NOVA SCOTIA, ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 2024
NOVA SCOTIA, ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 2024
For our Fall trip we travelled to Nova Scotia to see Philip and Yvonne, England where we met up with some of the King Clan in Harpenden, Val and family in Balsall Common, Anthony in Derby and the Webbs in Marple before moving on to Glasgow, Oban, Inverness and Edinburgh.
Leaving from Comox Airport we flew into Vancouver. We boarded our plane to Montreal where we were going to connect with the flight to Halifax. Philip and Yvonne had donated their Aeroplan points for Business Class. All going well, but as we settled in we were told to deplane as that plane wasn't going anywhere. It had just arrived in from Montreal but the pilot decided to call it a day for technical reasons. We awaited instructions and the best they could do was book us the next day direct to Halifax after putting us up for the night at the nearby Sheraton, but not in Business Class but Premium Economy which was OK.
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So up early the next day we went back to the airport and this time the plane did take off and we reached Halifax nearly a day late. Philip met us and we were back on track. Philip and Yvonne are building a new house on Mahone Bay, about 45 minutes south of Fall River. The building was behind schedule and the original timing of our visit was to see the completed home. We visited the site twice while we were there. It is a large house built on a very rocky site with a lovely view across Mahone Bay.
This is the living room with a very high ceiling. The main wiring was being installed.
There is a bit of landscaping to be done!
On one of our days we went to Grand Pre National Historic site. The site is a monument to Acadian culture and deportation. It is a park set aside to commemorate the Grand-Pre area of Nova Scotia as a centre of the Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755, and the British deportation of the Acadians that happened during the French and Indian War.
When the poem, Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was published in the United States in 1847, the story of the Deportation and le Grand Dérangement, the great uprooting, was told to the English-speaking world. Grand-Pré, forgotten for almost a century, became popular for American tourists who wanted to visit the birthplace of the poem's heroine, Evangeline.
The statue is of Evangeline
We enjoyed our short Nova Scotia visit and moved on to England. The flight from Halifax was direct on Air Canada on a Boeing 737 Max 8 which has enough range to reach Heathrow even though it is used more on shorter domestic routes. It is a day flight and we arrived in the evening so we stayed that night at the airport at the Ibis Styles Hotel which is a short bus ride from Terminal 2. Good location and a good price in expensive England.
It was a leisurely start the next day. Our first port of call was Harpenden to see Wendy and Peter. We went back to Terminal 2 and caught the Elizabeth line and then East Midlands line to Harpenden where Peter was ready to take us home. We had just the one day there but met up with some of their children and Mark's financee Alison and Elizabeth.
The next day we were taken to St Alban's Abbey station which connects by single line to busy Watford Junction but on the direct line to Berkswell, the station for Balsall Common, where Val was waiting for us in time for lunch with Paul, Ella and Toby. It was exciting times for Ella as she was about to leave the coop to start a the University of Birmingham where she had enrolled in a Chemistry Degree program. We wished her well on this.
We stayed for a couple of nights and the next day we drove over to Temple Balsall to see Jean at Lady Katherine Housing and Care which is just a short distance away.
Jean looking very well and we had a good visit.
We also visited the National Trust property at Packwood House just down the road from Balsall Common. It has extensive grounds and a large lake.
There were some very large shrubs and some now overgrown topiary.
The house at Packwood was first built around 1570 by the Fetherston family. Over the following 370 years, it was extended and restored to create the Tudor-style manor house you see today.
It was gifted to the National Trust in 1941 by Graham Baron Ash, a local man whose wealth enabled him to transform the house into his dream Tudor home in the early twentieth century.
Still visiting family we travelled on to Allestree just outside Derby and a short visit to Anthony.
7 Ladycroft Paddock
On a day out we went to the Cromford Canal and had lunch at a favourite spot - Scarthin Books in Cromford.
Scarthin Books is a special place, Small and crowded with books on at least four floors. A mountain goat would enjoy the climb up steep stairs to a minuscule cafe serving a range of good nutritious food.
