our neighbours are incredibly welcoming, as are all the shopkeepers in the town. And everybody says hello as they pass when you're out on one of the walking trails. It's a nice place.

Ledbury's Cenotaph (foreground) and the Barrett Browning Institute with its gothic clock tower
 which was built to commemorate the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who lived in the town

The Market Hall in Ledbury's main street.
Another Tudor building, completed in 1617, and elevated for storage of grain above,
with room for stallholders beneath

One of Ledbury's purveyors of fish and chips - The Codfather Part II 🤣

 A common sight across Herefordshire in September - apples trees abundant with fruit

I'll publish some photos of the house sometime soon, once we have done some more painting and the last of our new / vintage furnishings arrive. 

And lastly, ***HURRAH!*** Autumn is finally here! 😀

Until next time,

- Maree  xo