Author: tonylusted

 Day 0: Prologue

As you probably gather from my previous posts, I do like  a steam train or two when I’m away on my hols – blame the fact that I lived next to the London to Hastings railway line in Tunbridge Wells, in my youth, including BEFORE the diesel electric “Thumper” era (See my post “Day out in Minehead”).

During a conversation with one of my old work associates, it became quite clear that I should be thinking about some of the neglected (from my point of view) early railway stuff in the north east of England, on the way up to Scotland (yes – again !!!!).  Another positive influence was the chance to perhaps dig out some family history – my late mother was born in Darlington, Co Durham.

Also, the continuing saga of places that I’ve missed on the way up to Scotland played its part, so I got out my trusty Collins Touring map of Scotland with all its previously applied stick-on spots and started planning.

As in all the previous trips north, the overall plan was 29/30/31 days – the maximum I can do on my existing travel insurance without paying an exorbitant (IMHO) extra fee for extra days.

Out came the “usual” spreadsheets, maps and all the other paraphernalia and after a lot of back and forth, a plan revealed itself.

So the bare statistics were  :

• 29 days
• 7 campsites
• 2 hotels
• 5 trains
• 3 waterfalls
• 1 library
• 1 parliament building
• 6 museums

To include:

• The Far North railway line (from Inverness to Wick/Thurso) and the Kyle of Lochalsh line (again from Inverness) – two long-standing entries on my railway “to do” list
• The North Yorkshire Moors heritage railway – again !
• A few “railway oriented” places/museums around the Darlington area
• A drive along the very scenic B1339/B1340 coastal road in Northumbria
• Actually visit Edinburgh city itself – in my previous working life it was always the surrounding railway depots, never the city itself
• Lots of other scenic stuff – waterfalls, etc
• Visit some of the locations used in the films “Local Hero” and “Whisky Galore” (the more modern version).
• Explore the East Neuk area, long neglected by yours truly
• Some time exploring around Loch Ness – been past it SO MANY times…….
• Re-travelling the beautiful “Snow Roads” through the Cairngorms – going North this time…

Day 1: 05 May 2026 – Whitby Bound……

Having decided to take more than my usual 2/3 days to travel to Scotland, I decided to base myself near Whitby for a few days, staying at a Camping & Caravanning Club Certified Site (CS) called Springhill Farm, close to the Fylingdales RAF base. CS’s are usually small farms with limited facilities and just catering for a few tents and/or campers, etc. This turned out to be no exception…..

To break up a 6 hour drive (and have a spot of lunch maybe ??), I decided to visit the National Tramway Museum at Crich, near Matlock on the way. Yes more engineering !
So a very early start – up at 0530. The traffic on the M5/M40/M42 was a right pain (at a standstill on the M40 for 5 minutes), but I guess since it was the day after a Bank Holiday Monday, I shouldn’t have been surprised……..

They’ve developed an old quarry site into a “living museum” with restored vintage trams running through a traditional street complete with cobbles, rescued/rebuilt pub and other buildings (like the old Derby Assembly Rooms), together with a woodland walk and sculpture trail. There’s also an exhibition hall and workshops. Good family day out !

I was there early in the day, the day after a Bank holiday, so not all the attractions had opened yet. As per other similar attractions, all the staff were dressed up to suit the period.

On “our” tram, the lady conductor was starting the training of a new conductor recruit, so she told us the history of the tram itself and how it got to Crich – he has a lot to learn…… The current track length is only about a mile, as they are in the middle of developing a new terminal, which won’t be finished until the price of tarmac goes down to a “sensible” level – another casualty of the Iran war, it seems.

The change in the tram direction back to the start terminus was obviously well rehearsed, with the trolley pole being swung round through 180 degrees by the driver and us passengers reversing our seat positions to face forward again. Half way back, I decided to walk down the rest of the way via the Woodland Walk, which also included a Sculpture Trail. They’ve obviously catered well for families/children with plenty of outdoor and indoor play areas, etc.

Back at the start terminal, it was time for the Exhibition Hall and the Workshops….. There was a party in from Chicago, so they rolled out a New York tram for them to gawp at.

The Exhibition Hall is set out in age order, so you get examples of horse-drawn, steam driven and more modern post-war vehicles, eg from Blackpool.

The workshop viewing gallery was very similar to the same sort of thing that I’ve come across in “railway-land”. It’s interesting to see the same types of refurbishment techniques being used on trams.

Adjacent to the workshop is a lottery funded area called the George Stephenson Discovery and Learning Centre. Again pointed to the youngest of us. Opened in 2011, the centre explores how the museum started and how overcrowding in expanding towns and cities paved the way for the introduction of trams to Britain in the 1800’s.

Since I had another 3 hours driving to complete, I limited myself to around 2 hours at this Museum, including a quick (and very tasty) lunch in the café.

The chosen campsite was on a farm, down a VERY ROUGH track (my poor old low profile tyres didn’t like that – especially fully laden….) with facilities in a barn extension, basic but very clean. Water came from a spring, with appropriate filtering. Very tired after a long day, so a bit slow in getting the tent up and organised, but thankfully a pretty level grass pitch. There was no” welcoming party” and it seemed I was the only camper on site !

Day 2: 06 May 2026 – North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR)

My plan was to do the whole route from Whitby to Pickering and back, also to check on trains from Whitby for another on the 7th to Middlesborough and back.

Unfortunately…..
The required propping work on Bridge 42 near Grosmont had not been completed so the trip was only from Goathland to Pickering and back. Looking at the website it seemed that the car park at Goathland was small so getting there early was a prerequisite – just as well, as it was full by 1015. I love going to places like stations early before everybody turns up – watching the place come to life is interesting in itself.

Goathland village was used for the TV series “Heartbeat”, posing as Aidensfield, so you’ll probably recognize some of the locations used.

The train turned out to have a steamer at one end (tender first) and a diesel Type 37 at the other. I met a couple of guys (both ex-Network Rail it turned out) who were drooling over the working of the valve gear, connecting rods, etc of 92134 – so I joined in ! To mechanical engineers, this sort of stuff classifies as beautiful crafted metal, made by craftsmen from basic materials – wonderful.

The 1035 train was not very full, but the return trip from Pickering was absolutely jammed, 192 passengers apparently.

My return trip table included a well-travelled lady “of a certain age” (who’s husband was not “into” trains) and a young couple who were proposing to buy a campervan and explore Scotland. I could not help myself and proceeded to eulogise about both Scotland and North Cyprus…..

Back at the car, I decided to pop into Whitby, to check, amongst other things, the situation regarding the Park & Ride back into town. I’d gathered that the parking situation was a bit dire and I had an 08.44 train to catch in the morning to get to Middlesborough. Also, there seemed to be an excellent bus service which went across the moors, so that might be interesting – train one way, bus return !

The sun had been out all day, so when it eventually disappeared, it turned VERY cold very quickly – the strong wind didn’t help either ….. Nice sunset though.

Day 3: 07 May 2026 – Esk Valley Railway to Middlesborough

I was told that the Esk Valley Line from Whitby to Middlesborough was very pretty, so I combined this with a visit to the transporter bridge and its visitor centre.
But before that, I had a bit of a surprise at the campsite. I woke up about 2 am as it was very cold ( 2 degrees C….) so threw on another blanket. When I woke again at 0600 it was to see that there had been an extensive/heavy frost, indeed, I’ve NEVER seen my tent frosted up ever before – even in remotest Scotland !

So off to the Whitby P + R to catch the first shuttle bus (I was the only passenger on the 0800…) into town to get the 0844 to Middlesborough. The whole 4 coach train was virtually empty for the majority of the journey, only filling up a bit as we got more into the town suburbs.

I have to say that the Esk valley lived up to its reputation and was indeed pretty – the sun played its part as well.

Then it was a 15 minute walk to the Tees Transporter Bridge. Despite me checking beforehand, the visitor centre was closed ! Oh well…. I knew the bridge itself was closed (due to some of the structure being unsafe and insufficient funds currently available to do the necessary repairs) but I was annoyed that the visitor centre was advertised as open, but wasn’t. Good walk though…
The Middlesborough dock area is being revitalised, mostly with housing projects and student accommodation – it’ll be good when it’s finished !

Although I had a return ticket for the train (a whole £1.49)…., I decided it would be fun to get the bus back along the coast. Walking to the bus station, I got a bit lost and ended up in the town centre. Lots of empty shops, including Debenhams and House of Frazer stores. All a bit depressing.

Eventually found the bus station. I thought the correct bus for the coast route was the X93, but it turned out that it should have got on the X94. Anyway …. The X93 went across the moors, including through a delightful town called Guisborough, a single main street with loads of trees and cobbled “head on” parking spaces. Looks quite posh….

Another surprise was the still extensive blackened areas of moor from the widespread fires in summer 2025. Although fences, gates, etc have been replaced, there are still great areas of moor that are still very, very black. I guess it will take some years for full recovery to occur.

Back in Whitby, I had a bit of a wander around, including buying a bit of fudge, from a shop whose proprietor turned out to be an avid camper – bit of a conversation happened there…..

 

No, I didn’t do the famous steps up to the Abbey ! I got very chilled on the Tuesday night (putting up the tent, etc) so have ended up fighting off a cold/chill and feeling a bit wretched/tired – another day……

Tomorrow is what I call an “uncontrolled day”, ie no train or bus schedules have to worry about. Plan to have a “tourist day” out, going to Saltburn, Staithes and Robin Hood’s Bay.

Day 4: 08 May 2026 – Saltburn, Staithes and Robin Hood’s Bay

Felt a bit better today, so mid-morning decided to drive to Robin Hood’s Bay (RHB). Weather was starting to perk up a bit as well.

Very pretty, but a b***y steep road down from the carpark… Luckily sensible handrails have been provided for us oldies. The payment machine at the top carpark did not take cards at all, so had to scrabble round for some cash – luckily, I always carry a tube of £1 coins round with me, so solved that issue.

As you may know, RHB is the start/finish of Mr Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Path and there were several hikers doing the ceremonial dipping of the toes into the sea.

Then it was off to Staithes. Another car park at the top of a steep hill ! Unfortunately, the tide was out, which made it a bit less appealing than in the “normal” touristy photo’s, but nevertheless very pretty. Not all of the shops were open, as it’s a bit early in the season. Seagulls must have a roost nearby as there was plenty of white poo around the whole village – not the best !

Next stop was Saltburn-by-the-sea. There is a family connection in that my maternal grand parents had a beach hut somewhere in/near Saltburn, when they lived in Darlington, so I was going to try as find it, etc. I cannot remember ever going to Saltburn as a nipper, so none of it was at all familiar.

By now the weather had turned a bit dull and was threatening to rain – a familiar theme on this holiday.

Saltburn is famous for its cliff lift, which was not working due to a major upgrade, including new carriages and a modernised control and braking system ( according to a technician I spoke to). Shame really. Originally opened in 1884, it’s the second oldest water balanced funicular in the world and the oldest still operating in the UK – except today !

Undeterred, I plonked my way down steps to the lower promenade where there are reasonably modern beach huts available for daily hire. I don’t think this is where Grandad Craighill had his beach hut, as I distinctly remember seeing a picture with the hut nestled in dunes, so must’ve been somewhere else. Oh well, it was worth a try….

Darlington and Barnard Castle tomorrow

 So load up and get on with it !!!!!!

Day 5: 09 May 2026 – Travel to Barnard Castle

Today was a planned visit to Darlington, Co Durham (my Mum’s home town) to find the family pile and to visit the Local Studies department of the Library to do a bit more family history digging.

Before that I had the first of a few wet tent pack ups, despite getting up extra early to try and dodge the drizzly weather. Ho hum.

Unfortunately, there was an event going on in the Library’s Local Studies Centre, but a very helpful lady nevertheless provided me with some information from the 1939 Darlington Year Book. My grandfather was, I believe, connected to the Darlington Technical College – it was his influence that resulted in me becoming an engineer !

He also had a connection with the Bond Car Company and regularly was asked to test their latest 3-wheel models. Following my visit to the library, I sent a copy of a sketch from a local newspaper that might prompt further information about my grandfather – we shall see.

Then it was off to Boyes Hill Grove in Darlington, to seek out the grandparental home. To be honest, what I found was in complete contrast to my memory, although I would have been only 6 or 7 (a guess !) the last time I visited. I thought there was more of a raised earth bank at the front, into which my grandfather had dug out a small low roofed garage. No sign of that at all…….

I knocked on the door and spoke to the current resident lady, who confirmed one or two of the internal features that I did remember from back then, but she confirmed that there had never been a garage in the front garden. Must be somewhere else very local then.

Next stop was the Camping and Caravanning Club site just outside Barnard Castle, selected as it was near to several places/venues I wanted to visit. Not particularly busy, but I got a big plot with electric hook up and a water tap near – not too distant from the loo’s either !

“Luckily”, it was the night that a burger van visited the campsite, so I indulged……

Day 6: 10 May 2026 – Locomotion

According to my 12 page schedule (yes really !) today is a designated “rest day” but with the Locomotion railway museum at Shildon thrown in for good measure.

Woke up to another frost ! More specifically, I awoke to condensation dripping down from the tent roof ! It was so cold overnight that I had to warm up my hearing aid before it would work at all….
Anyway…..

After breakfast, there was a parade of old Austin 7’s in front of the campsite office. I’d had a chat with one of the drivers before and it seemed they were all on holiday together and all belonged to the Bristol branch of the Austin 7 Club. There should have been one or two more, but one of the drivers had a sciatica attack and couldn’t operate the pedals safely. I remember my old Austin 7 from way back – clutch control required you to be a bit “muscular”…..

Anyway, a wonderful sight in the early morning sunshine. Photo’s duly taken.

I spent the afternoon at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, which was probably the first ever “railway town”.

To quote from their website: “Shildon Works was built for the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1833, although initially used for locomotive construction was later converted to a wagon works. Following an extensive modernisation programme in the 1960’s Shildon, now British Rail’s largest wagon works, constructed a range of new designs for British and overseas orders, including cement wagons and ‘merry-go-round’ coal hoppers. However, increasing competition from road transport meant that orders dwindled, and the works closed in 1984”.