We had just one more call to make, in Marple, Cheshire. Apart from the dislocation at the start travelling had been quite straightforward. However, a problem then arose. We had railway tickets to Marple via Sheffield on the beautiful Hope Valley line. There had been major landslip on the line just this side of Marple and there were no trains to Marple. You could get close by. We were going to Marple to meet with Barbara and Derry Webb and Simon, our god-son who was making a special efforts to be there for lunch. Simon is Head of Orchestras at the BBC lives in Sheffield and Plan B was for him to collect us at Sheffield station and drive us to Marple where we had lunch together. This worked out very well and we were back on track. We enjoyed lunch together before we began the Scottish section on the vacation. There were still a few gremlins around and reaching Marple station to catch the train to Manchester Piccadilly, a new issue arose. There had been some hooligan activity at Manchester Piccadilly and the train we were to catch had been just been cancelled. Another Plan B and Barbara drove us to Stockport were we were able catch a train in time to catch the booked train to Glasgow - on the Trans-Pennine Express. It all ended well.
We enjoyed the ride up the Glasgow and arrived in the early evening. We were las there in 1961. We stayed at the Motel One Hotel just outside Glasgow Central. This was a good choice as it was convenient in relation to our plans. It had pleasant rooms and an excellent buffet breakfast. We stayed three nights giving us two full days. On one day we took a guided tour, on the other we free-lanced.
Motel One
The first tour took us to Loch Lomond, the Trossachs and Stirling Castle. We were in a 16 passenger van with a full complement.
On our first stop we met up with a hairy Scottish beast. Carrots were available and appreciated.
We continued to the pier at the bottom end of Loch Lomond, not the only tour that day.
We travelled around the bottom end of the lake, there were some quite large properties on the way. Weather wise there was not much to enjoy, just dull and cloudy.
After our lake circuit we were taken to the area called the Trossachs. The wooded hills and lochs of the area may be considered to represent a microcosm of a typical highland landscape. Again there were some impressive properties lake-side.
The other main stop was Stirling Castle.
This is a stolen photo, we didn't have a drone.
Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles. The castle sits atop a massive crag. It is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth that made it an important fortification in the region from the earliest times.
One our second day we used the Hop on Hop off buses. There was a stop convenient outside the Hotel and we actually road the full circuit twice. We started out at stop 8.
First stop was at the Riverside Museum (Stop 12) on the banks of the River Clyde.
The Museum has a comprehensive collection of vehicles of all shapes and sizes, The Riverside Museum (replacing the earlier Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum is housed in a futuristic building with its River Clyde frontage at the new Pointhouse Quay. It forms part of the Glasgow Harbour Restoration Project. The building opened in June 2011, winning the 2013 European Museum of the the Year Award. It houses many exhibits of national and international importance. The Govan-Partick Bridge was opened a few days after our visit and provides a pedestrian and cycle path link from the museum across the Clyde to Govan.
On the second circuit we stopped off at the the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
As you can see this is a very impressive and large building. The art gallery and museum opened in 1901, and the collection encompasses natural history, Egyptian antiquities, natural history, design, architecture, medieval arms and armoury, Scottish History and the history of Glasgow . The building also houses one of Europe’s great civic art collections, including Scottish, European, African, Asian and Oceanic fine and decorative arts.
It was time to move on the next day we took the Scot Rail train from Queen's Street Station to Oban on about a four hour journey starting off along the Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond via Crainlarich, junction for Fort William.
We stayed at an excellent small hotel near the station and the ferry terminal, the Kelvin Hotel.
As was the case in Glasgow we stayed three nights and the plan was to take a guided tour the next day and free-lance on the second full. We booked the tour to the Isle of Mull, Staffa (Fingal's Cave) and Iona. We collected our tickets from the local agent only to hear that the weather looked doubtful and we wouldn't know until the next morning whether our trip was a go.
So it was a Plan B again. The notable landmark in Oban is McGuire's Tower (Folly) on Battery Hill overlooking the town.
To get there involved a relatively steep climb. However, it was worth the effort as there was a splendid view over the harbour and the Bay.
The "tower" is a large hollow ring of large stones.
We made our way back down to the City centre and the local travel office recommended we take a local bus to Easdale, South of Oban. It was good suggestion and this country bus meandered its way to a lovely little community on the coast. A small ferry sails from Easdale to the nearby island of Seil which is separated from Easdale by only a narrow channel. There had been a large slate industry there in days past.
We waited until the bus began its return journey and it turned out that we became the local school bus back to Oban so we were joined by a happy bunch of youngsters on their way home.
Back in Oban we were ready for dinner. Oban is known for fish and we chose a tiny recommended fish restaurant in the town centre next to the local travel agent who had arranged the tour we had yet to take.
