beautiful scotland (and northern england)
Holiday photos aren't really the purpose of this blog, but I can't resist sharing these. (The pictures are small so they loader quicker, but you can see a slightly larger version by clicking on each photo.)
The Lakes District (Cumbria) on a frosty morning.
The waterfront at Portree on the Isle of Skye.
Thirlmere in Cumbria.
Coniston Water (Cumbria) - the house is Bank Ground Farm, the model for
"Holly Howe" in Arthur Ransome's well-loved "Swallows and Amazons" books.
Eilean Donan castle overlooking Loch Alsh.
The stark beauty of Skye - you can just make out a remote farmhouse dwarfed by the mountains.
600 year old building in the walled city of York.
The 17th century harbour at Portsoy on the north coast of Scotland.
Many neolithic (around 4000 years ago) stone monuments remain in Scotland,
including this burial cairn and standing stone near Inverness.
The village of Crovie on the north coast of Scotland - established as a fishing
village during the "highland clearances" in the eighteenth century, when the
conquering English forced many Scottish farmers off their land. But it is not
suitable for modern fishing, and is now a remote holiday village.
Windswept Iona.
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Oh Eric - these are beautiful photos... I'm glad you were able to travel around Scotland - and Iona looks so moody and windswept! I would have loved to go to the isle of Skye - and that remote village of "Crovie" is just too delightful looking!
ReplyDeleteHow was your time in London?
Love always,
Emily
Em
ReplyDeleteThanks. I had to reduce them in size and resolution to load reasonably quickly, but I hope they haven't lost too much.
We visited Iona on one of the greyest and windiest days, which was just "right" - makes you appreciate the valour of St Columba and his merrie men! Your family's advice on getting there was very helpful but we still had an adventure. The ferry and bus changed to the winter timetables the day before we went, but we were aware of that. But we missed that the bus didn't run on Mondays, the day we were going. So at the last minute (8:00 am) we had to arrange to take the car across - but the ferry was fully booked. So anxiously and praying we went in the standby lane behind a truck and a car, and were the third last on. But we enjoyed driving on Mull and it wasn't too hard because there were no buses!
Skye was a bit like Mull but larger and slightly more developed and spectacular - we loved it.
There is a story about Crovie (pronounced either "Cruvvie" or "Crivvie" depending on who you listen to) too. Carolyn's best friend at school's mother was born in north Scotland, and when we saw Crovie on the map she remembered that was the place. So we went there. Imagine growing up in such a small and relatively remote location! And then coming to live in Sydney.
Yes, we loved Scotland's northwest - spectacular scenery, pretty towns & villages, neolithic, Pictish & other historical sites and friendly people - what more could you want?
I'm so glad you shared these, thank you. It sounds like it was a great trip. A walled city would be cool to see. I love the castles they have over there, and the shots you got of the mountains. Welcome back!
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