The museum is not located at the old works site, but is spread along a site next to the original Stockton and Darlington Railway track.

The museum houses the original Locomotion No: 1, which pulled the first passenger train along the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. It’s a bit “fragile” and has had extensive work done on it to keep it as a viable exhibit.
I remember it being on a plinth in Darlington’s Bank Top Station when I was a nipper. This was in the days of steam trains and like the rest of the station, I remember it was in a really filthy black state – bit changed now, thank goodness !

Next up in my sight was the loco “Winston Churchill”, a “Battle of Britain” class 4-6-2 Light Pacific design. This actual loco achieved historical fame for hauling Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral train from Waterloo to Oxfordshire in January 1965. It was added to the UK National Collection directly after that funeral.

I also remember a similar beast pulling a train down to Bridport when on one of the several school Scout holiday’s I attended. I’ve always liked the design, with the fully enclosed “streamlined” body and the much smoother shaped traction wheels.

Lots of other interesting things there, including a very early electric shunter, a steam crane and the prototype of what became the unloved Pacers, used extensively in the North of England

Outside, I even managed to see the replica of Mr Stephenson’s Rocket, used for rides on open days.

Day 7: 11 May 2026 – Beamish, The Living Museum of the North

Beamish was another one of those places that’s been on the “wish list” for a while…..I started out a bit early and managed to get in the first carpark, near to the entrance. Bit of a naff day to start with unfortunately – overcast and grey, no sun. Never mind. Got through pretty quickly with my pre-booked tickets and saved £7 in the process.

Apparently, the 350 acre site was once a working colliery, open cast coal mine and rural farmland belonging to local families. The guy who thought up the idea of the Beamish Working Museum (Frank Atkinson) wanted to preserve the rapidly vanishing industrial and agricultural heritage of the North East. So instead of building replicas, the museum incorporates ACTUAL former pit land and dozens of relocated historic buildings from across the region.

First stop was a tram ride round the complete circle, to get an idea of the size of the place – IT’S HUGE !!!!!

My next port of call was the 1900’s colliery and pit village. One of the things I liked particularly was the use of “costumed engagers” throughout the whole site, many of whom were obviously actors, but some were actual ex-miners, etc. If they weren’t they were bloody good actors !!!

For example at the mine they had someone being the mine owner, one guy being the shop steward and a couple of others doing the work. Each had their (probably well rehearsed) bit to say, as they were re-enacting a go slow/strike scenario…….

The lamp room and associated exhibition room were fascinating, as it just showed very graphically the dangers of coal mining in years gone by, including all the rescue equipment and the development of the safety lamp, used for gas detection, etc.

The pithead, the winding engine, engine shed and the general site layout just showed what a messy, dirty job mining used to be.

In the pit village, they’ve recreated the mine office (all manual paperwork and top hatted manager) and several different sized cottages for the various “grades” of worker/supervisor. All had their coal fires on – thank goodness ! It amazed me how many people lived in such a small space, in one house it was 14 persons and 3 generations ! The cottage gardens (complete with hens) were in spring planting process, presumably using old fashioned plants and growing methods.

There was, of course, a chapel and a school with separate boys and girls entrances – very old fashioned ! The school was a real eyeopener, with three different classrooms for each age group and the furniture size to match. I remember inkwells at my old primary school in Tunbridge Wells !

Then it was a LONG walk to the 1950’s town – you have to be fit to do Beamish !!!! This seemed to be particularly appealing, as it was sort of “my generation”. Included in the buildings were a cinema (rather horrifyingly showing films about what to do in a nuclear war…..), a period café (already full, people treating themselves to 1950’s “delicacies”), a fish and chip shop (with a queue forming, as it was getting on for lunchtime), an electrical shop, a toy shop, milk bar, etc.

I found the electrical shop fascinating, as they had at least 4 items I remember from my childhood in the family house at Tunbridge Wells. There was a Flatley clothes drier, an old model Hoover and two electrical “black heat” stoves, one of which I had in my room. There was even the inevitable Dansette record player…..

In the toy shop window there was Meccano (I had every set that was available and a few extra bits at one time – worth a fortune now !) and a box of Britains lead soldiers. My Dad used to sell those in his shop. Not something you would even think of now – lead material that is….

The houses were a bit of fun as well. In one I came across a “utility” wardrobe EXACTLY the same as we had in the house in Tunbridge wells. The utility scheme was introduced by the government of the time to manufacture standardised furniture between 1942 and 1952 – IKEA well before IKEA!!!!!. The idea was to make the best of the severe timber shortages during a period of post-war rationing. They were austere, functional items made by a range of furniture manufacturers to a standard design under the CC41 stamp.
In the same house was an example of the old “shilling in the slot” gas meters. It was my job to top up this meter, as I was the only one small enough to get to the meter under the stairs.
Wow, nostalgia in spades….

A bit further up the road was the 1900’s town, which included a solicitor’s office, a dentist, a pub, print shop, sweet shop, bakery, bank, garage, etc.

Since it was sort of lunchtime, I raided the bakery, buying rock cakes and tea loaf. The bakery had demo’s on during the day, to show typical bread making/baking, from the era. Same really in the sweet shop where they demonstrated the old-fashioned ways of making things like mint humbugs and sticks of stripey rock. I did purchase a few things – just look at all those glass jars!

Two other buildings were the Bank and the Masonic Hall. Both of them were an amalgam of things, rather than from one specific site. The Masonic Hall was rather splendid with a nice (and compete) tiled floor. The bank front desk area looked like I remember Barclays Bank in Tunbridge Wells when I was very young – Dickensian characters would not look out of place…

Next on my list was the garage – surprise, surprise…. In olden days local garages were just not exclusively for cars but often acted as what we now call bike shops. Also they often had a fully equipped workshop with a complete range of belt driven machines, so they could produce bespoke spare parts for individual cars.

Next door was the Co-op, well stocked with items of the day. I asked if the display reflected the normal stock level for a typical store like this. The response was yes. A far cry then from what we now expect in Tesco’s – Note: other stores are available. The other side of the shop was made over to essentially ironmongery/household items and clothing – all sorts of hardware stuff hanging from the ceiling. I also spotted a metal cake decorating set in a cabinet. My Mum had one of these, but not quite that many nozzles….

The print shop had several presses, which are actually used. Since it was on the first floor, I presume the building had been re-enforced to take the weight ??? One of the smaller one’s looked a bit familiar, as my Dad did printing for a while.

Across from the Co-op was a row of what could be called “professional” houses (all much larger and grander than those in the pit village area)which included a solicitors house/office, a dentist (some of the old kit used looked pretty gruesome…) and a music teacher.

By this time (mid afternoon), yours truly was beginning to flag a bit and I had another museum visit the next day, I decided to call it a day. Thankfully, the sensible management appreciate that there is a lot to see in one day, so the “unlimited” ticket I selected on-line gives me the chance to go again within 12 months, without paying any extra – looks like Beamish in September then…….

Altogether a fantastic experience. I like the idea of not only dressed up “actors” at each location but also getting actual ex-miners (for example) who actually did the job they were talking about.
I did miss some stuff but there is a lot to see in a day – how parents with young kids cope with it all I have no idea……

Day 8: 12 May 2026 – Hopetown and the A1 Workshop

Hopetown Darlington is a railway-themed visitor attraction, opened in 2024. It “explores and promotes Darlington’s pioneering railway heritage” and is located on the Stockton to Darlington Railway route, sharing a building with North Road railway station. Also on the same site is the Darlington Locomotive Works building which is the home of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust.

The overall theme of Hopetown is about the birth of the railways, rather than there being a shedload of railway hardware, like Locomotion. It’s very “hands on” and definitely pointed towards the younger age group – indeed there were several school parties in the building. They have supplied several tabled rooms which can act as places for packed lunches, etc to be scoffed by the youngsters.

On thing I did like was the Experiment ! This is an immersive experience, a bit like an F1 ride simulator, but all about railway history. It include the past and the future of what railways might be like. A very exciting ”ride”– even for this grown-up kid……

Then it was on to one of the highlights of my holiday – in my eyes anyway ! By using a bit of blarney on the phone, I’d managed to get an exclusive individual tour of the workshops of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. You normally have to be a covenanter, ie someone who is legally contracted to pledge money to the project to get such access. They only have open days once a month for the general public, so this was a VERY, VERY RARE TREAT INDEED.

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a charitable trust formed in 1990 for the primary purpose of building a new steam locomotive from scratch (i.e. not a re-build of an existing locomotive). This project became the construction of LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado, the first mainline steam locomotive built since 1960, following the design of Arthur Peppercorn. After over 15 years of fundraising and construction, Tornado steamed for the first time in January 2008.

As per the blurb in Wikipedia: “In contrast to various other heritage projects, with an eye to timely completion and full certification for main line use, the founding principles of the A1 trust were to treat funding as a priority and not a distraction, to use professionals in their fields for the various posts needed, and to use the engineering industry for all manufacturing to meet the needs of certification. By October 1999, the trust had the largest numbers of supporters of any British locomotive owning group, and represented a 20th of all railway heritage group membership. Some of the sums raised by covenanting were “unheard of” from railway enthusiasts.”

For non-nerdy rail readers, Tornado is the locomotive use in a BBC Top Gear programme, when Clarkson and co had a race from London to Edinburgh, between a train, a car and a motorbike.  Link below is just for the first part of the “adventure”. You’ll have to look at You Tube for the rest. PS: It’s worth it just to watch Clarkson shovelling coal as if his life depended on it…….

Having been in some pretty grotty/old workshops in my previous railway working days, this workshop was a revelation, being exceptionally tidy, but I guess it was relatively new… Photos below are  from the public viewing window.

Tornado was being fettled for a trip the next day, but I had the opportunity to have a thorough close up inspection, including climbing into the cab. There’s a lot of extra electronic kit fitted that’s not normally fitted on non-mainline certified locomotives, which reacts to the various sensors to be found on the track.

       

This is a very serious piece of engineering, a lot built from the original engineering drawings.

The other big project in the workshop is the Gresley Class P2 Prince Of Wales, destined to be Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive when complete at 3400 hp. The well known locomotive designer Sir Nigel Gresley unveiled a new powerful express passenger locomotive for use in Scotland in 1934. The design was ahead of its time but did not come to fruition due to WW2. Now the development is to be completed using modern design philosophy and manufacturing. The forecast is for a 15 year build, first steam in 2028 and a cost of around £6.5 million.

The locomotive has three cylinders, which have been incorporated into one massive fabrication, approx.. 6 tons in weight. What fascinated me was the design of the controlling cambox. The box itself is a metal fabrication, but the prototype innards (the valves, cams etc ) are all 3D printed by one of the volunteers on his home printer!  Presumable real metal for the real thing …..

Talking about volunteers… I was introduced to the new trust Chairman, Steve Davies MBE – no not that one, this one is an ex-Army Colonel…. He’s a long term railway enthusiast, so ideal for this type of project – first thing he did after our introduction was to try and recruit me as a volunteer !!!

Altogether an epic chin-dribbling experience for yours truly. Not everyone’s cup of tea but definitely a pretty amazing experience. Thank you A1 Steam Locomotive Trust.

Later, I returned to Barnard Castle to sort out my new ipad using a business called Reboot Repairs and Design, run by Jenny Cartwright.
I’d contacted her earlier in the week as my new ipad was a mess. I had wanted to do some journaling, but I could not open various accounts. Also, the campsite wifi was somehow preventing access to certain apps.
She was able to see me very quickly and sorted out account access and passwords in double quick time. Very professional and logical approach, for which I was truly grateful. My big fear was losing existing data, which, thankfully, Jenny was able to ensure did not happen. She even delivered my ipad back to my campsite (well after “normal” business hours……..) after spending time carefully transferring photos, etc from one account to another.
Thank you Jenny !!!!

Off to Dunbar tomorrow, for a few days exploring nearby Edinburgh.

Day 9: 13 May 2026 – Off to Dunbar and Edinburgh

On the move again !

So today was a 153 mile “dash” up the coast to the Camping & Caravanning Club (CCC) campsite at Dunbar, giving me reasonably sensible access to Edinburgh – by train as well as road.

I’d decided not to go directly all the way using the A1, but to take in some of the Northumberland coast – another scenic area neglected by yours truly – using some of the smaller B roads. More of a “scouting” trip for the future really, including Alnwick, Alnmouth, Low Newton-by-the Sea, Bamburgh Castle. I’d seen some of the above on a BBC TV programme series called “Villages by the Sea”, looked interesting. Sun was out as well !

A blast up the A1 around Newcastle (almost motorway standard now – changed a bit since I last travelled that road….) then turned off at Alnwick, to Alnmouth. Looking at these pretty villages was always going to be on a “whistlestop” basis, so I had a quick walk around the village and then off further up the coast. Definitely needs more of my attention.

I’d seen publicity pictures of Low Newton-by-the Sea and its glorious beach but it turned out to be even better in the flesh. Very busy in the sunshine, but definitely one to go on my list.

The B1340 turned in land a bit but still gorgeous country – what have I been missing ???

The next place up the road was the village of Beadnell. Just north of the village, I stumbled upon a CCC campsite, popped in to have a look and noted its location down for future reference.

Onward to Seahouses. A bustling town/village where, apparently, you can get boat trips out to the Farne Islands. Then past the impressive and massive Bamburgh Castle which must be worth a day visit. Eventually back on to the A1 heading North, past the turning to Lindisfarne/Holy Island (another day visit ???) and with time pressing onward around Berwick on Tweed to Dunbar.
Altogether the day had been a bit mixed (some sun but torrential rain showers at times, windy as well) and I wanted to get the tent up in good time before the next lot of rain.

The Dunbar CCC site is quite coastal and therefore very open and potentially windy. Just as I got the groundsheet down, the heavens opened, forcing me to take shelter in the car for a while….. Typical ! Upset my whole erection system, but eventually dried out and the kettle on. Looks like the car will have to be positioned on the windward side tonight. Extra guy ropes fitted…..

