Scotland - September 2014

We arrived in Scotland in time to witness the vote for Scottish Independence.  It was certainly an interesting time to visit,
with Yes and No signs in all sorts of places.  Photo 1 is the 'Kilwinning Abby', photos 2 and 3 are in the pedestrian street in
Kilwinning.  Had a good chat with the Yes people at their wee stand.  

Was shown around Isle of Arran by friends Graeme and Aly,  a lovely part of Scotland. Photo 4 - Machrie Moor stone circles. Photo 5 - old buildings near the stone circles. Photo 6 - sign states 'Passing Place' on the road from Brodick to
Blackwaterfoot.  We drove around and across the Isle at a leisurely pace.

Photos 1 to 3 Brodick Castle on Isle of Arran . Photo 4 - Jonathan and I back on the mainland at Stirling castle in Stirling.
Photo 5 - Aly and Graeme our great guides. Photo 6 - William Wallace monument seen from Stirling Castle.

King Robert the Bruce standing guard at Stirling Castle and Stirling Castle.  I think the armour is my size.

Photo 1 - Stirling seen from the top of Wallace Monument, it was over 200 steps to get to the top and was very windy.
We then went to see an engineering marvel the 'Falkirk Wheel' which raises and lowers canal boats from 1 canal system to another. At this site is a miniature version of the 'kelpies' - photo 4 - where Aly and Jonathan try to show the scale of the artwork.  We then drove to the big version of the 'Kelpies' - photo 5 - where again Aly and Jonathan show the size of the horses. 

A family dinner with the Scotland branch of the family.

A day in Glasgow, a real mix. The street group are called Clanadonia and were very good.

We were loaned a car for a couple of days and drove from Kilwinning to Fort William on day 1.  Had a lot of rain, but there were enough breaks in the weather to take photos.  Photos 1,2,3 and 6 are the town of Inveraray.  We had lunch in a
pub dated around 1798. Photo 4 is on the way to Inveraray, and photo 5 is the train used for the Harry Potter films. 

Photos 1 and 2 - We went via Glen Coe to Fort William as had heard the scenery was amazing - that is so true.  Photo 3 is Jonathan at Fort Augustus on day 2 at a series of locks. We also visited a few more castles photos 4  - Urquhart Castle at Loch Ness and photos 5 and 6 are Dunnottar Castle which is between Aberdeen and Stone Haven.