A Blogger in Black

S aturday 9 th April Plans to meet up with some friends over the weekend had sadly come to naught, that certain virus that you may just have heard of being the reason in one case. These things happen but I was delighted to be invited over to Chester by Sandra – my companion for the first half of the trip – for dinner. The promise of a train journey through nice countryside and good food and company was too good to resist. The weather was looking good too – cold but bright – that would do. Mytholmroyd train station was about a 15 minute walk from the site, the first bit at least being downhill – this was duly noted for my return later - and there was a direct train through to Chester taking about 90 minutes. Out of interest I checked the ticket machine and observed wryly that booking online in advance had saved me a whole 30p. How generous. The journey was particularly picturesque through the early part as we passed Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, the landscape beginning to flatten out as...

T hursday 7 th April Some people love the sound of rain on the caravan roof – each to their own – however it merely keeps me awake. Even more bleary eyed than usual I prised myself from the bed to make a cuppa then did a few of the word games doing the rounds at the moment, in the vain hope of coaxing my pickled grey cells into action. As usual I had a look at the weather forecast too – it wasn’t great. I’d canvassed opinions on Twitter about what to do on my last full day here and settled for Carlisle Castle at least for a start. It was under the English Heritage umbrella and a discount was promised for pre-booking entry. This I did. After brekky and a shower I donned the ‘uniform’ – black everything obviously – in preparation for departure and checked the phone as per for any updates, it being at least ten minutes since I last picked it up. SEE tickets – English Heritage's agent informed me that the castle would be closed today due to the weather – a refund would be forthcoming ...

S unday 3rd April Today was Sandra’s last full day with me and we took the opportunity to cross the border into Scotland again, just a short run up the M6. Our destination was Gretna Green - no we weren’t getting married, to each other or to anyone else - the fit and horny 25 year old had sadly slipped his handcuffs during the night - nevertheless I wanted to see what it was all about. There are plenty of wedding ‘venues’ once you cross the border all offering a quick tying of the knot, however we were heading to the original Blacksmiths shop. The area has been heavily commercialised over the years - nearby there is even a big retail park which we decided to avoid, however the original site still retains some olde world charm. Coffee was taken in the café of course and a look around a shop selling all manner of Scottish related gifts. I was drawn to the impressive range of whiskies on offer, plenty of which I’d never heard, but despite Patsy’s stock of single malt having recently been ...

Friday 1st April Our last full day at Berwick looked pretty dodgy weather-wise but no matter - our destination this morning had been governed by the tides - namely the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The causeway would be clear until just after lunch so once again we set off down the A1. The skies were leaden and there was a smattering of snow on the hills in the distance. You may remember that I've been to Holy Island before - a couple of times - but Sandra hadn't and I was more than happy to return. It just has that something that seems to engender a feeling of calm as you cross the causeway. Having parked up and waited for the recently arrived rain to stop, a hot drink was top of the list and a café adjoining the post office was nearby. We'd had breakfast before leaving - healthy if not particularly exciting cereals - but the cooked breakfasts that were coming out of the kitchen smelt and looked superb. Noted for any future visit. Trev and I had lucked out on visiting the ca...