Photo Trip Report: England and Scotland

[joelle]

Great photos, I enjoy watching them, thanks for sharing

[2dandan]

Enjoying your trip report. Are you aware of the reason for the climber being in his bare feet?

[dtaai-maai]

I'm enjoying these too. I see Mrs B has moved on from trudging wearily to contemplating jumping off a cliff!

Enjoying your trip report. Are you aware of the reason for the climber being in his bare feet?

The same thought occurred to me. Is he climbing up or abseiling down? Maybe bare feet helps with footholds...?

[lindosfan1]

What a the 3 rods the guy with the bare feet had, superb pictures.

[Big Boy]

Rods? I thought they were ropes.

[Dannie Boy]

Clearly ropes - maybe the same problem I have with misplaced fingers and spelling?

[Dannie Boy]

Enjoying your trip report. Are you aware of the reason for the climber being in his bare feet?

Looks risky to me, even if it might provide help with footholds as suggested, there must be considerable risk of cutting his feet on the rocks?

[STEVE G]

I did a bit of very amateur rock climbing on Stanage edge as a teenager back in the 70s. I would probably have done more if I hadn't joined the Navy shortly after. I still know someone from that time who is still climbing in his late fifties.

[buksida]

I didn't talk to the climber so no idea about his kit or why he wasn't wearing climbing shoes.

It was time to leave England and head north to Scotland. Our rental shed had started to make some strange noises raising a few concerns but nobody wanted to answer the phone at the car company (this became a common theme throughout the trip) so we drove on regardless. To break up the five-hour drive, we stopped at the iconic Kelpies in Falkirk for a few pictures and a bite to eat. A water Kelpie is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore.

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As you can see, the weather in Scotland changes every 10 minutes.

[migrant]

Back in my college days (way back) I did some rock climbing and rappelling, my roommate was the president of the university climbing club. I vaguely remember some "purists" that didn't use anything that pierces the rock and climbed bare foot. Crazy would be another description for them.

[Big Boy]

Thank you for the kelpie explanation. I've seen these things photographed by many friends, and had assumed kelpie was a breed of horse. With your explanation, I can actually see the theme. Especially IMG_20220824_130126 where the shape could have risen from the loch. Excellent sculptures.

[caller]

Forgot to thank you for the fantastic pics. Brings back memories

[buksida]

We arrived at our destination in mid-afternoon and the weather was glorious - far better than the miserable Manchester that we'd driven from. Our base for the next few weeks was a stone-built farmers cottage a few miles from a village called Edzell and around 6-7 miles inland from Montrose. With a clear view of the Cairngorms to the west, the skies here seemed a lot clearer, and the sunsets that painted that sky on the first couple of days were fantastic. This was the view from the end of the cottage garden where there was a forest and a little river called Luther Water which fed the North Esk.

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It got pretty chilly after dark (which was about 21.30) dropping below 10 degrees on some nights, but we had a log burner to keep us warm so could stay outside, and the red wine (which was less than half of what it costs in Thailand) flowed. Drink in general (beer, ale, cider, etc) is a little more expensive in Scotland than in England (about 20%) but way cheaper than the equivalent in Thailand so I was in pale ale heaven.

[Ratsima]

Beautiful photos. I too am amazed to see these lovely places so clean and so uncluttered by ads and tangled overhead cabling. Thanks for sharing all those.

[buksida]

It was time to get familiar with some serious Scottish heritage and this involved visiting the local distillery at Fettercairn, just a few miles away from our base. Claiming to be one of the first distilleries in the highlands opened in 1824, Fettercairn offers one-hour tours providing a glimpse into the production of Scotland’s most famous export.

There is some serious science to the distillation process, the shapes, and sizes of the stills, and the influence they have on the flavours. Unbeknown to me, most single malt Scotch is aged in Bourbon barrels which are bought from the United States. The company has planted its own oak plantation to make its own barrels in about 150 years, our guide told us, but we wont be around to sample them. Included in the tour was a wee tasting session where we could sample a dram or three of their different aged malts. It was rude not to buy a bottle.

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