The Low Country

Don’t worry; I haven’t forgotten about the second half of our Scottish vacation. Now that I’ve submitted my dissertation, made my recommendation presentation to the board and relaxed for a couple of days, I can return to my regularly schedule blogging. The trip to Edinburgh from Loch Ness where you left off with Amanda took us through the city of Inverness (another one of those famous ‘inch out of the way’ detours).
 
Inverness is the last major city as you continue toward the tip of the UK and the Shetland Islands in extreme northern Scotland. It is considered to be the capital of the Highlands and has played an important role in the history of Scotland. However, perhaps what it is most famous for is being the birth place of one Amy Pond, er. Karen Gillan. If you’re a Doctor Who fan than you’ll undoubted know the how important that fact is. Anyway, our trek through Inverness was more of an opportunity to grab a bite to eat and get a few more glances of the northern most part of Loch Ness. It is after all the largest loch by volume in the UK and contains more fresh water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined. At just over 23 miles in length and 755 feet deep, it’s a BIG loch.
 
Once we left Inverness, the rest of the drive into Edinburgh was rather uneventful, although we did manage to see lightning and hear thunder which is a rather rare occurrence in this part of the world. Driving through Edinburgh was an entirely different matter. The city is one of the oldest in the UK and still retains much of its historic charm. Unfortunately that charm doesn’t get along to well with automobiles or navigation devices. Our planned route had us traversing the city almost directly through city centre and had there not been ongoing road construction this wouldn’t had been a problem. Unfortunately, Tina (our TomTom) kept sending us into construction zones. Fortunately, Amanda being the amazing wife and travel planner that she is brought along a pretty decent map that saved us literally hours of wondering the city in circles.
 
When we finally made it the B&B would be staying at for the duration of our time in Edinburgh it was time to eat. The owners of this particular establishment checked us in and provided us a map that they had printed off which identified local restaurants and pubs along with corresponding bus stops. We really can’t say enough about all the B&B’s we stayed in on this trip. On this night, rather than trying to brave the bus system, we decided to walk to a pub that was just up the street. Salisbury Arms was a really good pub, if not a bit packed and pricey, but the food was worth both the 45 minute wait to be seated.
 
The next day was the one I had been waiting for most of the trip. St. Andrews!

 

 

Back when I was in high school my brother and I were encouraged to try golf in order to have something else to do on family vacations while Mom was off shopping or touring things we weren’t really all that interested in. We both gave it try and found we enjoyed the personal challenge of playing the course instead of constantly going up against each other like we had done in so many of our other athletic endeavors. Plus we’ve gotten to play some really nice course in some great parts of the country. But St. Andrews is truly the most prestigious and historic course out there. While it’s known for “The Open” which returns to The Old Course every five years it actually is home to six other courses that are all squeezed onto the marshland which makes up the traditional “links” style courses. Playing The Old Course is no easy feat. The waiting list is more than a year long at the moment and prior to being allowed to set foot on the course you have to provide a valid handicap of below 24 to even reserve the chance to play. And while a handicap of 24 is really not that great, I hadn’t actually played enough over the last several years to retain one, so needless to say I didn’t get the chance to walk the oldest course in the game. However I was able to walk on to one of the sister courses there at St. Andrews known as the Eden Course. While not quite as old as the Old Course it’s still no spring chicken having been designed and constructed in 1894 and is the second oldest course on the site.

 

Prior to my round I attempted to calm the nerves by hitting a few balls at the driving range across the street. From the picture below you can actually see the outline of buildings that run along the most famous finishing hole in all of golf.

 

I don’t think the practice round calmed my nerves much. Once my tee time arrived though I somehow managed to put most of that anxiety behind me drive my very first shot down the middle of the fairway. I might have been a wee bit pleased with the outcome!

 

 

The rest of my round was rather a mixed bag of results. I came away with mostly bogeys although I did manage a par on the 341 yd 12^th hole. I figured for someone who had only played three times in the past two plus years, a score of 94 was perfectly acceptable and spent the rest of the day in a certain state of bliss as evident by the pictures we got to take on the Old Course later that day.

 

 

 

The next day was spent touring Edinburgh itself. We started out by taking a guided tour bus down to Holyrood House which is the primary official residence for the Royal Family when they visit Scotland (though they technically spend more time at Balmoral). This royal home was built to replace the draftier Edinburgh Castle which is situated at the top of the Royal Mile.

