Melrose at last

Three nights in the Borders, and the van actually got me there this time. Travelled via Carter Bar, and stopped for a sarnie at the top, very windy!

The Melrose Gibson Park site is right in the town, so plenty of bus options. Also a Co-op at the entrance - just to remind me of work! 

First trip was to Galashiels about 20 mins away, to see the Great Tapestry of Scotland. It was huge! and fascinating. There are 160 panels stitched by women (and 1 man) across Scotland, tracing the history from Vikings to the resumption of the Scottish parliament.  Like the Bayeaux, it is embroidery not tapestry, very fine work indeed.

                            

Galashiels is an old textile town based on the Gala river, and is quite run down to be frank, but interesting none the less. Part of the river runs through under the main square.

The Gala museum was closed until April, so I bussed back and tried to visit Melrose Abbey and various museums - also closed. Home just before the rain hammered down.

The next day I headed off to Jedburgh, whose abbey WAS open. Considering it was a Saturday, everywhere was so quiet. Then off to a house where Mary Queen of Scots stayed, a lovely old building.

Nice coffee and bun in the Abbey View cafe, then back home to the van.

After a cold night, snow was forecast and so I gave Abbotsford (Sir Walter Scott's house) and Trontium (Newstead Roman fort) a miss and headed home - there's always another time. There was snow cover on the Cheviots but the roads were clear and quiet thankfully.

I Don't Believe It!

I was all booked in at Melrose, for a short break in the Scottish Borders. As I drove the van through the compound gates at the farm, the van broke down! A gearbox connector snapped, and the gearstick was like a broken limb.

This van has spent more time in garages than on campsites. Grrrrrr.....

Thankfully I hadn't made it on the the road, and Oliver came out to shove me backwards in to the compound. The garage next door picked it up on Monday to fix it.

So going nowhere cost me £45 in site fees and another repair bill.

Winter, a lingering season, is ...

 ... a time to gather golden moments. (John Boswell)

For my first trip of the year, and after a blisteringly high repair bill on the van, I headed to the CMC site at Meathop Fell, near Grange-over-Sands in the South Lakes.

It was down to -6 overnight, so I was glad of the electric heating. There were only half a dozen of us on the site, so it was very quiet and I bagged a pitch with a view over the the estuary.

In the morning I walked down to the main road and got the bus in to Grange-over-Sands, a nice traditional town, with a long prom and lots of coffee shops along the steep streets. 

I took a second bus about 2 miles to Cartmel - £8!!! Luckily a man on the bus told me I had to catch the next bus back to Grange because it was the last one and I'd be stranded. if I missed it. So that meant 1 hour to wander the village and look around Cartmel Priory, which was lovely. Glad I didn't take the van, the streets were so narrow and twisty it would be a nightmare.

On return, I had a pizza cooked at the van that was on the site. Yum yum.

The next day I headed for Silverdale on the other side of the estuary, and parked on the beach for breakfast.

Final stop was the nearby RSPB Leighton Moss reserve, but despite climbing the massive viewing tower I didn't spot much of interest. The marshes were flooded and frozen, so it was mainly ducks who were huddled in the small area of unfrozen water.