Datchet Days

Today we walked to the store for some milk. As we were walking through the train station parking lot, a mob of kids came after a group of five kids who were standing on the platform. (Two different ethnic groups.) Fifteen or so older teens came towards them obviously intent upon having it out with these other kids. A couple of them in the group had sticks that they were swacking against their hands in the way of folk out to do some whopping. The group on the platform was seriously outnumbered and tried to say that they didn't want any trouble. The mob wasn't having any of it. They came at them and the group on the platform ran away the only way they could - down the train tracks! Steve called 999 (UK 911) and reported what was going on and we went on to the store. On our way back to the house there were police everywhere and they had rounded up several of the kids. Apparently the mob managed to catch one of the platform kids, because someone was assaulted. It was frightening.
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Today we set off to the northwest for a quick visit to Scotland. Our route took us past Gretna Green, where Lydia Bennett and George Wickam did not actually end up going for a quicky Las Vegas style wedding in Pride and Prejudice, and on to the west coast of Scotland.

We stopped at two different castles: Caerlaverock and Culzean. Caerlaverock was our first stop. This castle was begun in 1270, after an earlier construction was located too near to the marshes of the Solway. Because of it's proximity to England, it's residents were often in the middle of one conflict or another. This medieval castle is now mostly just a ruin, though there is enough left that one can explore up into the towers and some of the upper floors. There is a reconstruction of a siege engine just outside the moat that surrounds this triangular shaped castle. It is now managed by Historic Scotland.

Our second stop was Culzean Castle. Located on a stunning cliffside, looking out to sea, what was an ordinary fortified tower house was converted into an elegant bachelor residence for the 10th Earl of Cassillis, between 1777 and 1792. A ‘Roman’ viaduct and Ruined Arch were added to give it even more splendor. Restoration on both the interior and exterior have been done by the National Trust for Scotland. In addition to the usual displays of paintings and furniture, there is an astounding display of weapons in the Armoury. The center of the house is home to an amazing oval staircase and the views out the windows of the Firth of Clyde are stunning. Interestingly, in 1945 the top floor was given to General Eisenhower for use during his lifetime as a token of Scotland’s recognition of his role during World War II. There is an Eisenhower Exhibition in the castle that gives a bit of history of Eisenhower and his visits to Culzean.

After touring the two castles we drove on up through the countryside to Glasgow. We arrived too late to take in any of the touristy things there, so we ate at a nice Italian restaurant and then headed back down to our cottage via the quickest route - the motorway - which fortunately did not have any wide loads blocking traffic.
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Northumberland is a beautiful part of England. There is open space for as far as the eye can see. The rolling hills are breathtaking. And these breathtaking rolling hills are covered in sheep. It is apparently lambing season, so there were darling little baby sheep everywhere as well. Each lamb had a number on it's back that corresponded to it's mother. It was cute to see the lambs following their mothers with the same number on them both. Many of the mother sheep had "twins" so there would be two little numbered lambs following her around. I am sure there are more sheep in Northumberland than there are people in all of the United Kingdom. There were zillions of them (I'm really not exaggerating....)
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On the recommendation of a worker at Housesteads, after visiting Hadrian's Wall and the sites of several Roman forts and settlements, we took a short trip 20 miles north of the wall to Wallington. This beautiful house was recently refurbished and was really a treat to see. Though dating from 1688, the house is decorated to fit the 1880 time period, and includes many fine ceramics, paintings, needlework and a collection of dolls' houses. There is a central courtyard that is decorated to look like an Italian courtyard and is painted with a series of scenes depicting the history of the area. Outdoors there are extensive grounds (13,000 acres) which feature many walks, lakes and woodlands, buildings, sculptures and a walled garden. The property is managed by The National Trust.

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In 120 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian was having trouble with the Picts in Scotland so he had a wall built to protect against their raids, and also as a way of saying "this is where we stop conquering" to the Roman Legions. The wall spanned England, from Wallsend on the river Tyne to Bowness on the Solway Firth. It was 80 Roman miles long (73 modern miles) and 15 feet tall, with guarded gates every mile as well as many forts housing the Roman legions who were stationed there. The wall is no longer completely intact, but there are many places where it stretches for miles. Tourists bike or hike along the wall.

Our first stop as we explored the area was Housesteads, the ruins of a Roman Fort looking out over the Northumbrian countryside. This fort covers five acres, and was occupied in the third and fourth centuries by a unit of 1000 soldiers raised by Rome in what is now Belgium. Hadrian's Wall can be seen stretching out into the distance east and west from the fort. We walked a little ways along the wall and enjoyed the stunning views.

After Housesteads we went down the road a little ways to Vindolanda Civil Settlement and Museum. At this site was the most extensive civil settlement to be seen on Hadrian's wall. (Apparently even in all of Britain.) There is evidence of houses, shops, an official rest-house for the imperial post and the regiment's bath house. There are also two burial tombs. Thre is even a Roman milestone standing where it was originally erected. The museum contains many Roman artifacts unearthed during excavation and several displays depicting life during the second and third centuries when the settlement was inhabited. We learned many things about the Roman occupation of Britain.
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Today we drove up into Northern England. What should have been a five hour drive at the most drug out to almost seven hours due to traffic back ups. According to BBC radio, the congestion was due to a oversize truck taking up two lanes of the road. We gave up on the motorway after an hour and a half of moving along at a crawl and worked our way there on back roads.

We are staying in a "self-catering" cottage near Hadrian's wall. As opposed to a Bed and Breakfast, a self-catering cottage is a small apartment like accommodation that has a kitchen, living area, bath, and bedrooms. Since we will supply our own food and clean up after ourselves, it will cost considerably less than a B & B. At a B & B it generally costs approximately £20 - 25 per person per night, where as the Self-Catering Cottage was £55 per night. It's much more economical for us to go this route. This particular cottage has three bedrooms, a nice size living area, kitchen, (equipped dishes, silverware, etc as well as with dishwasher and a washer/dryer), and a bathroom. It is just outside the town of Haydon Bridge and is surrounded by farmland. There is even a small pond just down the hill from the back door. My main complaint would be that their standard of cleanliness is quite a bit lower than mine. The minor complaint would be the quality of the beds! (Though honestly they aren't any worse than any of the others we have experienced here while traveling.)
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