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After 20000km in trusty Vladimir, 70 different beds and a 100 days of travelling we arrived back in the UK, to beautiful summer weather.
First stop was the lovely historic town of Canterbury, where we had decided to stay so Vladimir could get a new M.O.T.
We stayed in a beautiful Village called Chilham, and were very taken with lovely country lanes, the grand houses, and there were apple orchards everywhere, for Cider production.
Cider is making a huge comeback in Britain , and has the fastest growing market share in the highly competitive drinks market.
Liam and I had managed to score tickets for the last day of the Ashes test, and Jen required a visit to NZ house to sort out visas, so we headed back to London for a few days.
The weather was brilliant and we had a lovely day walking the gardens of London, and visiting the Tate Modern, the Globe theatre and other sites we had missed on our first visit.
Unfortunately the Aussies couldn't make the test last 5 days, so we missed out on our cricket.
So from London we headed north, visiting Windsor on the way and camping the night on the Stratford racecourse. The home of William Shakespeare was well worth the visit, but in the end we had to rush off to our next stop, which was the beautiful riverside town of Bewdley.
Here we stayed with Alan and Gwynneth, Dads relations, unfortunately they were just heading off on holiday the next day, but they very kindly allowed us to stay on in their house and explore the local area.
From here we travelled north, and spent a whole day exploring the World heritage Site of” Iron Bridge”.
It was in this small valley back in 1709, that Abraham Darby perfected the art of Smelting iron from low priced Coke, leading to the production of the first iron wheels, and steam locomotive, sparking the :”Industrial Revolution”.
Iron Bridge was a unique place in those days, with ample quantities of the raw materials and located on the Severn River, a major transport route, but by 1810 its glory days were over, as mass production shifted to Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester,
The Iron Bridge, which was the first in the world, was built in 1779,and still stands. Today. It was built using precast iron in the Darby foundry, but put together using timber joinery techniques.
From Bewdley we made our way north through York and due to a lack of campsites we stayed in a small B&B in Thirsk.
From Thirsk we travelled north to Durham, and visited the magnificent Durham Cathedral. The cathedral was built around 1093 as the Shrine for St Cuthbert, and is considered one of the greatest Christian buildings in the world.
A visit to Durham County would not be complete without exploring the mining heritage of this area, especially as my Grandfather spent all his life working in the Coalmines.
Beamish is a huge outdoor Museum depicting all aspects of life in a mining town.
Life was tough in those days, with your working life staring at the age of 12-13, when you were old enough to lead the Pit ponies down the mine, and by 21 you had progressed to the Pit head and digging.
Working conditions were horrendous, with the average height of coal face only 70cm high, and usually with 10cm of water in the bottom.
Thousands of miners were killed and injured in the 300 plus mines in this area, and Beamish gave us a very good glimpse of life in those days.
From Durham it was north again, visiting Captain Cooks Birthplace, and walking to his monument atop a windswept hill covered in flowering heather above Great Ayton.
From here we moved on to the lovely riverside town of Morpeth, and had a wonderful time with Alistair and Freda, reminiscing over previous trips , and Alistair conducted an informative walking tour of the town.
Morpeth had seen a huge flood swamp the town recently, and Freda and Alistair had not long moved back into their town house, after much flood damage.
That night we stayed with Paul and Livia, who had also previously been to New Zealand, and their two boys Robert and Mathew, and were treated to a very warm welcome, despite them just returning from Holiday that day.
The next morning we pushed further north to the lovely coastal town of Arbroath, and stayed with Paul’s brother Ken and his wife Marjory. We had a lovely evening with them and their son Alistair and daughter, Rosalind.
The next morning, while Vanessa went riding on Rosalind’s horse, Alistair gave us a tour of Arbroath, learning all about its fishing history (established in the 12th century), and the historic ruined Abbey there, where in 1320 Robert the Bruce signed Scotland's declaration of independence.
Arbroath is also home to the famous “Arbroath Smokie” (smoked haddock), and so we had to have them for tea that night.
The next day we moved on , travelling back down to Edinburgh, visiting the very impressive” Scotts Discovery” museum on the way.
The museum told the story of Scott’s epic trip to Antarctica in 1901 and his subsequent rescue by a Dundee whaler aboard the Terra Nova after two years trapped in the polar ice.
Scott's original ship the “Discovery”, was purpose built in Dundee in 1900, and has been restored to all its former glory.
We then had two nights in Edinburgh, completing a city walking tour in the pouring rain, and then exploring the castle., at night we visited my cousin Ishbel and her husband Cassian, and there two boys James and Alexander.
From Edinburgh it was back to Glasgow via Stirling, to my Uncles place where we had begun our European circuit four months earlier.
On the way through Stirling, we visited the town of Greenloaming where Jennies Forefathers had emigrated to NZ from, five generations ago.
We also visited the impressive Wallace Memorial at Stirling, and learnt all about William Wallace's victory over the English in the Battle of Stirling in 1297, and his subsequent betrayal, capture and brutal execution at Smithfield in 1305.
We also passed Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce defeated the English in 1314, paving the way for Scotland's Independence.
Scotland has just experienced its third wettest August ever, so we are hoping for brighter weather as we head north for the Highlands again.
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