Thursday Bob and I went into Glasgow looking for a shop that sold prints. Not just any old print, a print of an RAF WWII fighter or bomber. I had given him an IOU for his birthday and that’s what he decided he wanted. We walked all the way down Sauchihall, Buchannan and Princes Streets and didn’t see a thing we liked. I would like to take this opportunity though to plug Glasgow.
When we first came to Scotland back in the late 70's, Glasgow was still pretty much the gritty industrial city it had been know as for centuries. Within the last 20 or so odd years they have made a huge effort to clean up the place and shed that image, and in my opinion have done a wonderful job of it. They are now calling it the city of Architecture and Design. One of the things that I notice every time I come here is how many more buildings they have sandblasted all the old soot and dirt off and revealed the beauty of the stone underneath. This is a somewhat controversial way of cleaning, as it removes the protective layer of filth and exposes the stone to erosion. The city of Edinburgh has made the decision to leave the filth of the centuries on their buildings for this very reason and they have a point. On the other hand, you can only look at the difference the clean up has made in Glasgow and wonder if there is not some middle ground to be found some place. Perhaps applying a sealer once the building has been cleaned? Oh well, I’m sure they don’t need suggestions from an occasional visitor. Before we left on Sunday all of us plus Darin’s parents went out to a Sunday “Carvery” (roast dinner) at a pub/restaurant called the Ships Inn at the nearby village of Great Coates. I was told that the owner was a chef to the Queen before he retired and bought The Ships In and judging by the quality of the dinner I can well believe it. I had lamb and cannot even begin to describe how good the dinner was except to say that I don’t think I have EVER had a more enjoyable meal.
Immediately after dinner we headed north again, this time toward Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (the place you don’t carry coals to “The wall was build by the order of the Emperor Hadrian, who came to Britain in AD 122. Over the next six years the army built a wall 80 Roman miles long (73 modern miles) 15 feet high, to keep out the barbarians (Scots) By the early 400's the Empire had declined and abandoned Britain. The Wall became derelict and the stones were re-used in local buildings and field walls. What you see today is all the more precious for being the last remains of such an incredible Roman structure.”
So.....now I’m back in Scotland, again. Edinburgh is on the list for Wednesday, shopping in Helensburgh for a few last minute odds and ends this afternoon. Through the Stones still isn’t out over here, darn it. I have checked everywhere. I am going to order it from the bookstore in Helensburgh and Jenny will mail it to me.
I will wind up this saga on Thursday, right before I leave on Friday morning.
The Last Journal, Helensburgh and Edinburgh July 13-19, 1999
On Friday afternoon we once again loaded up the poor car and headed south again. I pretty much have the countryside from Glasgow to Carlisle memorized by now, but this time we left the motor way at Carlisle and headed off across north Cumbria, over the Pennines, down through the Yorkshire moors and into Lincolnshire. Just one plain old panoramic, breathtaking view after another, interrupted occasionally by some wonderful little village with a quaint pub and an ancient Norman church. I wonder if I could visit often enough to stop being awed every time be go around another curve or top another hill?
We had a nice visit. Claire and Darin bought a two story semi-detached (duplex) fixer upper house in Grimsby and have done a lot of work to it since the last time I visited. They are even becoming gardeners! Went shopping on Saturday Morning and did manage to find a print for Bob. That evening we all loaded up into the car and drove into Hull to see The Mummy. Hull is 28 miles from Grimsby and to get there you have to travel across the second largest suspension bridge in the world (2.8 miles across.) It was the longest until about three years ago when the Japanese built one even longer. For those of you who haven’t seen The Mummy and thinking about going, if your over 14 you may want to reconsider. It was so “over the top” I laughed most of the way through it.
There are several good places to stop and view the wall. There is a Roman Army Museum At Walltown which has a reconstructed portion of a Roman Fort as well as audio commentaries and films but sadly we got there after closing time. We did walk around and see the outside and that portion of the wall. At Corbridge there are ruins of a Roman Garrison town and a museum that was open so we stopped and visited the museum and walked through the ruins. Walking through the ruins it made me wonder if any ghosts visit there? It was eerie walking along two thousand year old streets and climbing two thousand year old steps. After we left Corbridge, we cut over to an even more secondary road and went to Birdsowald, where the curator of the museum at Corbridge said the very best views of the wall were to be had. She was correct, not only were the views of the wall good, the views of Cumbria were spectacular. I could just picture in my mind the Roman Legions marching along the top edge of Britain. Bob took a picture of me and told me to caption it “4,000 miles from home, sitting on a 2,000 year old wall.” Wonderful place!
