A flying visit to Berwick-on-Tweed

The day after our trip to Tantallon Castle, it was another lovely day so we decided to head out once more and took ourselves down to Berwick-on-Tweed via the Lammermuir Hills.  It was a glorious day and the clarity was just wonderful.  we could see for miles!!

Our first stop was at the village of Foulden where my late Aunt Alice had lots of connections, having been the headmistress of the primary school there.

From there, along with a quick visit to where my Aunt was laid to rest, we headed down to Berwick to take some photos of the bridges.  It's a shame that the tide was out, but at least the sun was still shining!

While at Berwick we popped along to Berwick Garden Centre for a spot of lunch then made our way back home via Colstream where we stopped for a wee photo opportunity!

We then set off back through the Lammermuir Hills towards home.  Taking photos of the spectacular views doesn't really do them justice, but here goes anyway!!

Then it was off back home after a very nice day out!!

Visit to and review of Tantallon Castle, East Lothian

We had been due to travel out to the Isle of May for Open Lighthouse Day on the 7th September, but it had been cancelled due to bad weather.  The weather looked lovely too, but the sea was rough, so we weren't allowed to travel.  Exactly the same happened last year!!  We are now booked on the open seal day later in the month, so fingers crossed that the weather is kinder!!

So as not to waste what was to be a day out, we went down the coast to visit Tantallon Castle then on to the new Garden Centre at Dunbar for a coffee.  This is my review of the castle:

This castle sits high on the coast between North Berwick and Dunbar and commands spectacular views over East Lothian and the Bass Rock.  We visited here recently on a windy but sunny day, and found our visit very interesting.  There is ample car parking then a short walk to the castle, however for those that perhaps are not too mobile, you can travel further on up the road towards the castle where there are more car parking spaces.  There is an entrance fee to pay, and a small shop with very helpful and pleasant staff, where you can buy souvenirs and guide books.  There are also toilets, but no café.

The grounds of the castle are very well maintained and you are allowed to climb the stairs inside parts of the castle to take you high onto the ramparts were you are able to get the most fantastic views of the shoreline and the countryside.  It is certainly well worth spending an hour or so here exploring all the various nooks and crannies.  You won’t be disappointed.

Be warned though, that this castle sits right on the coastline so I wouldn’t advise visiting when the weather is extremely windy or if it is raining.  On a clear sunny day you will be able to see for miles, but if the weather closes in, as it often does, the majestic views will disappear into a grey and misty haze!!

As ever, the camera was to hand, so here are a few photos of our day out:

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle

Entrance to Tantallon Castle

Bass Rock from Tantallon Castle

View from Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle

Runrig - Celebration in the City

I can't believe I forgot to mention that I'd been at the Runrig concert at Edinburgh Castle in July!!  It was part of their 40th anniversary tour - Celebration in the City!!  And what a setting it was!  Absolutely fabulous!!  I still think of Donnie Munro as the 'voice' of Runrig, but it was a great concert and the weather also held out.  It was warm and sunny to start with but after the sun went down, it became quite cold and windy, but that didn't detract from the concert at all.  We had a fantastic night.

As you can imagine, I took loads of photos so I think the best thing to do here is to post the link to my Flickr page where I have posted them to so that you can look at your leisure!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marlscat/sets/72157634732264425/

Trad on the Tyne - Donnie Munro

When I discovered that the Red Hot Chilli Pipers were going to be playing at the Trad on the Tyne event in Haddington, I also discovered that Donnie Munro (ex-Runrig) was to be playing in Haddington on the next again night!!  Fearing that the tickets might have been sold out, I phoned to see if I could reserve tickets for the concert that I would be able to pick up on the night.  Happily, there were some tickets left so I arranged for them to be waiting for me.  I had already seen Runrig at Edinburgh Castle earlier this year, so to see Donnie as well was going to be a bonus as I still regard him to be the 'voice' of Runrig.

Here are a couple of photos from the night.  His concert was great and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Trad on the Tyne - Red Hot Chilli Pipers

The Trad on the Tyne Festival has been running for three years and this year I discovered quite by accident that the Red Hot Chilli Pipers were going to be performing at Haddington Corn Exchange, so I quickly went and bought tickets for the event.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable night and the band were just tremendous.  They also played two numbers along with Haddington Pipe Band, which was fantastic.

Here are a few photos that I took on the night

Edinburgh Festival 2013

We normally always have a day in Edinburgh sometime during the festival, but we almost missed it this year as we'd also had a holiday on the island of Mull, so we were tight for time.  Almost at the last minute, we decided on a day to visit Edinburgh and boy were we lucky!!  We chose a magnificent day to go with the sun shining which always means seeing Edinburgh at its very best.

This year I thought I concentrate on doing some 'people' photos rather than landscapes, so here are some of my efforts

I didn't confine photo taking to just people however, so here are a few more, landscapes this time!!

Two more landscapes, but taken with the special effects mode on the camera where only the colour red is picked out

Then, as we were having some drinks and nibbles in the Grassmarket area, there was much revving of engines and I saw that it was a number of scooters leaving so, not to miss a photo opportunity, I managed to catch these before they left

We had had a great day in town with the sun shining down on us for most of the day so a thoroughly good day was had by all!!