21/7/26 Edinburgh to Nottingham

 

Today we leave Edinburgh , not before one short look around some of the city while we wait for our train to York , then Nottingham . Here's another view of Edinburgh Castle & the Tattoo seating . The tudor style buildings look like toys .

This is looking back towards the Scottish National Galleries again , with the very dry park below .

This is a gothic Monument to Sir Walter Scott , built in 1844 . In the foreground is a statue of David Livingstone an explorer and missionary .

      Sir Walter Scott statue - looks to be thinking " they've done it again haven't they "

Buildings close in on a tiny alleyway .

 

There's arches over bridges , roads above roads , an interesting stroll around .

A castle turret caught my eye and the camera's .

 Inside the train station , this is in the waiting room

This is out in the station itself 

We caught our train and made it to York where we had to change trains to continue on to Nottingham . We had a great conversation with a gentleman on the platform , turns out we were also sitting opposite him on the trip to York , so that was informative for us . He was a nice person , carrying Lyns suitcase onto and off the train again at York - a gentleman indeed !!

This is at York Railway Station .

We arrived at Nottingham , grabbed some food and then a taxi to our apartment for the next 3 nights . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1xesMbwyW_9ilyY8b-GRzKp3b0Emuaj0&usp=sharing

20/7/26 Falkirk Wheel

 

      From the engineering marvel that the Forth bridges are , to another piece of Scottish Engineering . Today it's the Falkirk Wheel , a rather large device to raise and lower canal boats from one level to another. We got the train to Haymarket , then another to Falkirk / Grahamstown , before a bus , then a walk beside a canal , over the canal and we were there . It connects the Forehand Clyde Canals with the Union Canal .3 canalboats were in the canal as we crossed over to the wheel . The process begins with a left turn into a loch , that then elevates the boats to another larger body of water , that's used for an amusement park as well as the transport route . 

Here's the wheel , loaded up with one tour boat in the bottom and one at the top , there are docks to tie up to and there were several boats moored here . The tour boats do a roaring trade , with up to 96 people able to do a cruise and a trip up & down on the wheel , and run on the hour - at 17 pound per adult , slightly less for seniors and half price for kids over 5 , they certainly rake in some money !!

The wheel lifts passengers & boats 35m in the air and is a site to behold . The lifting /lowering process takes roughly 5 minutes from top to bottom , then there's some extra time for navigating in & out , as well as the time spent opening and closing & sealing each tub - it's quite fascinating .

We had our lunch in the shade below the upper canal and watched the event unfold in front of us .

The tubs rotated around on a wheeled track , and the large cog wheel you can see is the levelling device . There is a central cog that doesn't move and these 2 cogs on the tubs that are stationary as well . They are linked with 2 smaller cogs that run a chain between the 3 larger ones , keeping the tubs level . 

After watching this for a while we set off for the canal above , the view of which is special . 5 rings on pylons support the upper canal till the ground comes up to meet it . It doesn't end there , there's also a tunnel through the hill as well . The tour boats take you up the wheel , then through the tunnel to a turn around point , then come back again , with commentary of course . The whole thing takes approximately 50minutes . We enjoyed the walk , so we could check it out .

And from above this is the view we got , a beautiful sunny day and still conditions meant great reflections.

This is the view toward the tunnel .

This is the tunnel which you can also walk through , with a tour boat on the way back .

   We thoroughly enjoyed our wander around and taking in the views and the engineering . Heading back down to the carpark , we order a taxi to take us to The Kelpies - 2 enormous horse sculptures . In Scottish legend , these Kelpies are mythical creatures that can present themselves in any form to take away the children , but they are appearing as horses - albeit very large ones . Unfortunately for us , there was a flooding incident at The Kelpies and they'd closed it off to the public . Decision made for us , we headed back to the train station and then a bus to the apartment . The bus driver recognised us - we chatted to him at another stop when he was starting his shift a few days earlier - they are a friendly bunch here !! 👍 Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1NNVUcanwGixHqPkmBW-ROCLXLTX2KnI&usp=sharing

19/7/26 Forth Bridges

 

    Today we head into Edinburgh briefly , to get a bus out to Queensferry - on the River Forth Estuary . The Edinburgh Castle is visible from most places here .

A pleasant ride in the bus , we arrive in Queensferry and make our way down the High St and find some access to the beach??? and a few chairs to sit and take in the view . The rail bridge looks impressive so far .

The town clock rises above the High St .

The High St has an older village feel about it , with cobblestone streets , older buildings and hotels of course .

One alleyway leads us down to the boat harbour .

The rail bridge in all its glory , it's a huge structure and has a definite metallic sound whenever a train crosses it . it's 1.5 miles long and opened in 1890 - quite an engineering feat I would say back then .

This is the boat harbour - low tide of course , we sat at the end of the wall with our lunch .

Looking back at the High St shops etc from the harbour wall - great picture for a car ad .

Just to give you some scale to the bridge , that's a tour boat coming back to the pier . Inchgarvie Island and castle are in the background .

    Some more scale for the bridge , if you look below the bridge , just to the right of the concrete base there is a small runabout - just above the runabout are several kayakers !! This bridge is enormous !!

    Further to the west are 2 road bridges , both in use . The closer one is Forth Rd bridge and opened in 1964 and is 1.5miles long , the 2nd more modern is the Queensferry Crossing bridge , opening in 2017 - it is 1.7 miles long .

