London - Lakes - Hadrian - Traquair and more...
Jun 28th, 2016, 12:15 PM
#41
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An additional note about Traquair ales: in the brewery tasting room and museum there was an old newspaper clipping, with a photo of Lady Catherine Maxwell Stuart holding up a bottle of their new seasonal ale, called Royal Stuart. Well, apparently the Scottish government requested that Traquair use a different name out of respect for the present monarchy, so the special ale was renamed something like House Stuart. Old memories die hard.
Jun 29th, 2016, 05:29 AM
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I'm really enjoying your report. I visited Traquair on a brief visit to the Borders about 15 years ago, but had no idea they let rooms! I can picture where your room must have been. Your description of the house brings back vivid memories. It's a fascinating place - nearly frozen in time in some ways (like the main gate), yet somehow still living and breathing.
Jun 29th, 2016, 03:21 PM
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Glasgow and the Highlands
We took the new Borders railway from Galashiels to Glasgow Queen Street station via Edinburgh, arrived about 2 p.m., and checked into the Premier Inn Buchanan Galleries a couple of blocks away. Then on to a late lunch at the Willow Street Tea Rooms on Buchanan Street.
We only had two nights in Glasgow before flying out. We had already booked a Rabbies tour of the western Highlands for the entire day Sunday, our last full day. So this left just part of a Saturday afternoon to see a little of Glasgow. We wanted to see a sample of Mackintosh’ work in this short time and I spent a lot of time in the weeks before our trip seeing if I could squeeze two (or three?) Mackintoshes into that short time frame. But then something else appeared on the horizon, the Babbity Bowster (coming up, below). It demanded a share of our brief available Saturday afternoon. So the choice was the Willow Tea Rooms as our only Mackintosh.
The Willow Tea Rooms are extensively described on the web so I won’t go into detail. This was an important commercial project for Mackintosh. Two dining rooms, one on each floor. Very light-filled, elegant without being stiff. The overall design of the room and the furnishings reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. Did they know each other’s work? Did M influence W, or vice versa? Once we returned home I googled this and indeed Wright knew of Mackintosh’ work and, it appears, even borrowed ( = plagiarized?) one of his designs for a project which Mackintosh was never able to carry out. Years later Wright incorporated Mackintosh’ design into his own plan for a church project in the 1950s (this project also was never completed). In any case, the Willow Tea Rooms were definitely worth the visit. Willow food, however, middling.
Then a 15-minute walk to the Babbity Bowster. This is an old, simple pub, part of an 18th century development area a few blocks southeast of George Square. The name comes from an old Scottish dance. The lure for us was the weekly Saturday afternoon informal music sessions in the pub. From the web site mention there was no set time for these but as we walked down Blackfriars Street approaching the pub we could hear the fiddle music.
Entering the pub there were about ten people playing fiddles (do they call them fiddles in Scotland? They looked like violins.) Also a hammered dulcimer type of instrument, a little drum, and a kind of bagpipe device but without a mouthpiece (the fellow playing this thing later told us, during a break, that it was called the Irish pipe). We enjoyed our ale and sat back and listened to the music and sort of absorbed the waves of good fellowship floating around the place. Very much a kind of communal happiness. At another break in the music we were invited to come over and join the group and pick up an instrument, but not having a musical cell in our bodies, we declined. Nice offer, though.
During one break an older patron stood up and addressed the musicians and read a longish piece in a very emotional voice. We could not hear very well, but toward the end caught some phrases about two young people getting married, creating peace in Europe, other phrases which we could not quite make out.
When he returned to the bar, just next to our table, I asked him what he had read. It was a story set in the 1950s, just as Europe was recovering from the devastation of the war. A young Englishman stationed in Germany was about to marry a German girl and the narrator said that the true way to build lasting peace in Europe was step by step through individual human actions such as the two lovers were doing. Then he, our new friend, touched my arm and said that was what Europe had to continue to do and that Scotland would not leave Europe, he started to cry. It was a terrifically touching moment. This was the first of a number of encounters with people in Northumberland and Scotland where they talked about their intense feelings around the referendum, both before and after the vote, but this was by far the most emotional.
After a while we walked back to our hotel, caught up on some email, made some trip notes, then set off for dinner at the Two Fat Ladies. To sum up quickly: this had been highly rated on TA and elsewhere. Smallish dining room. Very slow kitchen (I’m guessing it was overwhelmed by the full house on a Saturday night.) Very good seafood, but price point a tad too high. Would not return.