Off to Edinburgh tomorrow !

Day 10: 14 May 2026 – Edinburgh, Day 1

Now, I was not quite sure how to tackle Edinburgh. I’d allocated 3 days, which I well knew would not be enough, so I concentrated on just a few things with a promise to myself to come back for longer.

When in Glasgow, I’d got on one of the open top tour buses which went to all of the main sights, so I did exactly the same for Edinburgh. Only issue was that they have 3 routes, so I decided to do all three ! I purchased the Grand 24 Ticket online, which gave me 24 hours use of all/any of the tours.

The other potential issue was that although the GREEN route used a “live” commentary/guide, the other two used multilingual audio guides, using individual headphones – obviously not much good for me with my hearing aids !

Having made enquiries previously with the bus company, the issue was solved by me buying a £3 male/male cable from Amazon to plug into the jack socket on the bus, the other end going into the jack socket on my Phonak ComPilot2 hearing/phone interface box. It worked a treat !

So off we went……. Well, not quite !

First of all I had to get into Edinburgh itself. My initial idea was a hybrid of car and train. Research had revealed a free Park & Ride station/hub at Wallyford (on the outskirts) with the train ending up at the mainline station of Waverley, right in the heart of the city – ideal ! So a dash along the A1 from Dunbar. After an initial hiccup in finding the P + R carpark due to them removing signposts in Wallyford itself (roadworks), the train whisked me into the city centre.

Waverley station is BIG and bustling, having been extensively expanded over the decades, so a bit puzzling to start. My trusty Collins Pocket map (yes I still use paper maps) guided me to the correct exit and then to the correct bus stop for the tour buses.

The GREEN route basically went quickly though both the Old Town and the New Town, whereas the RED route concentrated more on the Old Town. The BLUE route went a bit out of town, including the West End, the Botanical Garden and Royal Yacht Britannia.
I won’t bore you with details of the routes. You can readily see them on this link: www.edinburghtour.com.

Needless to say, it gave me a very good initial perspective of the whole of the city, which, surprisingly, was bigger that I expected – need more days !!!! It did, however, confirm my original plan to just do a few “highlights” and come back again.

Day 11: 15 May 2026 – Edinburgh, Day 2

So having got my orientation correct (sort of !) yesterday, my plan was to pound the hard streets of the Royal Mile from one end to the other, taking in the Parliament building, the castle and whatever else took my fancy.

Although using the P + R yesterday was OK-ish, I decided on another approach, using the train in from the branch line running from North Berwick instead of Wallyford. Nothing ventured, nothing gained….At North Berwick station someone had got a  bit artistic and  knitted a bike – if you see what I mean…..

Just as I walked out of Waverley station (map in hand) I was greeted by a guy who saw me using a map rather than a phone. I revealed my Mother’s geography teaching influence and had a chat (whilst walking towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse) about how just relying on phone maps can sometimes lead you astray, in not taking into account verticality, ie you can follow one specific road and find yourself at the end looking over a wall to a vertical drop. Maps usually show dead end roads, when appropriate. I suppose I was also not on a particularly “touristy” road from the station to the Palace, so he probably thought I was lost – very friendly folk these Scots !!

I hadn’t SPECIFICALLY planned to go into the Palace anyway. Just as well as it was closed to public visitors, due to being occupied by the Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland General Assembly, acting as the King’s personal representative at the Assembly. The Assembly this year was Friday 15 May 2026 to Monday 18 May 2026. It was interesting to see the building “in the flesh” as it were, rather than on ceremonial and other occasions on the tele.

For some reason, I was running a bit late for my pre-booked guided tour of the Scottish Parliament Building, but they managed to squeeze me in to the next available tour. Certainly the thoroughness of the security checks at the public entrance would put many an airport to shame, including a full scan of me/my back pack/coat/etc plus a pat down as well. Or perhaps they were a bit bored and needed something to do…

An introduction first, showing the history of there actually being a Scottish Parliament and then onto the tour itself.

Irrespective of your political inclination and your viewpoint on Scottish independence, you cannot fail to be impressed by the design of the complex itself. Lots of wood and glass – the carpenters must’ve thought they were in heaven ! Interesting to walk along the same corridor that you often see on the TV, joining the offices to the debating chamber, used by media to trap  MSP’s into revealing all…..

The Spanish designer Enric Miralles incorporated all sorts of Scottish history motif’s into his design. For example, there is the Arniston Stone, which is a 17th century carved lintel salvaged from the original Parliament House and placed directly above the Debating Chamber entry doors, “to visually connect the modern legislature to Scottish history”. The complex also incorporated the existing Queensbury House, a 16th century manor house, now refurbished/restored and acting as modern offices – another link to the past.

The Debating Chamber is massive. On the TV you very much are limited to the cameras focussing on individual members/ministers and do not appreciate the whole thing. Deliberately featuring a semi-circular, “non-confrontational” design, it ensures that the Presiding Officer/Speaker can address the whole room to try and foster “consensus-building” rather than the partisan opposition situation like Westminster.

The roof structure is a mix of reinforced steel and laminated oak beams. It is “visually arresting” and is designed to mimic the hull of an upturned boat. The lighting too is a bit different with the lights themselves designed to represent leaves or “abstract” droplets.

As per modern parliamentary practice, the chamber is fully broadcast-equipped, effectively functioning as a television studio, a multi-camera system being tied to an automated speaker-tracking system that captures whoever is addressing the room. Apparently the maximum limit for any speaker in a “normal” debate is five minutes and that include the First Minister !! There is also the ability to cater for us deffo’s with individual desks being suitably equipped as required.

The broadcasting suite also provides simultaneous translation/interpreting into the official Scottish Languages (English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots and BSL) as required, but English is the primary working language for all debates, legislature and official records.

All in all a very interesting hour or so AND it was free !!!!

My next scheduled item was Edinburgh Castle  (I had a 2pm booked slot), at the other end of the “Royal Mile” (which is actually a combination of several existing streets in the Old Town), so off up the hill as it were….
The Cannongate Tollbooth once served as the administrative centre for the independent burgh of Cannongate, before it got absorbed into Edinburgh itself. It houses the People’s Story Museum, all about the lives, work, etc of the “working class citizens from the late 18th century to the 20th century”. Nice clock too !

Further up was Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, where I stopped for a bit of liquid refreshment. Deacon Brodie was a real life cabinet-maker and city councillor. By night, though, he led a double life as a burglar, using copied keys to rob his wealthy clients. He hid a secret life of gambling, drinking and debt and formed a gang to assist his nightly exploits. He was eventually caught and sentenced to be hanged. His execution in 1788 used a new set of gallows that he had previously designed and built – what a twist ! It is thought that the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel “The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” was directly based on Brodie’s double life.

Onward to the castle – more uphill !!!!

There were plenty of other buildings that needed investigation, but I had a specific time slot at the castle. The whole area was very, very busy, bustling full, with loads of Japanese, S. Korean and German tourists making up the majority. What it must be like in the summer, I hate to imagine…. The ice cream guy at the castle said that there wasn’t really a quiet part of the season anymore.

My first observation was that the area in front of the castle seems to be incredibly small for the space seemingly required for the world-famous tattoo.  I guess it must be important (the tattoo that is…) as they’ve built a ginormous permanent gantry, to do the son et lumiere, etc.

Entry tickets for each day apparently run out about 10 am, so I’m glad I pre-booked. I’d also booked one of the audio guides and my cable hook up worked 100 %. The audio commentary was done by Scottish broadcasters Eddie Mair and Sally Magnusson. You could either just hear the most salient simple facts about a feature or dive down further by pressing more buttons to get extra detail – very good.

The tour was very impressive and included a lot of stuff ! I’m sure that there is an audio guide online, so I won’t go through it all item by item. Things that impressed me most were St Margaret’s Chapel (oldest building in the city, built in the early 1100’s), the famous 1 o’clock gun (historically used to help ships set their sea clocks),the Honours of Scotland (essentially the Scottish crown jewels – big queue for this, no photo’s allowed. The sword of state looked at bit “used” at its tip!), the Great Hall (massive medieval hall full of banners, armour and weapons), the Prisons of War (deep in the bowels of the place, not very comfortable being in there….), the Royal Palace.

Also impressive was the Scottish National War Memorial, complete with honour guard. I note that not all the menfolk removed their hats in respect…..

There were also various Scottish Regimental Museums (which I didn’t visit) and a barracks (still active). Also a small dog cemetery…

All in all a pretty fantastic place for this non-history buff. Very tiring on the legs though, but hey worth it. Thoroughly recommended. Thankfully, the crowds had thinned out a lot around 4pm – all going back to their hotels for a cup of tea and a scone, no doubt……

Completely knackered, it was back to Waverley Station (all downhill walking, thank goodness) and back to camp. More touristy stuff tomorrow……

Day 12: 16 May 2026 – Edinburgh, Day 3

Today it was Edinburgh trams, the Royal Yacht Britannia and Dean Village. As is my normal holiday habit, I went on an early train from N. Berwick to get my 10 AM booked slot to look round Britannia. I like going early to see places come to life for the day – strange eh ?

The trams are great ! You don’t have a ticket anymore, just use an “intelligent” platform validator and a “tap on, tap off” system with a contactless debit/credit card at the beginning and end of your journey. There are roving inspectors to check that you have tapped on – don’t know how that works as they interrogate your debit/credit card – all electronic magic really.

The tram pootles through Leith and then to the Port of Leith itself. My stop was at the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, which is currently undergoing a massive multi-million pound transformation from a traditional retail mall into an entertainment-led community and residential hub (bit empty at the moment…). The Britannia is tied up to this building and they’ve very cleverly used it to access the various levels/features within Britannia, without you actually leaving the building.
Again, I used an audio guide and my faithful connection cable to very good effect.

First stop was the bridge plus the captain’s quarters at the “top” of the ship, then the tour descended further in via the connecting gangplanks connected to the terminal building.

PS: Lots of perspex around, to keep our grubby little mitts off the exhibits…..so some of the photos look a bit odd.

There was even a garage squeezed in, with a Land Rover and a Roller of some kind (had to take the bumpers off each time that came on board, as it was all very, very tight  for space…….).

What surprised me was how down to earth and “homely” it all was. The late Queen was, I believe, not wanting too much formality, although looking at the grand dining room, it was easy to see how it could be used as a floating UK “presence” wherever it went. It was, after all, a working boat, representing UK businesses around the world, amongst other things.

The Queen and the Duke had separate working offices as well.

I can now well understand why the Queen shed a tear when it was finally decommissioned, but having been built in 1952, it would have been monstrously expensive to bring it up to the modern maritime standards now required. Nevertheless, it seemed all to be very well maintained, especially the engine room, etc.

The main Royal Galley is still in use as they’ve built on a Royal Deck Tearoom for the public to use with fine dining as well as the more normal coffee, sandwiches, cakes, etc. So you can be on the same deck level where the Queen and her family would relax, play deck games and entertain less formally. Intriguing…..

All the clocks in the royal apartments are set at 1501, the time the Queen was last piped on board on 11 December 1997, the ship having done 44 years of royal service.

It was also fascinating to see the various “layers” of the ships company existed, with their own specific quarters and bar/dining room areas – all about hierarchy… Apparently Prince Philip used to often drop into the various messes for a drink – that would have been fascinating for an ordinary rating !

The laundry was a lot bigger than you would’ve expected, but in some of the tropical places I guess the involved sailors (on the royal barge, for example) would have to had changed uniform several times, to ensure the “correct” image.

Also, there was an intriguing Royal Sailing Exhibition about the deep connection and love of the royals to sailing, including pictures and artifacts from many decades. It also explained how the 220 Royal Yachtsmen kept the ship running during royal tours.

Then back on the tram to Haymarket station and a 20 minute walk down a hill (another one !) to Dean Village. The village is a tranquil place on the Waters of Leith. It used to be a milling settlement in the 12th century. Obviously on the main tourist “route” but nevertheless very pretty but crowded ! There is a walk along the river, which I didn’t have time to do this trip, next time perhaps.

So there we are, my three “quickie” days in Ed. I appreciate that I only really scratched the surface and I think it needs at least a week to take in the whole place properly. I didn’t, for example, visit any of the museums. Next time (yes there will be a next time) it would be more sensible to be nearer the city centre – perhaps even stay in a hotel!!!!!

Day 13: 17 May 2026 – Museum of Flight

Just 26 minutes down the road from my campsite was the National Museum of Flight Scotland. Once the East Fortune Airfield, they now have a great collection of aircraft, including a Concorde, a Vulcan and a Comet.

After the runaround in Edinburgh it was a bit of a lazy start to the day, but I eventually got myself together to get down to East Fortune. Apart from being an ex-RAF/RNAS base during both World Wars, it also made history as being the starting point for the first ever successful double crossing of the Atlantic by an airship. It now claims to be one of the best preserved WW2 airfields in the UK.

The star exhibit is obviously the Concorde, indeed it was the first production plane. They have wrapped a complete hangar round it, in what is called the Concorde “Experience”. Lots of interesting details and information, including how they actually got the plane from London (removing the wings, barges down the Thames then up to Torness Power Station, across fields on a road built by the Army) into its own purpose built hangar.

I really had forgotten how tiny it was inside but it must’ve been some thrill to be travelling faster than the speed of sound….. Looking in the cockpit area you often forget that it was designed in the 60’s and is therefore full of analogue instrumentation and controls. One picture in the exhibition even showed the designers on old fashioned drawing boards !

I keep forgetting how “tall” it is off the ground. I suppose that was to do with the basic shape and take off requirements – thus the drooping nose configuration, etc. Another surprise was the size of the engine inlets and outlets. Fascinating !

After the Concorde building it was off to the two Civil Aviation and Military Aviation Hangers. Most of the planes had “local” Scottish connections, but the Messerschmitt Komet was an interesting oddity.