This will give you an idea of their offerings and the cost. 1 GBP = 1.80 C$. These are typical UK prices.
Plan B worked out well.
An early morning check at the travel agent indicated that our trip was a go so we walked round the Ferry Terminal to catch the ferry to Craignure at the SW end of the Island of Mull.
The MV Isle of Mull
There a large double decker bus was waiting for us - a large bus for narrow roads. It took us across the island to the pier at Fionnphort where we transferred to a much smaller boat for about twelve people that was to take us to the Isle of Staffa. It was a fast and bumpy ride with lots of spray as we were travelling into the wind - enjoyed by all.
The Isle of Staffa ahead
Landing on Staffa
The same basalt rock formations that you see the on Giant's Causeway not that far away
You can see the scale from the size of the little people
After the visit to Staffa the boat took off for the Isle of Iona. This time we were travelling with the wind so it was less bumpy and with a lot less spray. Iona is an island in the Inner Hebrides on the western coast of Scotland. It is best known for Iona Abbey although there are other historic buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three centuries and is today known for its relative tranquility and natural environment - all true.
The Abbey is a short walk from the pier.
You can see how old this building is
We took the ferry back to Fionnphort and rejoined our bus for the journey back to the Oban Ferry at Craignure for another fishy dinner in Oban. It had been a very good trip, a day late.
Our time in Oban was over and the next day we took the bus from Oban to Fort William and changed to another bus that would take us to Inverness, our penultimate stop. It was a very pleasant and scenic ride that took us along the Caledonian Canal.
We were staying for three nights at Alban and Abbey House which was actually two houses side by side. We had to check in at another property about 300 metres away. Not a great problem.
Alban and Abbey House is a room only property and did not offer any meals but did provide tea and coffee. It was relatively convenient to the City Centre and there were some shops and restaurants nearby. We found Inverness to be very busy, restaurants were often full. We managed OK.
As was the case in Glasgow and Oban we took one guided tour and had one freelance day. The tour was to Skye and we had the usual 16 passenger van so common for small tours.
The "to prove we were there" shot wearing Paul's cap, I had lost mine by now
Not much of a day
Our first stop was at Eilean Donan, a small tidal island. People travel there to visit the iconic castle. Originally built in the 13th century and associated with Clan Mackenzie and Clan MacRae, the castle fell victim to government forces during the 18th-century Jacobite rebellions. It was reconstructed in the 20th century by Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap.
We then crossed from the Mainland on a bridge to the Island of Skye (not this one). It was still a dull day. We experienced wind and rain all day, a shame and we couldn't see the Cuillins. Here is a stolen picture to show what we didn't see on a sunny day.
The Quaring - another thing we didn't see
We still had the free lance day and Inverness also has a Hop on Hop Off Bus so the next morning we found the Cathedral stop 4 near where were staying.
There are two routes, red and blue. Only red was operating on the day we were there. Blue goes out to Culloden, the site of an early battle where a Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stewart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby ending the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
So our time in Inverness came to an end and we began the journey home. We had flown out with Air Canada but came home on the other Canadian airline, Westjet, who had started a service from Edinburgh to Comox via Calgary. To get to Edinburgh we took the train from Inverness to Aberdeen and then a connecting train to Edinburgh. Our booked train was cancelled and instead of travelling over the infamous Tay River bridge and the famous Forth River bridge we were routed through Stirling (deja vue).
We were to stay at the Moxy Hotel at the airport and after arriving at Haymarket railway station we took the relatively new tram to the airport that gave us a short walk to the hotel.
Having checked in we went back into the City Centre by bus from outside the hotel. This was a good choice as the fare was less that the tram fare. They put a surcharge on tickets to and from the airport similar to Vancouver airport. The bus was just as quick but more convenient. It was time for dinner.
More Scottish fare and we chose Haggis, Mashed Tatties and Swede and Cranachan which is a dessert like Eton Mess. What more could you want? - plus a small glass of Talisker Scotch for one?
Back to the Moxy for our last night and next day into the airport. Westjet fares were somewhat cheaper than Air Canada and we able to get very reasonable Business Class fares home. This gave us a pod each, excellent food and access to the lounges at Edinburgh and Calgary. A longish layover in Calgary and we got home in the late evening.
Our passports have now run out and the question is - shall we renew for five or ten years?
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