Sunday, our last day, we embarked on our Rabbies tour. We usually don’t take van tours but we wanted to squeeze in a little of the western Highlands and had read good things about the company. Conclusion: definitely a good thing. From 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. we—a small group of 15 people--rattled around the Highlands, riding in 20 to 40 minute segments, then stopping to see ruined castles, lochs, a leisurely lunch (our choice of restaurant) in Oban, and Glencoe (misty and awesome). A big A+ for this Rabbies tour.
Early dinner at another highly rated place very close to the hotel, the Mussel Inn. This was everything we like in a restaurant: good menu choices, superb seafood and other things, reasonable prices, friendly and efficient service and spacious dining area with lots of early evening light streaming in. Another big A+.
Monday morning we took a taxi to the Glasgow airport and we were blessed with a glitch-free return home, moving through security checks, on-time departure, surprisingly quick processing on the other end in Montreal, hop in our car at the long-term parking lot, hour and a half drive over the border to Vermont, walk in the front door in Burlington at 4 p.m. eastern U.S. time. One of the easiest Atlantic flights we’ve had.
What a marvelous trip! I’m still processing our experiences, sorting out historical eras in my head, from Hadrian to Freud to Brexit and beyond… Glasgow has an official motto which you see all over the place: “People Make Glasgow”. Well, my feeling is that the same is true for the entire fascinating country. We were lucky to be able to visit during this historic time. End of TR ☺
We took the new Borders railway from Galashiels to Glasgow Queen Street station via Edinburgh, arrived about 2 p.m., and checked into the Premier Inn Buchanan Galleries a couple of blocks away. Then on to a late lunch at the Willow Street Tea Rooms on Buchanan Street.
We only had two nights in Glasgow before flying out. We had already booked a Rabbies tour of the western Highlands for the entire day Sunday, our last full day. So this left just part of a Saturday afternoon to see a little of Glasgow. We wanted to see a sample of Mackintosh’ work in this short time and I spent a lot of time in the weeks before our trip seeing if I could squeeze two (or three?) Mackintoshes into that short time frame. But then something else appeared on the horizon, the Babbity Bowster (coming up, below). It demanded a share of our brief available Saturday afternoon. So the choice was the Willow Tea Rooms as our only Mackintosh.
The Willow Tea Rooms are extensively described on the web so I won’t go into detail. This was an important commercial project for Mackintosh. Two dining rooms, one on each floor. Very light-filled, elegant without being stiff. The overall design of the room and the furnishings reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. Did they know each other’s work? Did M influence W, or vice versa? Once we returned home I googled this and indeed Wright knew of Mackintosh’ work and, it appears, even borrowed ( = plagiarized?) one of his designs for a project which Mackintosh was never able to carry out. Years later Wright incorporated Mackintosh’ design into his own plan for a church project in the 1950s (this project also was never completed). In any case, the Willow Tea Rooms were definitely worth the visit. Willow food, however, middling.
Then a 15-minute walk to the Babbity Bowster. This is an old, simple pub, part of an 18th century development area a few blocks southeast of George Square. The name comes from an old Scottish dance. The lure for us was the weekly Saturday afternoon informal music sessions in the pub. From the web site mention there was no set time for these but as we walked down Blackfriars Street approaching the pub we could hear the fiddle music.
Entering the pub there were about ten people playing fiddles (do they call them fiddles in Scotland? They looked like violins.) Also a hammered dulcimer type of instrument, a little drum, and a kind of bagpipe device but without a mouthpiece (the fellow playing this thing later told us, during a break, that it was called the Irish pipe). We enjoyed our ale and sat back and listened to the music and sort of absorbed the waves of good fellowship floating around the place. Very much a kind of communal happiness. At another break in the music we were invited to come over and join the group and pick up an instrument, but not having a musical cell in our bodies, we declined. Nice offer, though.
During one break an older patron stood up and addressed the musicians and read a longish piece in a very emotional voice. We could not hear very well, but toward the end caught some phrases about two young people getting married, creating peace in Europe, other phrases which we could not quite make out.