 

Outside they had a Vulcan (still a good looking and menacing aircraft after all this time) and an ex-RAF Comet 4 in Dan Air colours. The Comet was open for “walk throughs” and seemed luxurious and spacious relative to the Concorde.

The Fantastic Flight building was all about how flight works, mostly aimed at the younger generation, with all sorts of simulation equipment, including landing an airship. Lots of fun !
After lunch, I’d booked a tour of the Conservation Hangar. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, as I had anticipated seeing things happening. Apparently, they have lost a couple of relevant people (retirement, relocation, etc) so it’s become more a place for storing future projects for when things get a bit better. Nevertheless, some interesting stuff, including part of a Blue Streak Rocket (much bigger than I had imagined), a US Marines Phantom (again very big, but all fuel tank and engines really – but look at the size of that arrestor hook for carrier operation !), a Buccaneer and the front of a Nimrod (old maritime reconnaissance aircraft).

I have to say that this place wins my “bargain of the year” on the trip so far, with much more things to see/engage with that I anticipated. Recommended.

Day 14: 18 May 2026 – Travel to Culross and Crail

Another travel day today to Crail (essentially just crossing the Firth of Forth), eventually setting Certified site, with basic minimum facilities, but it suited me, as I wanted to look at the various villages scattered along the coast of the East Neuk.

With typical Lusted logic, I didn’t go in a straight line, but diverted to the rather picturesque burgh of Culross (following a Portillo recommendation), where there is the so-called Palace built in the 17th century for Sir George Bruce, a wealthy industrialist. It was never a Royal residence but possibly got its name from a misinterpretation of the wording of the original title deeds.

It’s now being looked after by the National Trust of Scotland (who have carried out “extensive” restoration) and includes a large terraced garden. With it being so old, visitor numbers are strictly limited and you have to book a specific time slot. This is to ensure that the old wooden floor beams and associated woodwork don’t get overloaded.

It also has a famous herb garden which is only just now coming to life. There is even an introductory film in a small cinema, very useful to set the scene for the position of the house/garden in history.

Culross is now a sleepy town, but in the 17th century it would have been “a bustling port with steam smoke and noise from the mining, salt panning and girdle making industries”. Nowadays it’s all steep cobbled streets and red-tiled roofs. Very pretty – despite the fact that it had been tipping down with rain just before I arrived.

Talking of the weather, etc. Think I’m going to have a non-scheduled ½ day off tomorrow – getting a bit weary with all this wet tent packing/unpacking. As the farm owner said on my arrival, the weather has been “unseasonal”, ie in this case wet and windy – a cold wind too ! The local farmers were busy covering their crops with tarpaulins, so it must’ve been bad !

Day 15: 19 May 2026 – Anstruther

Late start today…… went to bed last night at 9PM, awoke at 7AM, had a cup of coffee, went back to bed, woke up again at 11AM…..

Got myself going and went off to Anstruther, partly to look around and partly to go to the Co-op for supplies replenishment. Anstruther is the largest of the string of settlements along this bit of coast, primarily involved with fishing.

Day 16: 20 May 2026 – East Neuk villages

Today was all about the string of fishing villages, Crail itself, Cellardyke, Pittenweem, St Monans, Elie. All similar in some ways but Pittenweem is the most active by far. An early start for me, so all the villages nice and quiet for a good walk around without loads of people everywhere.

Crail is a place of two halves, with the old harbour area and the more modern settlement above. It’s a very old burgh – see notice below.

Further down the coast is Cellardyke. Like Crail, it once supported a big fishing industry and was one of Scotland’s premier fishing hubs, operating more that 200 boats during the 1880s. Now it’s a tourist place renowned for its peaceful ambiance.

Pittenweem was most definitely the busiest of the historic harbours with loads of boats in port. However, talking to one of the fishermen mending his nets, it appears that there are plenty of boats but not enough crew for them, so not as busy as it used to be.

Next on the list was St Monans. Yes, another harbour and more twisty streets, but with a rather dramatic coastline, where the strata break through. They’ve also got a quirky sense of humour in that there is a wellie garden and currently a hole in the road with fishing going on…..

Following my nose, I walked along the Fife Coastal Path for a bit, finding salt pans, a windmill and a tidal swimming pool. Although the pool was officially closed off (according to a posted council edict) there was one brave young lady who wasn’t deterred by a mere wire fence and spent at least 10 minutes in what must’ve been glacial temperature water….

The last place on the list was Elie. Its main claim to fame is its renowned sweeping golden sands with sheltered waters suitable for water sports – oh, and a golf course – like every village in Scotland it seems !!!!!!

Afternoon was spent visiting “Scotland’s Secret Bunker”. Officially called RAF Troywood, its Scotland’s Secret Underground Nuclear Command Centre, where everything in Scotland would be controlled in the event of a nuclear war.

Now a museum where you can “discover the twilight world of the Government Cold war”. It has dormitories, a broadcasting studio, two cinemas (the nuclear war “preparation” films looked a bit terrifying), a café, various control rooms (even a chapel and a CND room !) all enclosed in 15 ft of reinforced concrete 100 feet below ground level, two levels altogether. Built in 1951 and operational until 1993, it looks on the surface like an ordinary domestic dwelling, but now renovated and open as a museum. You approach the main door down a looooooong corridor after a serpentine set of steps – not a place for visitors with a physical disability !

It’s certainly a very FULL museum and gives a very sobering insight into what could happen if nuclear weapons were ever deployed in anger. Most of the display equipment is original, which in itself is a frightening thought….. I guess there must be the more modern equivalents somewhere in the UK.

The audio guide worked well for me but the commentary was very downbeat compared to the one at, say, Edinburgh Castle, but I guess that was done on purpose – to make the point. Outside, there’s a collection of “appropriate” military hardware. All in all ghastly but very interesting…..

After all this rushing around, I decided to treat myself on a recommendation from my farmer host lady. Now that’s what I call a fish supper, two pieces of fresh haddock and so, so crispy chips ! Went down well with a cold glass of white wine……Crail Fish Bar. Knife and fork for scale.

Day 17: 21 May 2026 – Travel to Archiestown via Dunkeld

So here we are again, travelling further north. I’ve missed going to The Hermitage (allegedly one of the TOP visitor attractions in all of Scotland, if Tripadvisor is to be believed!) on other trips north and there was no way I was going to miss one of my favourite sets of roads, ie the Snow Roads (see lots of detail in one of my previous posts “Scotland 2025-Days 24-29”)…..

Before all of that, we had to leave Crail. Unfortunately, heavy rain and VERY strong wind meant that despite the tent ventilation flaps being closed (but not secured, it seems), I woke up to a wet inner tent floor under the carpet and BOTH sides of the groundsheet/footprint were wet as well…. Not ideal ! And it was raining….. So a very soggy Lusted packed up everything WET, then changed into dry clothes for the journey after a decent hot shower – such fun !

A cross-country route skirting round Perth got me on to the A9 going north and so to Dunkeld. The Hermitage is almost directly off the main road, although I missed the turning the first-time round……

The Hermitage is a “scenic woodland pleasure ground designed in the 18th century for the Dukes of Atholl, featuring the folly Ossian’s Hall, waterfalls and tall Douglas firs”. Now managed by the National Trust of Scotland, it is certainly spectacularly beautiful, living up to its tourist “hype”, that’s for sure, especially as there had been some rain in the last couple of days. I guess in the Autumn months it’ll be another kind of spectacular……

 

Because I still had a fair distance to drive, I allowed myself only a couple of hours wandering, but I think you could spend all day looking around, for sure. Lots of walks available.

Mercifully, it had stayed dry (ie not raining….) during my visit. Just as well, as there was a wedding party arriving as I left – I had wondered why one of the Rangers was carrying chairs up to Ossian’s Hall ….

Then on to the Snow Roads.

After a very beautiful run along the A923 (with the sun still out !) to Blairgowrie, it was all points north on the A93, through Glenshee and into the Cairngorms National Park proper. Then through the Cairnwell Pass (highest main road in the UK plus the Glenshee ski resort ), Braemar, Crathie, past Balmoral Castle, skirting Ballater and off on the A939 to Cock Bridge, the Lecht Summit (with its ski resort) and Tomintoul.

It would be fair to say that the weather had deteriorated somewhat after leaving Ballater, with driving rain and low cloud not helping visibility. Never mind….
After a cross-country short cut past the Glenlivet Distillery and a few other B roads (you have to trust your TomTom navigator sometimes …..) I got to the Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC) site called Speyside by Craigellachie in blazing sunshine. Scotland – four types of weather available in one day !!!!!!

It turns out that the campsite is an ex-WW2 internment camp, firstly for Italians, then later for Germans. After the war it became a chicken farm, then bought by the CCC in 1985. Apparently, the loo block is the original – updated obviously….

Thankfully the sunshine continued, so it was full steam ahead to dry everything out from my Crail overnight “experience”. For a while my pitch looked like a Chinese laundry, with stuff spread over the car, nearby clothes lines, etc. Eventually got dried out. I’ve never taken my tent’s inner bit out before – bit of a puzzle but we got it all back together eventually.

Just to add another conundrum, it seems my car electric windows have stopped functioning, probably a fuse. Something to sort out tomorrow.

Day 18: 22 May 2026 – “Local Hero” and “Whisky Galore”

Today’s travels included some of the locations used for two of my favourite films, i.e. Whisky Galore (both the remake with Eddie Izzard/Gregory Fisher and the 1949 original with Basil Radford, some of which was filmed on the Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides) and Local Hero (Peter Reigert, Burt Lancaster, etc.). So it was off to the Aberdeenshire coast and Pennan, a quick diversion to Crovie (VERY steep hill !), Portsoy, Cullen (of skink fame) and a few more villages along the coast. Bit overcast, but not raining, so ideal travelling weather.

Firstly Pennan. For those who don’t know the film Local Hero it’s a tale about an American oil company representative who is sent to the fictional village of Ferness on the west coast of Scotland to purchase the town and surrounding property to build an oil refinery. He gets involved locally and comes to see that it would be a big mistake.

Pennan was used as the main film location for the village street scenes, including the iconic red telephone box (used to connect to the Houston head office – we are in 1983 here after all…) and the exterior of the fictional “Macaskill Arms”, actually a private house. I guess the actual hotel (the Pennan Inn) would have been full of film folk.

It’s interesting to walk round a “film set” as it ALWAYS looks different to what you see on the screen. For example, the red telephone box is shown in the open, whereas in reality it is tucked into a corner of a building. Or perhaps the building was put up sometime AFTER the film completed ??? Or maybe they just brought an empty phone box in for the film, plonked it somewhere in the open near the harbour and then moved it to it’s present location ??? Who knows ? The magic of film making, eh ?

It must’ve been fun getting all the film kit in and out, as the road leading down to the harbour area is not exactly a motorway – and steep….. It seems to be more of a “second home” type of a place now, tucked away beneath the cliff.

Interesting number plate for a parked car, presumably a local resident.

Then on to Crovie. Crovie “perches” on a narrow rock ledge between cliffs and the North Sea. It was established by families that had to move during the notorious “clearances” following the Jacobite uprisings of 1715 and 1745 – land owners wanted to use the land for more profitable livestock grazing, rather than the previous subsistence farming, etc.

You can’t take cars down there, as there’s not really any space for a meaningful car park – another steep hill up and down. To get to individual houses, there’s only a narrow path in front of the houses. It was once a herring fishing hub, but the village was essentially abandoned after a storm in 1953 destroyed much of the sea defences and the pier. Nowadays, its more of a “holiday village” with most of the cottages are operated as self-catering holiday rentals, although I did spot one or two that seemed to have more permanent residents, including a couple of new build cottages.

I had a quick look at nearby Gardenstown (where there is a paddling pool in the harbour !), down another steep road to the harbour, which had quite a few creel boats and pleasure craft. A bit bigger than Crovie, it has a few shops and an hourly bus service to nearby Banff.

My next stop (pausing at a Shell filling station to replenish supplies for both me and the car) was Portsoy. On the way you pass through Macduff, a bustling fishing port which also seemed to be busy with servicing and repairing fishing boats.

Portsoy is where they did a lot of the outside filming and harbour shots for the more modern version of the film Whisky Galore, specifically the harbour area. Indeed, it did seem familiar, especially the square, used for the ceilidh for the two daughters’ weddings.

After that it was a run along the rest of the coast through Cullen (stopped here for the obligatory ice cream), Portnockie, Findochty and Buckie, until turning in land (eventually) back toward Keith and Craigellachie to my campsite.

Somewhere, I didn’t solve the electric window situation myself and after failing to find a garage in Aberlour to assist (well it was the Friday PM just before a long holiday weekend !!!), I did get help from a technician at Halfords in Elgin. He could not find a code fault and thought it might have been the actual switch. He suggested a specific car electrical tech in Rothes, but I could not find him. Ho hum…. So, jury rigged a scheme using the air con/heater system and having a back window open as well – not ideal…..

Aberlour is the HQ for the well-known  Walker’s shortbread company. So YES, I did visit the “factory shop” to buy a few bits and pieces…..

On the way back to camp, I spotted the entrance to The Macallan Distillery. Tenuous connection here, in that the father of a dear, dear friend of mine from yesteryear used to work here, so we always had good bottles of The Macallan in the house ! No visit for me today, not scheduled, perhaps next time…

Day 19: 23 May 2026 – Keith and Dufftown Railway

Lazy start today, after all that running around yesterday.

Just down the road from the campsite was the Keith and Dufftown Railway (KDR), a heritage line that promotes itself as the Whisky Line, which is fair enough, as it’s slap bang in the middle of the area famous for that Scottish speciality ….
The KDR “keeps alive an eleven mile line linking the world’s malt whisky capital, Dufftown, with the historic town of Keith”. At the moment, they operate using heritage class 108 Diesel Multiple Units (DMU’s), dating back to the 1950’s. One of the coaches has been converted to a luxury “dram tram” for whisky tasting experiences.