Besides functioning as the home for the royal family Holyrood House is also the site of a 12^th century monastery which housed a piece of the cross at one time. After winding our way through the interior of Holyrood we were treated to what was essentially a private tour of the palace grounds including the remnants of the old Augustinian monastery. Apparently no one else on the grounds was interested in the brief thirty minute walk among the beautifully kept grounds. Oh well.

After Holyrood House we hopped on another tour bus that took us up the hill to Edinburgh Castle which sits at the opposite end of the Royal Mile. While the Royal Family might prefer the less blustery Palace at Holyrood I like the sweeping views of Scottish countryside provided by Edinburgh Castle.

 

Unfortunately, the view is slightly obscured by the large cannon keeping time for the ships in the Firth of Forth everyday at 1:00 PM. Why did they decide on 1:00 PM rather than the more standard noon you ask? Well it was to keep the costs down since it’s more expensive to fire a gun 12 times as opposed to just one.

 
This was another big cannon and just below the barrel on the right are a few of the giant cannon balls.  I checked, I can fit my entire head inside the barrel of this cannon.

 

When we were finished with Edinburgh Castle we walked back down the Royal Mile to Cannongate Church where the Royal Wedding was held in 2011.  You thought William & Kate were married in London?  Well, you’re right.  This was the sight of the other Royal Wedding of Zara Phillips (now an Olympic silver medalist) to Mike Tindall.  As Zara is currently 14^th in line for the throne, there wasn’t quite as much media attention.  Also to the side of the church is the grave and tomb of the father of contemporary economics and author of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith.

The next morning we made our way to the Royal Yacht Britannia to catch a glimpse of what life at sea was like for the Royal’s.

 
 

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this tour and came away both completely fascinated with the ship and saddened by the fact that it is no longer used for its original purpose. The dining facilities are still used for the occasional private ceremony or corporate function but the ship is now permanently moored in Edinburgh as a giant museum piece.

 

 

Among my favorite aspects of the ship I found the teak decking that runs along the entire exterior deck to be right at the top of the list.

 

 

A close second would be the crew’s mess hall where Amanda thinks I look a bit like Popeye. Too bad I don’t care for spinach.

We also enjoyed that the Queen and Prince Phillip had separate, but adjoining, bedrooms each with a twin bed.  In fact, the only double bed (and it’s only a double, not even a queen!) was in a guest suite.  It was originally two twin beds in the suite, but Prince Charles asked that they be replaced with a single bed when he and Princess Diana used the yacht for their honeymoon.  Draw your own conclusions…

 

Much of the yacht was left with the family’s personal effects still in place, including the furniture that the Queen and Prince Phillip personally selected for the yacht.  The desk where Her Majesty read her correspondence and planned state dinners looked like it was ready for her to return at any moment.

 

Touring the Royal Yacht took up most of the day so after dinner we finished our last night in Edinburgh at the Military Tattoo.

This was perhaps my favorite part of our stay in Edinburgh (outside of golfing) and nearly impossible to capture effectively on camera. Photos just don’t do it justice.  The Tattoo takes place on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle and the stands are positioned so that the castle forms the backdrop.  The crowds to get in are incredible – thank goodness we’d pre-ordered tickets!

 

There were numerous military bands from around the world including the United States Naval Forces Europe Band who managed to squeeze in a rousing rendition of Anchors Away between the more traditional Scottish themed numbers.

 

The most impressive group was the Top Secret Drum Corps out of Switzerland with their precision percussion’s and entertaining use of lighting.  

The night ended with each group taking part in a grand finale that paid tribute to Great Britain followed by an impressive display of fireworks and closed with a display of national pride in Scotland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A flock of fun

Swans have, for as long as I can remember, been my favorite animal.  My father gave me a statue of some when I was young and this set off a collection of swans that over took my mother’s china cabinet until I left for college and she thought I wouldn’t notice if she boxed them all up and ‘kept them safe’ until I had a house of my own.  (Little did she see coming that she would send them to me and four years later I’d send them all back, along with 90% of my other worldly possessions, for ‘safe keeping’.)

The city of Wells about 45 minutes south of us is known for two things.  First the filming of Hot Fuzz, if you love a good British comedy, go rent this movie; and second, the swans which live in the moat at the Bishop’s Palace.  The swans over the years have been trained to ring a bell to ask for food and one year in the annual moat race, a swan was said to have pecked at the paddle of one of the teams prior to the race giving the other team a significant advantage of not having holes in the oars during the race.

As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year, the city made 5ft fiberglass swan sculptures, one for each of the 60 years of the Queen's reign, which they had local artists, businesses, and children decorate however they wished.  The swans are currently on display throughout town; in September they will have a swanning up to be auctioned off for charity.  The Swansong Gala Auction (I’m telling you, the swan jokes could go on all day) will be held the last weekend of September.

