Walking and Bowling

This was Tuesday and a nice walk in Upper Tarras valley to show Fraser and Tommy the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve

Tommy never wears anything else but shorts back home in California and intends to do the same here. 

Fraser found time to make 3 loaves of lovely bread just like this one.;

We visited Cooms Farm now owned by TVNR and Tommy enjoyed having a go on the Quad Bike as he often uses the one his granddad has in Utah

Many thanks to William the Shepherd at Cooms for making us so welcome. 

Wednesday morning and a walk round the Pheasant pens and the Curly Snake followed by lunch in The Buccleuch Centre.

After lunch we headed to Langholm Old Bowling green for the annual match Grahams v Weatherstone and for the first time the grandchildren competed as well. Tommy soon got the hang of it and his delivery was excellent.

The 2 families plus Tom who took over from Fraser when he had to go to meet his long time friend Alistair Hutton who he hadn't seen for 9 years.

Another action shot of Tommy

Lochan with a nice delivery as well

Gregor the oldest grandchild playing today. He is a natural sportsman and an excellent tennis player and one of the best of his age group in Scotland having recently won a trophy which had been won by Andy Murray over 20 years ago.

And finally the youngest grandchild Struan who also shows great promise. The result was a narrow win for the Weatherstone family but Tommy reckons he will get revenge next year. A most enjoyable day and we ended up visiting Alistair and his family where Fraser and Tommy played a rather complicated card game resulting in another Graham family defeat. Once again Tommy reckons the return match will see a Graham victory.

 

A Visit to Newcastle United at St. James Park

On our way to St James Park we were taken through the grounds of Newcastle University and Leo, Hannah, and Tommy stood beside the statue of Dr, Martin Luther King Jr. commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kings visit to accept an Honorary Degree. 

From Level 6 and the East Stand is the lowest one and cannot be increased in height as there are houses just beyond it that are protected so they are unable to build any higher as they would not get any light. 

Tommy very enthusiastic as a Football player and real enthusiast but Leo was not as keen but soon got into the spirit of the visit and really quite enjoyed himself. The pair of them get on very well. 

The pitch is 10% synthetic and 90% grass from a Dutch ryegrass that goes extremely quickly. The grass only lasts for a year and is then re-seeded and grows in less than11 weeks. You will notice the pitch is on a slight slope of about 3 feet from left to right and you can see by the panels at the side of the pitch. 

The highest point in the stadium

In the press room for an after match interview the 2 star players and the manager. 

The north stand

Tommy loving every minute of the time spent there

The manager and 2 star players

One of the 100 private boxes. There are 300 people on a waiting list to get one of them so it could take 30 years before they all get one. Each of the top players gets a hospitality box as part of their contract.

The Visitors changing room which is much smaller than the Home team's and not as comfortable

 

We finished our day in Newcastle with Fish and Chips beside the sea at Cullercoats on a lovely evening. We then drove back to Langholm while Fiona and family have a day to get ready for a very early Wednesday morning flight to Geneva and then into France.

The best part of the visit according to Tommy was the Home changing room. 

A Double Decker Bus Trip Through Rural Aberdeenshire

We are up in Aberdeenshire for a few days visiting Gaye's friend Collett so this morning while the girls went to Ellon for a shopping trip I took the Double Decker service bus to Macduff and Banff. It was a spectacular journey and the countryside is looking so well despite the very hot summer we have had to date. They appear to have had enough rain and the fields of corn and barley are looking great.

The A947 from Aberdeen and from the front seat of the Double Decker you get a wonderful view of the countryside.

My Double Decker service no 35

A grand field of Barley

 

This is my first stop of the morning Macduff. It has the air of a Fishing Port that has seen better days.

Not as many boats sail from here compared to a few years ago.

There were very few boats in the harbour and I met a Fisherman who said the boats are at see longer and then back in the port longer as they have problems with the quotas they have been set. 

Just as I was about to get on the bus to head further along the coast to Banff this fishing boat came back into the harbour.

This was taken about 15 minutes before the Fishing Boat appeared.

I took a 10 minute local bus journey from Macduff to Banff and this town looks a bit more prosperous and the harbour is now a Marina.

In a fairly dull area of the town on my way back to the town centre from the harbour I came upon this front garden looking very colourful.

A Weekend in Swaledale

On Friday we headed to Reeth in Swaledale for a weekend with Gaye's long time friends Sandra and Bob and also Margaret who we met in Gretna to take down with us for the weekend. The 3 Girls have been friends for over 50 years since their days at Glasgow College of Domestic Science commonly known as Dough School. They live near Middlesborough but have a holiday home in Reeth. 

This is Ruby the 2 year old dog owned by Sandra and she was very well behaved all weekend. 

 

After a lovely lunch at Sandras we all had a walk through the village of Reeth. It is spoiled by the number of cars that park on the village green in the summer. This was fairly quiet but at the weekend it is like a huge car park and spoils the look of the lovely village centre.

This is the girls at a lovely walled garden in the centre of the village

Reeth before all the cars arrive

Gaye and I went to visit my cousin Hilary who lives in the centre of Reeth. The cat is called Boris after a certain politician who resigned that very day. Hilary says the cat is as big a rogue as its namesake.

Village Green filling up with cars.

On Saturday morning Bob took the girls to Richmond to explore the shops while I drove up Swaledale to Muker and Keld. This is a typical Yorkshire Dales Dyke and much more elaborate than our dykes in the Borders.

Almost every large field in Swaledale has one of these barns. They store feed and are used as protection from the bad weather in the winter

Swaledale fields and a Barn

A flower meadow in Swaledale

A river Swale waterfall near Keld. There were a few people swimming in the pool below the waterfall but I managed to avoid taking a photo of the blonde in her bikini.

The river Swale

This is the village of Gunnerside 

There are hundreds of miles of these drystone dykes in Swaledale and many of them have these little gates instead of stiles. They stop the sheep getting through the dyke. Many of them don't even have the wooden gate just the very narrow gap in the dyke. On my drive up Swaledale there were many walkers and I enjoyed a refreshment and Bacon Roll at a little farm cottage and sat in the garden with a young Dutch couple who were walking from Tan Hill. We had a lovely conversation and I told them about my granddaughter Hannah who is hoping to go to university in The Netherlands in 2024.

On Sunday morning we drove to Leyburn for lunch in Tennants Garden Rooms which is a beautiful building and a popular venue for wedding receptions. There happened to be a wedding later in the day so the girls took the opportunity to pose in the entrance hall. Tenants is also a very posh Auction House and we viewed lots of lovely items due to be auctioned soon, including several Lowry paintings.

Before we went to lunch Gaye and I were picked up by my Cousin Hilary and her daughter Meg to be taken up to The White House on Fremington Edge overlooking Reeth. This is the zoomed view of Reeth from The White House. The road to the cottage is terrible and you need a high wheel base vehicle but that is due to improve next week when it is being resurfaced right to within a few yards of The White House

The White House which sits at about 1000ft.

Megs Husband Trevor and their son Tom sitting next to the lovely pond which was full of fish.

Hilary, Meg and Gaye outside Meg's lovely greenhouse that has a Grape Vine in it. 

A more realistic view of Reeth without zooming in. It has been a wonderful weekend in glorious weather and with such brilliant hospitality from everybody.