You can even learn a few words of Doric, as per the sign on the cafe window…

I started from Dufftown on the first train out at 1030, finding myself the only paying passenger ! Got talking to a guy who turned out to be the just retired Chairman of the Association that runs the line. I also had a personalised guided tour of the route by the guard as we progressed. Somehow we got talking about train things and track maintenance came up. I declared my interest and past history, so could not help myself and plunged head long into the murky world of track tamping…… They apparently could do with some……

Like a good ex-railway man (you don’t leave the railway, it gets into your blood) I offered to suggest some names of companies that could assist, having spoken to a very knowledgeable industry contact of mine. Apparently, they are trying to re-establish the link to the main line at Keith, but currently need to get the approval through the labyrinthine systems of Network Rail/Department of Transport – been there, got the T shirt….

Anyway, nice to give something back to the industry for a change, using my 20 years + experience….

Off to Dingwall tomorrow via more coastal places.

Day 20: 24 May 2026 – Travel to Dingwall

Off on my travels today to Dingwall, north west of Inverness. Much more of importance is that it’s at the junction of two major railway lines to parts of the Scottish Highlands…..

Bit slow packing up this morning, or is me getting older??????
Anyway plan was to go via Burghhead and Findhorn, possibly Culloden (if its not too crowded this time !), then Dingwall. I also wanted to check out the railway viaduct at Cullodden – apparently pretty spectacular.

To be honest, going to Burghead was one of those “ I wonder what’s down that road” type of unplanned diversions, but it was worth it. Turns out that there was a big Pictish fort built at the end of the headland which definitely commanded the best view of the bay. Obviously long gone, the fort seemingly had pretty imposing ramparts, remains of which are still there. The more modern town is built on the same peninsula, jutting out into the Moray Forth. There is a small visitor centre, only open in the afternoon……

Onward….

Another “off the main road” targets was Findhorn. I’d spotted that there was a campsite adjacent to something called the Findhorn Foundation, so went to have a look for a future camping trip. The foundation is “a Scottish spiritual and educational charity. Founded in 1962, it is famous for creating the Park Ecovillage, a large, low-carbon international community. Its core philosophy focuses on mindfulness, co-creating with nature, and sustainable living”. So something a bit different for me to explore.
The Ecovillage houses “a community of roughly 500 people and features eco-friendly architecture including wind turbines, solar panels, and biological waste-water treatment”.

Only problem was that every man and his dog were visiting – I kept forgetting that it was a long holiday weekend. The car park was absolutely rammed full, so another time. At least I know where the campsite is now!
Findhorn itself is a typical end-of-the-road seaside place, with sailing club, no parking but with an actual well equipped site specifically for campervans/motorhomes – a bit of a rarity really !

Travelling cross country (after using the main A96 to Nairn), I attempted to go to the Culloden Viaduct – as it was on the way to Inverness, yes more railway stuff ! Apparently, it’s Scotland’s longest masonry railway viaduct. Located 6 miles east of Inverness, the 549-meter-long (1,800 ft) red sandstone structure features 29 arches crossing the River Nairn. Opened in 1898, it’s a Category A listed landmark now but still carries rail traffic along the Highland Main Line.
Tried to get a good view, but failed miserably. Found out later that its only really accessible from the Clava Cairns or Cullodden visitor sites. So the picture below is not mine….

Talking of which, the Cullodden Visitor Centre itself was again very,very busy – indeed there was a long queue to even get into the car park ! Lots of cars parked outside on the road as well, so yours truly decided another day would be best for a more “relaxing” visit. I can’t always get my planning 100 % right all the time, it’s sometimes difficult to avoid national holidays, etc.

So it was off to the Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC) campsite at Dingwall. I’ve been there before. It’s a relatively small site, but only a short walk into the town itself and (more importantly) a railway station.

Amazingly, I was offered exactly the same pitch that I had back in 2020 ! Very serendipitous – if there is such a word. So, same pitch, same car, different tent…… I think 2020 was also the first time that I had ever used a CCC campsite as well, so all in all a bit of a strange co-incidence.

Day 21: 25 May 2026 – Day off…..

Well not quite, as it was an opportunity to catch up on some underpant and T-shirt washing whilst the sun was out. I also need a bit of a food and fuel top up, so the local Tesco got my business.

Somewhere along the line, I managed to catch this car landmark as well ! Please excuse the dust.

Also, the next two days were to be spent on long rail trip madness, so a bit of a break was useful.

Now, as you know, I’m not immune from taking to the train, so this time (despite the fact that it would be the days AFTER the long holiday weekend) I made sure of my seat by reserving – not something that I thought I could do on these remote destination Scotrail trains. Just to make sure, I popped into Dingwall station to check, as I was a bit unsure about the carriage configuration on the return trips.

It’s all about which is carriage A or carriage B on a two carriage train and if it changed when returning from the far destination – very pedantic, I know, but I’d heard too many tales about arguments over reserved seats being taken up by others, only to find that the correct reserved seat was (embarrassingly perhaps ?) in a different carriage….. A bit of light-hearted banter with the very helpful and lovely ladies at the ticket office soon sorted that out.

Day 22: 26 May 2026 – Thurso and Wick by train

Day 1 of 2 mad days on the railway, today Dingwall to Thurso then Wick and back. FYI, train originates at Inverness

Now we are not talking about an hourly commuter style trip here. There are normally only “up to” 4 direct trains a day in each direction and the journey EACH WAY is a nasty hole in 4 hours, ie 3 hours and 44 minutes to be precise.

But what a journey…… The Far North Line
My reasons for travelling on it:
1. Because it’s there. It’s a very remote railway line, originally built as a “lifeline to keep communities together”.
2. Because it’s one of the most beautiful journeys in the whole UK, going from Inverness into the Scottish Highlands, via the rugged east coastline and then through some of Britain’s last true wildernesses, the biggest blanket bogs in Europe – the Flow Country.

Well, it certainly lived up to its reputation. Thankfully a brilliantly sunny day, I arrived at the station in plenty of time, a bit more banter with the “girls” and then into my reserved seat – no issue there, right seat, right carriage – haha.

Initially the track hugs the coast, past Invergordon (with its off-shore industry infrastructure and shipyards), before it dives round the Dornoch Firth inland to Lairg, then back to the coast again through Golspie, past Dunrobin Castle (which has its own rather quaint railway halt building) and Helmsdale, where it turns inland again going due north until it reaches Forsinard (where the RSPB operate the Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve).

North eastwards from this point, there are no public roads to speak of, until the track reaches Scotscalder Station, within a few miles of Thurso.

This is true isolation. For example, the picture below is of Altnabreac Station. That’s it – what you see is the whole station ! The building behind is one of the few isolated inhabited private houses nearby.

There are no public roads to the station as it’s on a private dirt road, marked as a cycle trail on Ordnance Survey maps. Being about 6.8 miles (11 km) from the nearest paved road and 11 miles (18 km) from the nearest village, Altnabreac is often listed as one of Britain’s most geographically isolated railway stations, alongside Corrour elsewhere in Scotland and Dovey Junction in West Wales. It may have been put there for train operational reasons, as there was at one stage a passing loop and the remains of a water tank can still be seen.

It’s a request stop, so you have to stick out your hand to stop the approaching train, like at a bus stop…..

After a bit of reversing at Georgemas Junction (after it had been to Thurso ), the train eventually gets to Wick. I’ve been to Wick before, staying in a B + B down by the harbour. With only an hour before the train departed again, I had a quick mooch around the town, the centre of which seemed to be undergoing a major pedestrianisation scheme, like a lot of towns these days. The river area is pleasant enough and there’s a campsite too – note for the future….

Back at the rather “rugged” station building (which is only open in the mornings. We had to use a side entrance on initial arrival) with its single electric car charging point, the two coacher was ready to depart. Same friendly train crew of course, so you can get local knowledge of the route from the guard and the trolley person if it’s not too busy…..

Definitely a long day but most definitely worth doing as the countryside is just, well, different ! My wanting to go to this area is part of the “curse” of having a mother who was a geography teacher….

Day 23: 27 May 2026 – Kyle of Lochalsh by train – again…..

Day 2 of the railway journey madness – a trip from Dingwall to Kyle of Lochalsh.

Another trip, another sunny day, more reserved seats, another train…

This is another of the Scottish mainland train lines that has been on my bucket list for some time. I think the last attempt was during COVID times when, obviously, lots of train and coach travel was cancelled.

This journey was a “mere” 2 hours and a bit, each way. I’ve been to the Kyle of Lochalsh several times by road, as it’s the gateway to the Isle of Skye. Several times, I’ve tried to fit in walking up to the viewpoint above the town, as I know it would be a pretty dramatic view. This time perhaps ????

So, on the train at Dingwall station (even more banter with the ticket office girls, of course…) and then the track follows the roads through Achnascheen (where it picks up the famous North Coast 500 route) to Strathcarron. The scenery was fantastic, with beautiful mountain views, lochs, etc – completely different from yesterday’s trip.

The stop at Strathcarron completed a bit of a silly circle for me. I’ve been across the road level crossing there several times on my various trips and always wondered what going on the train would be like. I’ve even been in the pub next to the level crossing/station and asked the same question. Now I’ve done it !

Another stop is Plockton. Yet again, somewhere I’ve been told is beautiful, but couldn’t see too much from the train. Another trip….

Arriving at The Kyle station, my trusty Google maps guided to me to the panoramic viewpoint at the Plock of Kyle. It overlooks the complete bay and the bridge to Skye, etc. Beautiful.

At the viewpoint, I met a young Dutch guy who had been on the same train from Inverness. I’m sure I’d spotted him before somewhere – turns out he was also on the train yesterday to Wick like me ! So another nutter who just likes going on the train journeys for the sake of doing the journey itself …. He was on a short break, going back to London tomorrow, then home.

After a quick bite in town and an ice cream it was back to the station for the return trip.
Whilst waiting for the incoming service, I spotted an unusual ship tied up at the pier next to the station, refuelling. Interrogating the lads doing the work, it turns out that the ship (The Inter Alta) was what they call a wellboat.

To quote: “Operated by Mowi Scotland the Inter Alba is a massive 93-metre battery-hybrid wellboat. Designed for sustainable salmon aquaculture, the vessel features a 6,500 cubic-metre well capacity and a desalination plant capable of producing 15,000 cubic metres of freshwater daily for gentle, chemical-free parasite treatments. The vessel is dedicated to improving fish welfare and biosecurity across Scottish salmon farms”.

In simple terms, it hoovers up salmon, for example, using huge tubes hung over the side of the ship, washes and de-louses them in clean water, then puts them back into the farm pen. Fascinating from an engineering point of view……

Back at camp, it was time to get ready for a short journey down to Loch Ness.

Day 24: 28 May 2026 – Travel to Loch Ness campsite

Sun shining again…..
So just a short drive, ending up at the Loch Ness Shores Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC) at Foyers on the EAST shore of Loch Ness. I’m normally zooming along on the main A82 road on the WEST side of the loch, going from A to B…

So, leaving Inverness, my first stop was Drumnadrochit. I’ve always wanted to stop there, as the name fascinates me…. So it had to be a photo, eh ? It’s at the junction of several main roads, so was busy, busy. The public car park was stuffed full, so parked somewhere else away from the crowds – turned out to be the car park for Nessieland-oops !

Having walked round the village and taken the pic, it was off down the road toward Fort Augustus (FA). Again the public car park was absolutely full – and it’s a big car park !!!! All the food places were very busy, so I did a double-up by filling up with petrol at the one and only garage and grabbing a sandwich from the garage shop at the same time. Since I’d been to FA before, I knew of a small car park away a bit from the maelstrom, which is normally an overnight campervan stop. Must be OK because one of Mr Robbie’s mini-coaches was there as well……

A possible target on this side of Loch Ness was the famously popular Urquhart Castle. Well not a chance today !!! Great big sign indicating a full car park, which also said that if you didn’t already have a ticket for the day, then entry would be impossible. The car park was dominated by coaches of all sizes, so perhaps going on a tour is the only way to guarantee entry ? We shall see…..

The tyre pressure light on the car dashboard had come on a couple of times, but on inspection all the tyres seemed OK.

However……

Coming off the main road at FA onto the B862 (one of General Wade’s Military roads, see previous posts) for the east side of the loch, the handling definitely felt a bit strange. The road is mainly single track, very narrow and sinuous in places and needed full concentration – especially with a possible slow puncture. Got to the Reception at the campsite, whereupon the NSR tyre decided to collapse onto the wheel rim. Oh yes, definitely a puncture……on a main road too ! Every time I come to Scotland I end up with a puncture……. Turns out it was a bolt of some kind, see below.

So, I quickly put up my smaller 2 person back up/emergency tent (wanted to see if it was still OK, as it hadn’t been out of its bag for a while), unloaded everything and changed to the spare. I carry a proper full-sized spare – NOT one of those silly “space saver” tyres. First thing I bought when I initially purchased the car. Also, a proper jack, etc. The normal supply on new cars these days seems to be just a small air compressor and a bottle of liquid polymer tyre sealant. Absolutely useless if the puncture is a slash on the tyre wall IMHO. Apparently all done to save weight, space and cost – but my car still had a full-sized cavity built into the bodywork to accommodate a full sized spare !!!!! No logic there……

Anyway, after a few phone calls, I located a new tyre (they are an uncommon low profile size/aspect ratio) at Inverness Tyres, so an early start in the morning.

Naturally enough my tent inside was a complete mess, as I’d just thrown everything in quickly. So a while to sort that out ! I’ve never been happy with the vestibule groundsheet arrangement on this Vango Omega 350 tent, despite a few Lusted modifications to make it a bit better. When I was at the CCC site at Aberlour, the lovely S. African lady on the next pitch showed me round her slightly bigger Vango Apollo 500 outfit, which seemed to have a much more satisfactory arrangement. She bought it directly from Vango, as a “recycle” for only £85 ! Might go that route myself !

Then it started to blow and rain….. A small tent with a large tent amount of kit can be a sorry place, but I settled down with a Jack Reacher novel from the campsite library.

Tyre sorting tomorrow…….