Luckily (for Adam) we went on a drizzly day.  We only found 29 (well, 28 + 1 that had gone for a swim somewhere) of the 60 before the rain became too much for us to stand walking through.  Take a gander (sorry, I switched to geese jokes…) at the Swans of Wells Facebook page for any of the ones we missed.

That time before email

We recently visited Robert Smail's Printing Works.  It was a Victorian era letter printing press that has been preserved and is still in operation today (by the National Trust). 

The firm was established in 1866, carrying out print jobs for the local community as well as operating a stationer's shop, and between 1893 and 1916 published a weekly newspaper.   The Smail’s were not big on throwing anything away, so they still have a print or two of nearly everything they printed – wedding announcements, market flyers, newspapers, even and advertisement to buy a telephone for your own home (what a luxury!).

The press and shop remained in the ownership of the Smail family, who made little effort to keep up with twentieth-century advances in technology, but was faithfully run by the third-generation owner Cowan Smail until he retired in1986.  It was sold to the National Trust on the condition that it remains a working press.  The Trust opened it to the public in 1990 and does tours between printing brochures, flyers, and posters for National Trust functions (and the gift shop).

We were allowed as part of our tour to set a line of text and run a printer to make a bookmark.  The guide asked us to fill the composing stick with our name, backwards & upside down so it would print properly.  You would think that two reasonably well educated people could do this in a flash, but man did we struggle!   I would not have made it in the 1900’s.  Movable type is hard.

Yes the 10 year old on the tour finished before we did – in fairness he had been there before…we’ll get him next time!  After we got that sorted, the guide inked up our text and pulled the lever to apply the pressure and print up our bookmarks.

Once we had mastered typesetting, we move to the machine room with the presses.  The presses still in operation include a hand-fed pedal-operated platen press, a large belt-driven Wharfedale Reliance print machine bought in the 1870s which was originally powered by belt drive from the water wheel to the side of the plant, and an automated Heidelberg Platen bought in 1952.

A printer demonstrated the operation of the machines.  I decided I wouldn’t have any fingers left if I worked there.  Just about everything takes split second timing to feed the paper properly and get you back out of the way before the machine closes up again.

We thought a lot about Grandpa Powell while we were touring the factory – being near newspapers always makes us think of you!

Hadrian’s little fence

You know when you were younger and you wanted to make a statement about what was your property, you built a wall around it.  Mine were usually made out of sofa cushions and Jonathan usually got through them in about 10 minutes, which led to me getting mad and pouting.  I’m a really good pouter.

Hadrian had a different tact to sofa cushions.  Stones.  And lots of them.

Hadrian's Wall stretches 73 miles across a narrow bit of England near the border with Scotland. It was once a towering 20-foot-tall fortification, but because of decay (and likely some stone thievery) is now only about three feet wide and three to six feet high.

Hadrian's Wall was built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian around 122AD.  He apparently wanted to keep the barbaric Gaelic people away from his civilized Roman people.  Several of the books we read in preparation for this visit talked about the wall being primarily an expression of Roman power and Hadrian having a strict policy of defense before expansion. Scholars also seem to disagree over how much of a threat Scotland actually presented, and whether there was any more economic advantage in defending and garrisoning a fixed line of defenses like the Wall over simply conquering and annexing the Scottish Lowlands and manning the territory with forts strung out at will.

Another possible explanation for the erection of the great wall is the degree of control it would have provided over immigration, smuggling, and customs. As there were turrets every mile or so through the entire structure, it acted as an organized check-point border crossing and offered Hadrian an opportunity for taxation.

It, much like Stonehenge, will probably never be fully understood, but it is really neat to think that so much of it is still standing 1900 years later.

We were impressed by how exactly the stones were laid, from the front all the mortar lines are in a straight pattern (or at least a lot straighter than the tiles in my bathroom at home).  It was also quite sturdy still (or at least the part that I leaned against was before the nice security guard with a stick came over and told me to stop).  Touching is a warning, climbing on the wall gets you kicked out of the park.  Just in case you’re curious.

Submission story time

After nearly two months of his home office looking like the command center for a major military operation...

Adam finished his dissertation!!

So Sunday morning he took a fieldtrip to Staples.

He explained all the binding and printing he needed...

Then watched as everything was put together...

Got annoyed at his wife who insisted on documenting the entire event...

And finally smiled as he carried the completed project home...

Later, he took the dissertation to the University to turn it in...

And he smiled even more.