   We headed back to Edinburgh and back to the apartment , after a nice morning/ afternoon . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1x9XRJeKnPbzkhIz0VHg8LSnkzVz7cAQ&usp=sharing

18/7/26 Waters of Leith

 

  After the Royal Mile yesterday , we decided to have a quiet day , opting for a walk around the local area . There's some interesting stuff out here at Slateford , starting with the Aqueduct . It's a cast iron trough 500ft long designed to carry the Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal over the Water of Leith ( the creek below ) .

Beside it , there's another bridge for the railway lines .

To top it off , there's a walkway that runs alongside the canal that allows for a peaceful walk away from the road traffic . It's well used , we met probably 20 people , dogs & bikes on our short trip along it .

And what a great place for photos .

   There's also a variety of flowers growing beside the canal , here's a couple of them .

  We left the canal to visit a shop to replace our leaking cold pack , then continued our walk down some quiet streets . There were some impressive gardens and flowers . The residents here certainly love their yards .

Here's just some of the flowers out at the moment .

A small black flower , no bigger than a 20cent coin .

Roses are everywhere .

This small tree was magnificent , covered in pink blooms .

A smaller variety .

And another rose .

Back for lunch before we headed out again in the afternoon , this time to walk alongside the Water of Leith , flowing through some lovely forested areas beside all the houses .

We are probably at our most relaxed out in the bush , so this was a pleasant walk . Moss covered trees & rocks indicate how damp & cool this area normally is - we have struck it lucky with the weather so far dodging the heat waves further south of us , although everything is very dry here at the moment as well .

There's still water flowing down the creek ( they'll hate it being called a creek ) 

   The track took us up to a bridge over the creek and then we turned to follow it back down the other side . There is a walled garden further down that we couldn't access , but we walked around most of it , thanks to  a minor navigation error and a locked gate . The gate being open would've saved us another 1klm or so as we had to back track and get back to a street before returning down the main road . Another day done nicely , here's a map link :-  https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1hggBjUp4n59ryI8Gpxnu9UyqalEqfMY&usp=sharing

17/7/26 Edinburgh Royal Mile

   Today we headed into Edinburgh for a look at the Royal Mile - a stretch of road link inking Edinburgh Castle on the hill to Hollywood Castle at the lower end of the street . We caught the bus in and got off still in the city and walked down to our start point , Hollyrood Castle .  The next photo is of the Waters of Leith , which is beside and behind our apartment . A small weir catches the water and sends it cascading down further under the road , then the canal viaduct and the railway line bridge .

This is Arthurs Seat , as you can see , it's popular with walkers clambering up the sides to get an elevated view of Edinburgh . You can see dozens of people there . A bushfire broke out here the next morning !

 

This is Queen Mary's bath house , a curiuos shaped building on the edges of the Palace of Holyrood . 

These are the side gates into the Palace .

This is the front of the Palace , with it's manicured gardens , lawns etc etc .

Across the road from the Palace Precinct is the Scottish Parliament Building . On the side of the building are interesting patterns and some rocks jutting out of the walls , just above street level . There's a imprinted design of some of the older buildings of the city .

Here's some of the buildings / shops at the lower end of the Mile .

The road kept slowly rising , crowds of people also increasing , but the different architecture was very interesting .

Many different buildings and designs kept popping up, as well as small laneways leading behind all these buildings , we checked out a few on our walk .

The crowds have increased , making us question our reason for being here !!

One of the cathedrals .

  Looking up at the Edinburgh Castle , all we could see were thousands of people , but we persevered .

     Getting nearer the castle , we decided to take a side street down parallel to the Royal Mile , then took the stairs back up near the entrance to the castle grounds . The seating is for the Military Tattoo , which is held here . 

Getting back up on the Mile ,we looked back down where we had come from , people everywhere . Checking at the Visitor Info Centre didn't give us much joy - you need to have booked tickets to do a tour of the Castle . As it was Friday and late , there were no tickets available till Monday - guess we won't be doing that tour then .

I settled for the Scotch Whiskey Experience instead , that gives you a rundown on how it's produced and what with , and what gives it its authentic flavours . This was the first room we went into .

The process continued and we learnt about different aspects of whiskey production . These barrels show some of the scotch that is yet to be bottled .

    After the education we move into the tasting room , where you are served a dram of your choice - not from any of these bottles on display though !! There's over 3,400 bottles in the collection to drool over . You even get to take home your tasting glass , to enjoy your next scotch whiskey of course .

This isn't the best photo , but there's a scotch for sale in a deer shaped bottle .

 Nearby was another small laneway , named Fleshmarket Close - not sure how it got that name .

We decided to beat a tactical retreat when we were walking back down the Mile , and take a side street . It gave us views of the city and some of the buildings .

                                                    This is the National Gallery of Scotland 

 Further down this very steep cobblestoned street , we found the University of Edinburgh , with an impressive entrance .

We entered and found ourselves in a courtyard section with views to the Cathedral behind it .

Our walk continued down past the National Gallery and to the bus stop for our trip back out to the apartment . Edinburgh is certainly buzzing with people , and is only going to get worse as the Edinburgh Festival is happening soon . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1rwLtihhE7igBd1GDV0rMVw3AuMpx4T4&usp=sharing