Day 25: 29 May 2026 – Tyres and more “Local Hero”

An early start to get to Inverness Tyres (funnily in Inverness) thankfully using my trusty sat-nav as it turned out to be on a remote industrial estate. The B852 road from Foyer north to Inverness was “interesting”, especially as some of the “locals” were definitely hot-footing along the road, presumably to get to work. Bit less twisty and narrow than the one from FA.

The tyre was a mess, with loose rubber granules inside, no doubt caused by the combination of heat and severe loading and running semi-flat. I got one of those looks from the tyre technician….. Throw it away ! So £105 poorer, I went down the A82 to FA again and then north along the B862 to look at the scenery at a more sedate pace. Very pretty and not too busy after 0900.

Unlike the west side (where the main road is forced to be very close to the loch itself, due to the lie of the land), the east side is very much more open and fantastically scenic. I’m sure a lot of people miss out seeing such gorgeous stuff.

One of the other places on this road I wanted to find was Loch Tarff, another location used for the film “Local Hero”. This is used for the scene where two of the main characters end up spending the night sleeping in their car, due to heavy fog making it dangerous to continue driving.
So here is it – not my photo….

Back at the campsite, it was more very strong winds, so after lunch, had a coffee, then a not-so-cheeky sleep for a while. Awoke to find that the weather had further deteriorated with the wind becoming very blustery at times – not really tourist weather this afternoon ! The resident ducks didn’t seem to mind though….

Very much slumming it in this small tent, so took time to rearrange the back of the car, sorting out spare tyre re-stowage and putting unused kit into the vehicle.Whilst all this was happening a young boy came across from the tent/family opposite me. They kindly gifted me 4 off spare disposable gas canisters, which was nice. Since they were packing up in the wet to go home, I went across and gave a hand. A very nice gesture and typical of the generosity and friendliness of camping folk – thank you !

So having fed again in the evening, I buried myself into Mr Reacher’s adventures again. You get a lot of fantastic good weather in Scotland, then you get days like this !

Day 26: 30 May 2026 – Waterfalls

Today was the last day of being a “proper” tourist – after this it was point the car southwards and home….So my plan was to “do” two waterfalls – the Falls of Foyer (just up the road from the campsite) and the Plodda Falls (1½ hours away).

To be honest, the Falls of Foyer were a bit disappointing, but I think I know why. The River Foyer was selected to provide hydroelectric power to an aluminium smelting plant located on the shores of Loch Ness, just up the road from the campsite. That plant has now closed, but the generation infrastructure is still used to generate electricity. The take-off is above the falls, therefore when electricity is being generated, the flow down the falls decreases – I must’ve hit a generating day !!!!

Plodda Falls is a completely different matter. Firstly it’s not easy to get to. You have to go to Drumnadrochit, then the A831 to near Cannich, turn off onto a narrow single track road to Tomich (which is a so called “preservation village”), then on to an extremely bumpy forest trail, which eventually takes you to the Plodda Falls car park. When I say “extremely bumpy” track, I mean 10 mph maximum for me and my car/low profile tyres. I guess with a 4×4 it would be no problem at all.

However, it’s worth it as you end up at a spectacular 46 metre waterfall “hidden within a forest of towering Douglas firs”. It’s on the edge of Glen Affric and there are several walks of differing length which I need to explore in more detail, some other time. I didn’t venture any further than the “basic” falls, as my dreaded left ankle was playing up – don’t want to get stuck in the middle of a forest on my last real day……..

What is spectacular about these falls is that there is a cantilevered platform that juts out right over the precipice, so you can get a really fantastic view of the falls, which are in several “sections”. I made several attempts at capturing it all, but didn’t quite get the whole thing in one video, so I’ll cheat and use somebody else’s photos for the lower part….

Yes very spectacular and definitely worth a return visit for the walks as well. Back to camp to start the packing and the long trek south.

Day 27: 31 May 2026 – Homeward bound – Day 1

My plan was to take three days to get home with two overnight hotel stops, firstly the Premier Inn at Milngavie and then my “usual” stop at the Travelodge at Preston Chorley.

The Scottish weather intervened and it was a wet pack up at Loch Ness. So (eventually !) it was down the A82 to Fort William, Tyndrum and Crianlarich. Despite the rubbish weather Ben Nevis (snow on the summit) and Glencoe both looked their usual magnificent selves. Thankfully though, the sun came out approaching Tyndrum. I’d planned to stop at the Real Food café (they do fantastic fish and chips !) but my late departure from Foyers meant I arrived slap bang at lunchtime – so it was full ! Groan !

Turning off to the A85, I stopped at the local SPAR for a sandwich, etc – not what I’d planned, but hey ho. The run down to Lochearnhead is through Glen Dochart and Glen Ogle, both of which are pretty pretty, even better with the sun out now. Then down the A821 (through the Q E Forest Park and past the Three Lochs Forest Drive) and the A81 to Milngavie and the Premier Inn.

In some ways it was fantastic to have really dry clothes on for a change, sit at a table to eat with a knife and fork properly and somebody else doing the cooking !! Strange how little things seem to be major requirements after 26 days camping – especially with the weather being so “unseasonal” on some days, ie wet/normal/Scottish type. I’m beginning to think that my trip to Scotland in May 2025 with 3 weeks of continuous sun was a bit of an aberration….. I was not really prepared for the very cold winds for a week or so at the beginning of this trip. Frost in Whitby in May, as well !

Day 28: 01 June 2026 – Homeward bound – Day 2

So well rested it was the next bit down to Preston. I’d planned two different routes, depending on how I felt in the morning and of course the weather !!!!!

Having selected option 2, my first stop was the Knockhill Motor Racing Circuit. Seen it frequently on the TV with the British Touring Car Championship and since I was relatively near, it was a no-brainer really. Interesting to be able to drive in and out the paddock, etc on a Monday as there was no racing on – obs !

Somewhere close was the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, but they only open on a few Sundays in the year.

So a quick dash up to the M90, across the beautiful Queensferry Crossing Bridge and then onto the M8. My sat nav then suggested I should take a cross-country route to avoid Glasgow and then connect up to the M74 lower down at junction 12. I was a bit unsure, but looking at a real map, I gave it a go.
We therefore had the pleasures of Livingston (all roundabouts, like Milton Keynes), the A704, A706, bypassing Lanark, then the A70 to the motorway. To be honest, it was surprisingly open country most of the way, including vast windfarms near Forth. Made a very welcome change from motorways……

Eventually onto the M74, A74M, M6, M61, etc. Boring, boring…… At least there was a sensible bed at the end of it as Preston.

Day 29: 02 June 2026 – Homeward bound – Day 3

The last bit back home. For some reason, I always seem to like doing this last bit at a more sedate pace, ie as little motorway as possible. This means a bit of M6, then M56 towards Chester, then off at the A49 turning to go south. Unfortunately, a big hold up on the M6, so had to divert through Warrington to pick up the A49 much earlier – oh well, another place I’ve visited !

Then my “usual” collection of towns going south, ie round Whitchurch, round Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Leominster, Hereford, then the back roads to Cinderford. I could do the last 100 miles with my eyes shut it’s so familiar…..

So there we are, another 4 weeks + exploring this wonderful country of ours. Could have done with a bit better weather, but 9 ½ out of 10 overall, me thinks.

And then, of course, there are the consequences…….

DAY 0: PROLOGUE

For a lot of good reasons (mainly connected to health issues), I’ve not been back to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) since March 2022. That trip was somewhat sorrowful, as it involved the repercussions of the unexpected sudden passing of my dear friend Heather Isobel Gordon. So this year, having got my health issues reasonably under control, I promised myself that I would visit on the anniversary of her  death, 3rd March.
I would not normally go to TRNC in March – May and/or September being much more pleasant months all round. But then……

The other somewhat surreal thing was having to make all my own travel and accommodation arrangements, etc. Previously all I had to do was to get the flight sorted out and Heather met me at the airport. I then stayed at her house ( “Heather’s Hotel” – there were always people in and out, mainly from the UK….)

It’s here that I have to say a special “thank you” to both Anne Robinson and Linda Crowe for giving me sound local information on hotels, car hire, etc. Ladies, I would’ve been struggling a bit without your valuable inputs.

Pegasus Airlines (my favourite way to fly to TRNC) now go from Bristol Airport, three times a week, which I was pleased to see, as getting to Stansted is a 4 hour draaaaaaaaag by car for me from the Forest of Dean – even trickier by train, etc.

Unfortunately, the flight days didn’t quite work out, so I ended up on Jet 2 to Antalya Airport with a connecting flight to Ercan International Airport with Turkish Airlines. Booked with Pegasus for the flight back though….

Without delving into the politics of the current situation, you cannot go directly to TRNC, due to it not having international recognition and the subsequent repercussions. Therefore it’s an international flight to Turkey, then a local “domestic” flight into TRNC.

PS: There’s quite a few Turkish place names used below, so if you want the following to make a bit more sense it might be handy to have a map of TRNC, or at least all of the island of Cyprus……

DAY 1: 27 February 2026 – Plane number one

So bright and early (at the intensely silly early hour of 0400) it’s a drive to Bristol Airport and then a booked space in the Silver Zone car park – the first of a few firsts on this trip ! It all worked very well, especially since it was so early. I unashamedly used my “old man – first time here” status at the car park Reception. Help was instantly available. Then a few minutes in the bus to the terminal.

Since my last time in Bristol Airport (see my post “To France – by bus”, September 2024), they’ve opened up a transport hub, much better than the somewhat undignified scramble in front of the terminal building. However….. it’s not joined directly to the terminal building under cover, so still a chance to get wet if raining – strange that.
I’ve never flown with Jet 2, but check in was very efficient, with plenty of people floating around to assist – needed at that time of the morning !

I was guided to one desk with a slightly older person in charge, who was surrounded by a bevvy of young girls, who were obviously under training and “shadowing” her every move – bit of fun in the early morning to be part of a tutorial !!! How did they ever manage to get up that early ?????? I wished them well.

Naturally, I was WAY, WAY too early, so had time to read some of Mr Osman’s “Thursday Murder Club” novel. It’s always tricky about journey’s to airports. One false move on the motorway and your “puncture time” disappears immediately- better be early that late……

More fun in going through Fast Track security. I had expected to be asked to remove my new walking boots, due to the support metal, but I was also subjected to a full body scan and search.
Much to my amusement (?) I was also asked to dig out my Tesco shampoo from my carry-on luggage, as the new (obviously very sensitive) scanning system showed an anomaly. The young lady in charge took a sample and plugged it into some sophisticated spectrograph machinery. Obviously a nul result. Apparently (I found out later), you can get cocaine in semi-liquid form which sort of resembles shampoo – every day a school day……..
I guess they were not very busy that morning or I’ve suddenly started to look like a drug smuggler. Alternatively, I probably looked so innocent that I MUST INDEED BE a drug smuggler !!!!

Flight left on time but was looooooooooong, 4 ½ hours to Antalya – dozed a bit, read a bit. As ever, I was grateful for the extra leg room by the emergency exits – always worth paying the extra. A quiet couple next to me, but the guy across the aisle was chatty. He was in some form of maintenance function on heavy machinery – small world !

Plane arrived on time at Antalya at Terminal 2 (another first, never been to this airport before). The terminal was eerily empty – bet it’s busting busy in the summer …..

I had been warned by Anne/Linda that the onward flight to TRNC might go from Terminal 1 (the domestic terminal), which is a taxi ride away on the other side of the airport. Luckily my Turkish Airlines flight went from T2 – a bonus, no taxi required- but maybe they treat connecting flights like that as sort of still international ? Apparently different in the summer.

Then it was on to one of Turkish Airlines old Boeing 737’s to endure an hour of “cattle class” to TRNC – 100 % crammed full…
Before that, however, I’d gone through two (or was it 3 ?) lots of security equipment, each pulling up a different thing, eg walking boots, watch, etc.

It’s always wise to allow a minimum of 2 hours between flights (on a “just in case of incoming flight delay” basis), on this journey, so a bit more waiting around again…. There’s also a time anomaly, in that mainland Turkey does not recognise a change in the clocks in summer, whereas TRNC does ! So three changes of time zone in one day…….

The new airport building at Ercan in TRNC is HUGE, not been through it before. I mean HUGE and empty….. My taxi driver was waiting. His name is Ozcan and turned out to be the father-in-law of the guy who sorted out my car hire (Tahir) from Karapasha and Sons. Nice clean Ford mini-coach.

I had originally elected to pick up the car at the airport, but changed my mind, as a strange car at night after a long messy flight, on not very familiar roads would have been a bit foolhardy.

The new connecting road to the new airport building was OK, but turning north onto the road to Kyrenia proved that things had not really changed in the intervening years. Same old, same old bumpy road (mainly caused by the wear and tear of laden lorries from the quarry pounding the tarmac, especially in the summer, when it melts in the high temperatures) into the mountain pass and on to the other side.
Ozcan’s English was OK, just as well as my Turkish is nil ! I found out that the work to upgrade the road down into Kyrenia was not really progressing, as the available money was being spent elsewhere – as I was to find out later in the week.

Eventually we arrived at my hotel (Shayna Beach Club), at the same time as the hire car, which was convenient…

The Finnish reception lady (she’d lived in TRNC for 9 years) was very helpful, as I was on my knees – 15 hours door to door….. I had paid extra for a big sea view room with a balcony. On first impression it was very luxurious with a HUGE bed, walk in shower etc. As big as my lounge/diner at home !

From the balcony I could see that the sea was boiling – it was very windy but beautiful. Never seen the sea like that in my previous trips to TRNC… It was still a bit the same in the morning.

 

The hotel is relatively new, having recently been completely rebuilt. The restaurant had been there before, so they just shoved a hotel on top of it. I had been there with Heather and others on previous trips, so it did look familiar.
My first port of call was the bar – for a very welcome and very large Turkish EFES beer. Wonderful.
Off to bed, lots to sort out tomorrow…..

DAY 2: 28 February 2026 – Re-charge day

Late-ish start to the day.
The sea had settled down a bit but was still rough. Sun was shining though…….

