Day 45: Friday 2 May - We Move On To Scotland, by Ken

More cooked breakfasts at Ye Old Fighting Cocks.

It took a while to convince Kerry at DVLA that they did in fact issue registration numbers after which she checked the system and advised Mabel still didn’t have a number! Asking when it would be processed as this was Day 8 gained the response “probably” next Wednesday” (Day 10)! It’s difficult to have any confidence in the DVLA and I can’t call them again until Tuesday as Monday is a public holiday here.

We farewelled Ye Old Fighting Cocks and set off for Lauder in the Scottish Borders. Smarty more than held her own on the M6 motorway and subsequently on the winding A7 as we headed into Scotland. Passing through Howick a sign told us it was the home of Cashmere.

Smarty Cruising Comfortably At 71 mph On M6 Motorway

Inquisitive Dog And Woman Seen On A7

We were booked at the Black Bull Hotel where check-in was not before 15:00. We had plenty of time in hand so decided to visit Abbotsford House on the banks of the River Tweed, just outside Galashiels. The house was built by Sir Walter Scott, the historical novelist and poet. Building started in 1817 and was completed in 1824.

It was early afternoon when we arrived at Abbotsford so we started our visit with lunch at Ochiltrees Restaurant housed in a modern building overlooking Abbotsford House. We both selected carrot and coriander soup and a sandwich.

Jane Eyes Up A Cream Tea On Arrival At Abbotsford (She Was Out Of Luck This Time)

Abbotsford Visitor Centre With Ochiltrees Restaurant Above

Abbotsford House From Balcony Of Ochiltrees Restaurant

A short walk took us to the house where we had a self-guided audio tour. I chose an actor’s voice taking the part of Sir Walter Scott showing a visitor around his house. Jane opted for a more factual tour. The audio equipment was impressive consisting of a headset connected to a small wireless device which one pointed at targets in each room to trigger the appropriate commentary.

The house, built in the Scottish Baronial style, was impressive with an eclectic collection of artefacts in some of the rooms including what looked very much like a mere in a room overflowing with weapons. Walter Scott’s study and library were particularly impressive containing his original extensive book collections. Other rooms were beautifully decorated, one with Chinese themed wallpaper. I learnt from “Sir Walter” that the cost of building the house and a downturn in his fortunes a year after he moved in nearly resulted in bankruptcy. He managed to stave this off through a combination of writing day and night and creditors writing off debts.

Drawing Room

Drawing Room Wallpaper Detail

Entrance Hall

Library

Arms Collection

Mere?

Scott's Stud

After touring the house we took a walk in the grounds of the house and down to the banks of the River Tweed. There we came across an absolutely manic black dog that we took to be a puppy as it was darting backwards and forwards at high speed, sometimes more than 100 metres from its owner and her granddaughter. It turned out that Susie was a 5 year old cocker spaniel. We didn’t recognise the breed as the dog had a long tail, the owner told us it is illegal to dock dog’s tails in Scotland.

Pet Cemetry

Abbotsford House From Bank Of River Tweed

Arriving at the Black Bull in Lauder, a village about 50 km south of Edinburgh, we were greeted by a woman whom Jane detected had a twang to her voice. It turned out Christina was from Russell in the Bay of Islands. She has been in Scotland for 3½ years and is engaged to a Scotsman whom she is working hard on to persuade him to move to New Zealand.

We decided to explore the village. We were back at the Black Bull inside quarter of an hour, Lauder is a very small place, a high street with a few shops rarely seen in the UK these days – butcher, grocer, post office, pharmacy and the usual complement of pubs. Unusually for such a small place there was a delicatessen.

Black Bull, Lauder

Lauder High Street

We ate dinner at the Black bull, highland chicken for Jane and sausage and mash in a giant Yorkshire pudding for me.