When he returned to the bar, just next to our table, I asked him what he had read. It was a story set in the 1950s, just as Europe was recovering from the devastation of the war. A young Englishman stationed in Germany was about to marry a German girl and the narrator said that the true way to build lasting peace in Europe was step by step through individual human actions such as the two lovers were doing. Then he, our new friend, touched my arm and said that was what Europe had to continue to do and that Scotland would not leave Europe, he started to cry. It was a terrifically touching moment. This was the first of a number of encounters with people in Northumberland and Scotland where they talked about their intense feelings around the referendum, both before and after the vote, but this was by far the most emotional.
After a while we walked back to our hotel, caught up on some email, made some trip notes, then set off for dinner at the Two Fat Ladies. To sum up quickly: this had been highly rated on TA and elsewhere. Smallish dining room. Very slow kitchen (I’m guessing it was overwhelmed by the full house on a Saturday night.) Very good seafood, but price point a tad too high. Would not return.
Sunday, our last day, we embarked on our Rabbies tour. We usually don’t take van tours but we wanted to squeeze in a little of the western Highlands and had read good things about the company. Conclusion: definitely a good thing. From 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. we—a small group of 15 people--rattled around the Highlands, riding in 20 to 40 minute segments, then stopping to see ruined castles, lochs, a leisurely lunch (our choice of restaurant) in Oban, and Glencoe (misty and awesome). A big A+ for this Rabbies tour.
Early dinner at another highly rated place very close to the hotel, the Mussel Inn. This was everything we like in a restaurant: good menu choices, superb seafood and other things, reasonable prices, friendly and efficient service and spacious dining area with lots of early evening light streaming in. Another big A+.
Monday morning we took a taxi to the Glasgow airport and we were blessed with a glitch-free return home, moving through security checks, on-time departure, surprisingly quick processing on the other end in Montreal, hop in our car at the long-term parking lot, hour and a half drive over the border to Vermont, walk in the front door in Burlington at 4 p.m. eastern U.S. time. One of the easiest Atlantic flights we’ve had.
What a marvelous trip! I’m still processing our experiences, sorting out historical eras in my head, from Hadrian to Freud to Brexit and beyond… Glasgow has an official motto which you see all over the place: “People Make Glasgow”. Well, my feeling is that the same is true for the entire fascinating country. We were lucky to be able to visit during this historic time. End of TR ☺
Jun 29th, 2016, 07:13 PM
#49
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Great report, it is pretty sad about the vote, even my 84 year old mother feels upset about it and the uncertain future for the her grand children
Lord Armstrong was an interesting person, quite a visionary with his development of hydro electricity and his dislike of coal. I think his family still own Bamburgh castle and he owned the majority of the housing around it, but I think the houses were sold. Families such as the Barbours who make the jackets have a weekend place in one of them.
A lot of Newcastle still benefits from his generosity towards the university, museums and public parks.
Lord Armstrong was an interesting person, quite a visionary with his development of hydro electricity and his dislike of coal. I think his family still own Bamburgh castle and he owned the majority of the housing around it, but I think the houses were sold. Families such as the Barbours who make the jackets have a weekend place in one of them.
A lot of Newcastle still benefits from his generosity towards the university, museums and public parks.
Jun 30th, 2016, 02:12 AM
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Re Bamburgh: we spoke to one of the guards about the family's use and maintenance of the castle today. There are 14 apartments in the castle. Three are used by castle staff and the rest are rented as commercial apartments. I was surprised by the size of the castle, even larger in real life than the impression one gets from photos.
Jun 30th, 2016, 09:11 AM
#51
Entering the pub there were about ten people playing fiddles (do they call them fiddles in Scotland? They looked like violins.)>>
I'm sure they call them fiddles - it's a common name for violin through the UK.
Lovely story about the chap in the pub telling the story - and you're right that the vote has caused a lot of powerful emotions in people both for and against.
Thanks for taking us with you on this trip.
I'm sure they call them fiddles - it's a common name for violin through the UK.
Lovely story about the chap in the pub telling the story - and you're right that the vote has caused a lot of powerful emotions in people both for and against.
Thanks for taking us with you on this trip.
Jun 30th, 2016, 10:19 AM
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I also appreciated your description of the chap in the pub. Very moving.
We encountered several Rabbie's van tours throughout the Highlands. The drivers always wore kilts - did yours?
Thanks for sharing you very enjoyable trip report.
We encountered several Rabbie's van tours throughout the Highlands. The drivers always wore kilts - did yours?
Thanks for sharing you very enjoyable trip report.
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