Obviously not knowing the system for breakfast, I was presented with a card which had only Turkish or full English as the options. Had to go with the Turkish…. Wow, the size of that breakfast (see pic below). That would keep me going all day – and chips !

First thing required was a “re-charge” walk after all that aircraft inactivity. So I decided to walk to the local cemetery to check on Heather’s grave, so I could report back to her sister Ursula, who lives in France. All seemed in order.

Back to the hotel for a snooze, then coffee, then out in the car to find petrol, then a decent florist. After a few false starts, I found Kameyla – the Vintage Florist, on the way into town. (Turns out it’s the florist that Anne uses….). Very helpful girl gave me prices, etc, for my meeting with Anne/Linda tomorrow, me returning on the Monday to sort things out.

Eating in the hotel tonight. It’s very nice but a mite expensive. The restaurant has a good reputation for seafood apparently. Judging by the number of high-end cars stuffed in the car park it must be good. Very busy with families as well, which apparently is the “thing” in TRNC at the weekend.

Car from Karapasha seems OK, it’s an automatic Matiz of some kind. A few scratches, but hey this is TRNC…… Photo’s taken, as per standard practice.

Driving is fun here. I’d forgotten the technique of barging in when joining a stream of traffic from a side road, but soon got back into the swing of things. Number plates for hire cars are red here, so locals know who the visitors are. Not sure if that is a good thing or bad, ie are they a bit more tolerant or do they take advantage – the jury is out on that one !

DAY 3: 1 March 2026 – Rainy day in paradise ?

Woke up to the sound of rain – proper British rain – absolutely pissing down !

Somewhere yesterday I seem to have given my ankle a twiddle , bit of a stumble rather than a fall. Anyway, full chemicals and Deep Heat treatment…..

Met up with the “girls” (Anne and Linda) at Sah Supermarket café for coffee and cakes, mainly to discuss what we might do for Tuesday 3rd, floral tributes, etc. Great to meet them again. We just dropped into conversation as if the 4 years gap had not occurred. Lots of reminiscing, centred on Heather, not unnaturally.

After having sorted out our “action plan”, I decided to go to Bellapais, up in the hills. Unfortunately, they’re doing major roadworks on the main road into town and I either missed the turning or they’d taken the sign down – oh well. Still had a good run through the villages away from the coast.

DAY 4: 2 March 2026 – Florist and Karapasha coffee

Feeling a bit cold this morning, so must be going “native” already…..

First stop was the florist to sort out flowers, wreaths, etc for tomorrow.

Then on the car hire office ( Karapasha and Sons) for a coffee – Turkish of course. Nice to meet Tahir in person, after all our electronic exchanges. Very nice fella, whose English puts me to shame about my lack of Turkish. Talked about all sorts of things, including the new situation in Iran – Cyprus is not that far away from the action…..

Having got correct directions from Tahir, I actually got to Bellapais. It’s one of my favourite villages in TRNC, although a bit of a tourist trap in summer. It’s famous for its stunning, surprisingly well-preserved 13th-century Gothic abbey, panoramic Mediterranean views, and its association with British author Lawrence Durrell, who chronicled his life there in the 1950s book, “Bitter Lemons”.

It is considered “a picturesque village, renowned for its peaceful atmosphere, medieval charm, and the legendary Tree of Idleness”. I agree, although the Tree was looking a bit sad, having had its major winter prune.

Having spent a while walking around, I adjourned to a restaurant called Kybele, which has fantastic views across to the coast. For some reason, I’ve never been here before (another first then to add to the list….) so settled into the corner table to have lunch. A beautiful Spring-like day today, a bit breezy but warm enough to be very pleasant. Aaaaah…… very relaxing and obviously not very busy at this time of the year. Bliss….

In the afternoon, I drove along the coast road eastwards towards Esentepe, just to see what was going on. As Anne had warned me, there’s been a tremendous amount of new concrete been poured into new “resorts”, blocks of apartments, etc. every few miles, but the road was as “wavey” and winding as ever. Shame really, as the scenery is dramatic and should not be overwhelmed by development. But hey, money talks…..

Note to self: I’m eating much too much, especially at breakfast, must try and cut back a bit.

DAY 5:  3 March 2026 – HIG Remembrance Day 

Anniversary of Heather’s passing.
Having collected the flowers, we all met up at the cemetery. Unfortunately, Linda is somewhat immobile, having had several hip operations, so Anne and I did the honours, sorted out the water pots, etc. with help from the groundsman.

All looked very nice. Stayed to have a bit of a chat. Heather was one of those people who went much, much too early. We all miss her dreadfully, she had a great influence on all of us. She was the guiding influence of the “Golden Girls” group of local UK ex-pat ladies, which included Anne and Linda, amongst others.

After that, we all adjourned to the Red Ribbon Restaurant (one of Heather’s favourites) for an early lunch. Joined by Anne’s husband Trevor. Naturally, I had “todays special” which turned out to be the biggest piece of macaroni pie I’ve ever seen in my life – I mean ENORMOUS !!!!

We spent a very amicable lunch reminiscing and also talking about all of our various medical matters – typical “oldie” conversations !

Trevor is still surprised that I remember how he helped me out in 2022 regarding an additional week’s parking at Stansted Airport Parking. What he doesn’t realise is that he got me out of a very, very deep hole and was able to pay for the extra week on my behalf. I’d been unable to contact the company from TRNC, mainly because their listed phone number turned out to be incorrect. He just happened to be in the UK, so was able (somehow) to pay for that extra time.

Somewhere in the conversation,  Trevor and I have agreed to have a boy’s day out later in the week and visit Varosha (or Maras in Turkish), which is a deserted “ghost town” in the southern quarter of Famagusta. Another first !
I must say I was a bit sceptical, but I was assured I would find it interesting, especially as it had only relatively recently been opened up for tourists. We shall see.

DAY 6: 4 March 2026 –  Ankle and ice

After all of yesterday’s emotionally charged goings on, I decided to have a quiet day in my room, especially as the left ankle was playing up. Lovely lady in reception sorted some ice out for me and also checked that planes were still taking off as scheduled from Ercan (in the light of Mr Trump’s and Mr Netanyahu’s “operation” against Iran).

In the afternoon I went for a drive up to the Besparmak Mountains, where I have often done the circular walk around the Five Fingers Mountain – but not today unfortunately !

Adjacent is the Buffavento Restaurant, where I have often eaten after the walk. Panoramic views as well. You go past it when you come from the airport on the road into Kyrenia. Ozcan had said it was shut permanently.

As I parked up, two more cars appeared with the occupants going into the restaurant, which was definitely NOT shut ! Heating stove was on, TV news blaring and definitely someone in attendance. I didn’t stop, as I wanted to drive up to Buffavento Castle. That didn’t work for me as the road had got very bad over the winter and I chickened out as I was not feeling 100 % well and/or confident with a strange car.

Back on the coast, I popped into a pharmacy to get more pain killers and arnica (very expensive !!!!) for the ankle. More ice supplied by reception…..

Mid afternoon, ankle seemed not to be responding, so asked Anne/Linda’s advice from regarding A + E , etc, just in case. I was pointed towards using Voltaren (which turned out to be re-named Voltarol, another first – never used it in the UK), which apparently has a pain killer included. So I scuttled off to another pharmacy, got the gel and slathered that on the offending limb.

Ate in the hotel. I had forgotten the TRNC habit of bringing out the appetisers and the main course almost simultaneously… The fish was beautiful and the hummus more “lemon-y“ than the one I make at home. Still very tasty though.

More ankle treatment tonight. I doubt that the Five Fingers walking circuit will see me this trip…… Shame, as it had become a sort of ritual, every time I come to TRNC.

DAY 7: 5 March 2026 –  Driving around

Thankfully, I awake to find the ankle swelling has subsided a lot, so the combination of ice, Voltaren, etc has really worked – good !

Today is a trip west, with the target being the lighthouse at Akrotirio Kormakitis, followed by a visit to another of my favourite place at Kozan,“home” of the Kozan Experience – see below.

The area west of Kyrenia (including towns like Lapta and Alsancak) was the first area developed for modern tourism, although it has a long history as a key settlement and was one of the earliest areas developed for coastal tourism, in the 1970s. Following the 1974 division, Lapta was identified as an important tourism region for Turkish Cypriots. While it was not the first place overall (Famagusta and Kyrenia were dominant), it has developed into a major centre for coastal tourism, known for beaches, restaurants, and hotels.

It’s all definitely well developed, a bit too much in my opinion….. I’m sure the dual carriageway has got longer since my last visit and the TRNC Transport Department seems to have discovered roundabouts – a lot more that I remember from before !

Anyway, after a village called Karsiyake (around 20 miles west of Kyrenia) it was onto the rough old coastal road going west, partly tarmac, but mostly just compacted stone – and dusty ! The road itself has been extensively widened and re-engineered, so I guess this is the next area for development. Shame, as it’s stunningly beautiful. Sorry about lack of pictures but lots of concentration required, as there were no guard rails on the majority of the road and pretty steep descents into the sea if it all went wrong……

I didn’t get all the way to the lighthouse, as the car seemed to develop a bit of a rough rotating noise, which wasn’t to my liking. Could be a wheel bearing or a tyre or something… I’d not noticed it before as I had the windows open, but I’d closed them for the dust. In view of the trip tomorrow, I decided to get back to Karapasha and change cars, just in case. Would be a bit embarrassing to break down on the way !

Tahir at Karapasha was OK about it, no issue, probably a tyre. I would have been happy with another of the same type, but he decided to upgrade me to a Toyota Auris automatic – “ better for you as you are a tall guy”. No complaints from me… Also, he delivered it to the hotel as well – what a nice chap.

I struggled a bit with the keyless start (another first !) initially, but was soon back on the road, this time going west towards Guzelyurt on the excellent dual carriageway (built for easy troop movements ????), with a view to going north towards Camlibel and the Gecitloy Dam/Panagra Dam (very pretty surroundings with plenty of picnic places) and eventually to Kozan. The dam  (completed in 2014) acts as the primary reservoir for water transferred from Turkey via underwater pipes, primarily serving the Kyrenia District for irrigation and water supply.

I missed the turning to Kozan somehow, so back to the hotel. It was getting dark and I have to say that the car lights were pretty terrible, but I got back in one piece

Salami roll from the supermarket for dinner…….

DAY 8: 6 March 2026 – Varosha/Maras with Trevor

Boy’s day out !

We set off on the main road to Famagusta, with Trevor educating me about the TRNC speed cameras. They are very sneaky and not very obvious, being just a small camera perched on top of a non-descript grey painted pole – not like the big boxes we have in the UK !

To be honest there’s plenty of signs warning of a camera coming up, so no excuses really. I wonder if I transgressed at all or was Trevor’s prompting 100 % accurate ? I didn’t spot them at first, but soon learnt what to look for. Something else that’s been introduced since last time I was here in 2022…… Apparently, they check visitors for outstanding speeding fines as they leave the country – I didn’t get stopped……

With Trevor’s excellent guidance, we got to the designated car park by the entrance for Varosha/Maras, having partly circumnavigated the well preserved Venetian-era city walls, that surround the Old Town of Famagusta.

Entrance is free, but “no drones” as there is still a Turkish Military presence within the opened up town.

Well, all I can say is that it was a very weird experience walking through this empty town. Anne and Trevor have been here several times before. It’s apparently a lot tidier than when first opened. The local council seemed to have taken the initiative and organised all sorts of transport for visitors, eg bikes, beach buggy type things (pedal powered), electric scooters, etc. There are also circulating min-busses as well – we walked…..

It’s hard to imagine that it was once a trendy sort of a place in the 60’s/70’s, on a par with places like Monaco.

It turned into “ghost town” after its Greek Cypriot population fled during the 1974 Turkish intervention. Formerly a premier Mediterranean luxury resort, it remained fenced off and derelict under Turkish military control for decades before partially opening to tourists as a restricted, “dark tourism” site in 2020.

It was seen as the “Monaco of the Mediterranean” in the 1960s and early 1970s, and was a glamorous tourist destination favoured by celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Brigitte Bardot.

During the Turkish intervention in Cyprus, 40,000 residents fled in panic, anticipating a swift return. The town was fenced off by the Turkish military, leading to decades of decay, with buildings slowly collapsing and nature reclaiming the area.

In 2020 and 2021, the government of Northern Cyprus opened parts of the city, allowing visitors to walk or cycle along main roads and visit the beach. While some areas have been cleaned, many structures remain damaged, bullet-ridden, or derelict.

Visitors can see abandoned hotels, shops, and houses. The area is still largely managed under the control of Turkish armed forces and is considered a “military restricted zone” in some areas. The UN has previously decreed that Varosha should be resettled only by its original inhabitants, but it remains a point of high tension between the Republic of Cyprus and TRNC.

It’s partly gone back to its original seaside purpose, as changing rooms, and showers have been built for families, etc to enjoy the beach in the summer season – all in all a good family day out.

Below is what that same  beach looked like in the 70’s, apparently…. Looking at the right hand photo above, you can just see the same hotel on the extreme right in the distance.

There’s lots of well-known name signs (eg Toyota, Barclays Bank, BEA – Trevor says there used to be more but it seems senseless vandalism exists here too) and some of the buildings (especially the concrete ones) have survived remarkably well and could be perhaps refurbished and opened again.

Some of the older ones are in such a state that demolition and a rebuild would be the only answer. IF (an enormous if) the town is eventually resurrected, I hope they will retain the architecture of the older buildings and get rid of some of the concrete monstrosities. A big problem will be re-establishment of the water, sewage and electricity systems. Can you imagine what they must be like now after so long ????

There’s also a lot of notice boards around indicating the issues regarding ownership of land, etc. I guess that such matters will not be readily solved in the current political situation.
One or two of the hotels on the seafront still bear the scars of heavy machine gun hits, where the two armies battled for supremacy. I had to be a bit discreet taking the pic below, as we were still quite near to the army camp. That’s why it looks a bit wobbly…

Altogether amazing, just amazing. I was just blown away by it all. However, such a shame that it all came to this derelict situation, as it must’ve been a pretty amazing place in its heyday.

Thank you Trevor for being an extra-good informative guide.

For lunch, we went to a place called Petek Pastahanesi, upstairs, in the sun. What Trevor didn’t tell me was that it was attached to the most incredible patisserie I’ve ever seen…. Really just incredible sweets and cakes, enough for at least a dozen heart attacks….

It did solve one problem for me in that I could buy Turkish Delight for my neighbour Sally, who keeps an eye on my house while I’m away. I didn’t take any pictures (overwhelmed with the stuff on offer in the showcases) but you can see what I mean by looking at their website (click on the link above). Incredible.

Got Trevor back in one piece OK. Early night, as I’d decided to
go up to the Karpaz for the day. This is the “wild” bit, which forms the handle of the pan-shape that is the island of Cyprus.

DAY 9: 7 March 2026 – The Karpaz

Another fine day, sunny with a bit of breeze – ideal for travelling. Normally, I would’ve gone along the old coast road, but I was told that the time needed to get to Dipkarpaz had been dramatically cut “using the new road”.

What new road ? I soon found it, after having taken an incorrect turning at Kaplica. All very new, wide and very fast, lots of money been spent, presumably to make it better for all travellers to the Karpaz, both local and tourist. It runs from just north east of Kaplica all the way to beyond Yeni Erencoy – thankfully bypassing the latter town, which is a bit twisty and narrow for decent sized buses and lorries.

Most of this day was planned to be a bit nostalgic and to go places previously visited that had some sort of meaning or were just great places to go to !

First on the list was a hotel that used to be called Club Malibu Beach, located on the coast just past Yeni Erenkoy. Now changed its ownership and its name, now Club di Mare. I’ve stayed there a couple of times. It used to be a favourite haunt of Heather and her friends. I didn’t stop, as it looked completely shut down (too early in the season ?) and I wanted to get on, but happy memories……

Further up the road, just on the outskirts of Dipkarpaz/ Rizokarpaso I diverted down to the coast to a place called Agios Filon. Right on the seafront is a café/restaurant called Oasis at Ayfilon. It’s a rustic, family-run guesthouse and restaurant set on a low cliff above a small sandy cove.
You have to follow the well positioned green arrows, otherwise it would be very easy to take a wrong turning in the maze of back streets.
It offers “simple, rustic bedrooms (only 6–10 units) designed for a “no-frills” getaway. Rooms are equipped with air conditioning/fans, free WiFi, and balconies with sea views”.

The open air restaurant (not open air today due to the wind) serves fresh fish, Turkish mezes, and traditional local cuisine and is “particularly popular for its sunset views over the Mediterranean” . I’ve eaten there several times, but today it was just a coffee. Too early in the season for baklava as well…. I was the only customer/traveller around and frankly was surprised to find the place open…..

Onward…..
The road from Dipkarpaz to the Monastry is a revalation ! From the Blue Sea Hotel onwards, it was previously definitely rough, winding, not very wide and in very poor condition. In comparison to my last visit it’s a motorway now, with two cars able to pass sensibly, as it’s been considerably widened all along its length. I think the government was semi-shamed into doing something about it, as the road leads to two of the most famous tourist attractions in TRNC, the Apostolos Andreas Monastery and the seemingly endless and still unspoilt Golden Beach.

The monastery is situated just south of Cape Apostolos Andreas, the north-easternmost point of the island of Cyprus. It is dedicated to Saint Andrew and is an important site for the Cypriot Orthodox Church. Bus loads of pilgrims fill the vast car park, even in low season, like now. I’ve been in it previously and I have to say that the restoration is pretty awesome, even for a heathen like myself….

Golden Beach stretches for about four kilometres and is, along with other sand beaches in the Karpaz, an important nesting area for sea turtles.

One of the beach-side cafe’s I’ve been to is called Hasan’s, but it was all closed up this early in the season. The track down from the road is a bit rough and I think I did the car’s front spoiler a bit of a mischief over the bumps. It was either there or further along the road at the only public toilets available, dropping off the new tarmac onto the rough earth carpark. Oh dear…….

Anyway, one of the best viewpoints to see Golden Beach is from the Big Sand Beach Café, perched on a hill with a panoramic view of the beach.

Again, I was the only customer, although another car rolled up just as I left.
After a quick ham toastie and a can of Sprite, it was off further west towards the monastery, avoiding the feral donkeys as much as possible. They have a well-practiced ability to stop the traffic and demand to be fed before you can move on.

At the monastery, I inspected the car and decided not to continue on the 4 kilometres of well-rutted dirt road up to the furthest west point of the island. Wanted to get back to civilisation in one piece….. It will still be there next time.

Returning to Dipkarpaz, I topped up the petrol, then dropped down to the southern coast road via Yeni Erencoy and Bogaz to Isikele, then turned inland to Gecitkale, through the mountains, arriving back on the northern coast road near Tatlisu. Then a short drive back to my hotel.
In the evening, it was a jolly dinner with Anne, Trevor, Linda and Yvonne at the local Indian restaurant (Indian Garden), just a quick 10 minutes walk from my hotel. Nice curry too, with big portions, so plenty of doggy bags….. It was obvious that Anne/Trevor frequent the place quite often, as they seemed to have a good rapport with the owner/chef and the other staff. Must visit again…..

DAY 10: 8 March 2026 – St Hilarion castle and Kozan

One of my walking objectives was to “do” one of the several mountain top castles in TRNC, so I selected St Hilarion. Its location provided the castle with command of the pass road through the mountains from Kyrenia to Nicosia. It is the best preserved ruin of the three former strongholds in the Kyrenia mountains, the other two being Kantara and Buffavento.

Having paid my 150TL, I attempted to get to the top, (sticks and all) but only managed ¾ of the way up. Left ankle started to complain, so discretion came into play. I’ve been up to the top previously, so wasn’t going to miss too much.

There were a couple of coaches in the miniscule car park, full of what I ascertained later as German tourists. What was quite fun was that the TRNC tour guide was doing the commentary in English ! Internationalism, eh ?

I’d previously failed to find the road to Kozan (also confusingly called Kozankoy on some of the road direction signs) from the northern coast road, so went down the southbound route through Camlibel and turned north just after Ozhan. Thankfully, it all looked quite familiar from previous trips (including going past a big army camp – another one, they are all over TRNC….) and eventually I reached Kozan.

The village itself is set half way up a mountain and from the state of the block set road, there had been plenty of water down into the village over the winter. The very winding and precipitous single track road is worth the effort, as the view south from the village is pretty stupendous. See video below.

My main aim was to get to the Kozan Experience, a “popular scenic destination known for its stunning mountain ridge views to the north, a traditional Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant, and rustic charm. Located within a pine forest, it offers horse riding, hiking, camping, and a peaceful picnic area”.

I’d been there a couple of times before, once on a jeep safari and once by myself. Still a bit early in the season, so it was only “kleftiko Sunday” as far as available food was concerned. Normally there is an outside bbq oven on the go continuously. After a coffee, I followed the road back down to the northern coast, following a local guy who seemed to know where he was going, eventually ending up roughly where I had missed the turning previously !

This Toyota is full of tricks… Apart from the non-key start, it also had the ability to open the driver’s door (if you had the fob close) by just touching the door handle – all a bit weird for me…. Just to provide more amusement, the wing mirrors stopped retracting automatically when locking the car. Eventually, I discovered a very small button on the dash, which restored full function. I must’ve hit it with my knee/leg at some point – didn’t want to have to explain that as well to Tahir tomorrow.……

Plan to have a lazy day tomorrow, as it’s a VERY EARLY start (0130) Tuesday for the flight home.

DAY 11: 9 March 2026 – Quiet day

After my “adventures” with the car in the Karpaz, Trevor volunteered to come and have a quick look and assess the damage, based on his knowledge of “local conditions” relating to hire cars – hopefully !

He thought the damage was relatively superficial and that there won’t be an issue. He did add that in his experience vehicle maintenance for hire cars in TRNC was, at the best, a little slap-dash…….

With some trepidation I drove to the Karapasha office admit to my car damaging sins. Tahir was good about it – “we fix, no problem” was (thankfully) his response, also adding that car damage like this was seen as part of the car hire day-to-day scenario. He must’ve forgiven me as he then made me a coffee and we talked about the world again….. Wonder if he would have been so accommodating in high season ????? So thankfully no money had to change hands, much to my relief !

Bit lazy for the rest of the day, doing my packing and all sorts of related stuff.

Anne and Trevor came to dinner at the hotel. They obviously know the head waiter/manager Sammy (Sami ?) very well. It turns out he did some of his training in Tunbridge Wells – my home town, small world. He couldn’t remember where, claiming it was a long time ago, but I think that was a bit of a diplomatic response…..

An inspection of my room was then requested, as Anne had obviously never been in any of the hotel rooms, since they live very close by. I think she had been a little nervous about recommending Shayna “ sight unseen”, but was pretty impressed with the room.

Having said my goodbye’s I tried to get a few hours sleep, as I knew it would be a long day tomorrow…

DAY 12: 10 March 2026 – Travel back to UK

Travel back day….
Ozcan arrived spot on 0130 and the guy collecting my hire car arrived with him.
Obviously no delays on the road at that time in the morning, so arrived in plenty of time for my 0425 flight. Two lots of security – one on the way in to the terminal and the other after passport control – different things made the alarm go off, strange….

With time to spare, I had a browse round the shops and bought a Cyprus fridge magnet for one of the guys in my Monday walking group – special request. Not much open for breakfast at that time in the morning, so I was looking forward to my meal on the second flight. This time it was Pegasus Airlines all the way to Bristol, so no mucking about changing airlines, recovering baggage, checking in again, etc. Naturally, the flight departed from the furthest away gate you could think of…..anyway, needed the exercise….

The flight from Ercan  (ECN) to Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW in airport tag terms) on mainland Turkey was busting full, very “ cattle class” configuration ( again !), but thankfully only 1 hr 40 mins.
On arrival at SAW, I thought that the terminal was a lot busier than I expected at this time of the year, but I guess a lot of people were leaving the Middle East because of the Iran war. SAW is a big hub, so there were flights all over Europe and the Scandinavian countries. No panic though, but definitely VERY MUCH MORE BUSY….

The departure gate got changed at the last minute and moved all the way to the end of gates used to transport passengers out to aircraft further out on the apron by bus. Just to add more “hilarity”, I got stopped by the police and they did a quick drug wipe on my carry-on bags. See ? It must be me…… I was last onto the bus because of that, got a few dirty looks from the passengers already waiting – “ not my fault”…

It was noticeable that we travelled quite a way out to our plane, passing loads of now unused aircraft, parked up as many flights further east had obviously been stopped.
After what seemed like ages, we eventually got to “our” A320 plane, which turned out to be only 20/25 % full. I had 3 seats to myself ! Most welcome for a flight time of 4 ½ hours. The cabin crew must’ve been overjoyed with so few on board to look after.
My breakfast cold plate tray arrived. Usual struggle with aircraft food packaging in a restricted space, but we managed. Nice fresh coffee though.

All in all the flight was supremely uneventful. Seemingly long walk at Bristol to the terminal from the arrival gate, but sort of welcome after being cooped up for so long.
One advantage in coming from Turkey is that you do not have all this new photograph and fingerprinting malarkey to content with, as Turkey is not in the Schengen area. So straight to the e-gates, which, miraculously, worked faultlessly first time (yet another first for me – this is a journey that keeps giving !!!!), followed closely with rescuing my baggage almost instantly as well – one advantage of a part full plane, I guess.

My good luck continued, as the bus to the Silver Zone was ready and waiting. Just a quick 10 minute trip to the Reception, keys made available in super efficient quick time and I was away out the airport in less than 30 minutes after landing – astounding !

As expected, the car stank of jet fuel (parking is adjacent to the flight path), so windows open.. I was glad of that as I was beginning to flag a bit. No issues driving home either .
So it was straight in the front door, upstairs and a hour’s kip before anything else. All in all it had been 15 travel hours door to door. OK probably 3 hours of that time was waiting in terminals, but still a long day for an old fella like me……

DAY 13: 11 March 2026 – Recovery

Not a lot happening today, except for a bit of washing…….. All in all, an excellent trip, although I just wish access to TRNC was a bit less onerous/tedious, but I guess direct flights won’t happen in my lifetime…..Politics and all that.

Seemed like a good idea to start the New Year with something “sensible” to celebrate my birthday. I’d noticed that the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway  (GWR) was running a series of Mince Pie Specials and that the last day was 4th January 2026 – my birthday, very fortuitous ! Also, I’d arranged to have tea with my cousin Hilary who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve, not a million miles away from the railway…. Haven’t seen her for a few years.

The railway runs for 14 miles from adjacent to the Cheltenham Race Course up as far as Broadway.

So on a cold and frosty morning (literally) I fronted up to catch the 12 noon train, knowing full well that it would be crowded with families, as it was the last day of the Christmas school holidays – ho hum….

It certainly was a bit nippy and everybody seemed to congregate near the Waiting Room, probably to get a bit warm….

What I didn’t realise that we were in for a bit of a treat in that the train was double headed, with both 6880 Betton Grange and 4079 Pendennis Castle both employed. I have a feeling though that one loco was only there to provide the steam for the carriage steam heating, but hey, still good to see them both. Strictly speaking though, Betton Grange is not all original, receiving  around 50 % “re-cycled” parts from other life-expired similar locomotives. It first steamed in 2024. Whatever…..

So off we went to Broadway. I was a bit sceptical about this mince pie thing, but my fellow travellers on the same table came back with some, so I attacked the buffet car. Revealing it was my birthday, I was given double rations – thank you GWR!

Lots of people seemed to be only going one way, so I decided to move to an available  comfy single seat for the return journey.

Arriving back at the Racecourse, it was into the car and off to my cousins for a cuppa. She’s a year and a few days older than me, so has already passed the 80th birthday mark. Haven’t seen her for a good many years, so that was all a kinda nice end to the day.

On the way home, it started snowing……..