Europe A La Carte Blog

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The 4th annual Border Green Festival will be taking place at the Five Arches playing fields in Berwick upon Tweed in North Northumberland on Sunday 29 June 2008.. There will be a free bus service from the railway station to the venue.

Border Green Festival 2007 with Royal Border Bridge in background

There will a variety of activities and workshops on offer such as a recycling game, art frame construction, organic gardening advice and displays, shadow puppet making and African drumming. Twelve local bands, including the Brigantines, will perform. There are stalls selling food and a beer tent. The admission charge for adults is £2, kids under 14 years of age enter free.

I interviewed Angela K Nickerson, author of Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome, during a live blog on Wednesday 11 June at 20:00 British Summer Time (which is one hour in advance of Greenwich Mean Time).

Angela’s book is a blend of biography, travel guide and the history and art of Rome and Florence during Michelangelo’s lifetime. You can read my review of A Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome on the Wandalust UK travel blog.

Please come along, the live blog will appear inside this post, you don’t need any special equipment or software to watch and it’s easy to make comments and ask questions.

I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes as part of Angela’s virtual book tour.

This post is brought to you by Europe a la Carte, adviser to English tourism.

England have taken Europe a la Carte’s advice and jazzed up the border crossing into England on the A1. Entry to England was very low key with a tiny sign and no flags compared to the Scottish side which has an enormous sign and three flags. However now England have erected three St George Cross flags. I suppose it had to be three because it couldn’t be fewer than Scotland and more than three would have seemed like one-upmanship.

After Europe a la Carte’s advice

Before Europe a la Carte’s advice

Call me biased but I still that the Scottish entry is better. There is a large Welcome sign, also the blue flags with white crosses are more eye catching than white flags with a red cross and there’s no large Welcome to England sign. Now this is said as an objective observation as although I’m Scottish I currently live in England and drive up and down the A1 regularly.

The Scottish Border on the A1

So England you’ve gone part of the way, how about a nice big Welcome sign too?

Every year on May 1 the “Riding of the Bounds” takes place in Berwick upon Tweed. In 1438 Berwick became part of England after changing hands between England and Scotland several times. Berwick lies 3 miles from the Scottish border and I call the area Scengland. The “Riding of the Bounds” was initiated to check that the area was secure, presumably from the Scots.

Leaving the Barracks

Riders gather at the Barracks Square. A piper heralds the start of the procession, led by a Marshall holding the Berwick flag. down to the Guildhall to request the Mayor’s permission to secure the boundaries.

Heading down Marygate to the Guildhall

The Mayoral party on the Guildhall steps

The riders then set off on their mission, halting traffic on the A1, check for marauding Scots and then report back that all is secure handing back the Berwick flag.

“Riding the Bounds” is rather perverse in the current climate as recent opinion polls show that 60 - 80% of Berwick residents would like Berwick to be part of Scotland, mainly because of higher per capita public spending in Scotland, so perhaps the ceremony will have to renamed “Redrawing the Bounds”?

It’s pretty hard to come up with my favourite castles in Scotland as there are so many from which to choose. Sometimes it’s the location of the castle that’s the attraction as opposed to the interior of the castle. However as I like getting off the beaten track my choice of castles reflects this.

Tantallon Castle, East Lothian

Tantallon Castle, East Lothian

Tantallon Castle lies 3 miles east of North Berwick in East Lothian. around 20 miles east of Edinburgh. The Castle was built in the 14th century as a fortress. We visited Tantallon Castle for the first time a couple of weeks ago. My husband who is a keen kayaker had paddled round the coastline below the castle but we wanted to see it at ground level. Although it was a pretty miserable wet day the views over the Firth of Forth and the Bass Rock were really impressive. The castle is pretty much a ruin but you climb up the spiral stone staircases for elevated views.

Falkland Palace, Fife

Falkland Palace, Fife

I know it’s a palace but that’s just another name for a royal castle. Falkland Palace was built on the site of Falkland Castle in the 15th century. Falkland Palace is in such a stunning location at the foot of the Lomond Hills in the Fife region of central Scotland. The castle interior is in good condition with many 17th century Flemish tapestries adorning the walls. The Royal Tennis Court built in 1539 for James V, is the oldest tennis court in the UK. It’s real tennis that played here with a more complex scoring system than the current game. The score lines are adorned with paintings of crowns. Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have created a great stir when she abandoned her stiff skirt to don breeches to play here. The tennis court is still used by a local tennis club.

Castle Fraser, Aberdeenshire

Castle Fraser, Aberdeenshire

Castle Fraser is a splendid castle in Aberdeenshire, in the north east of Scotland. The castle itself is very beautiful and well preserved, dating from the 16th century. It’s brimming with historic furniture, paintings and embroidery. In true castle tradition the castle is haunted by a Princess who was murdered in Green Room. It was impossible to remove the blood stains left on the stone stairs after dragging her body down and wood paneling had to be laid over the stone steps to hide the evidence. You can climb to one of the towers to have fantastic views. of the surrounding countryside. There’s a lovely formal garden and woodland walks. However kids will love the “Woodlands Secrets” adventure playground. There a tepee, stone circle, musical instruments and various carved wooden animals.

If you plan to visit castles, gardens and monuments during your trip to the UK, the Great British Heritage Pass saves you money and time. Overseas visitors to the UK can buy the pass online. The pass gives you free entry to a wast array of heritage properties owned by the National Trust, Historic Scotland and English Heritage. The three castles I’ve written about are all part of either the National Trust for Scotland or Historic Scotland. The price starts at £30 per adult or £69 per family (2 adults and up to 3 kids under 15 year) for a four day ticket. This is good value if you’ll visit a few properties as it costs £11 per adult to enter Edinburgh Castle. You’ll also avoid having to stand in queues to purchase admission tickets at each attraction.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my whirlwind tour around three of my favourite castles off the beaten track in Scotland. Do you have favourite castle in Scotland away from the star attractions such as Edinburgh Castle and Castle Urquhart at Loch Ness.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Wilton Lodge Park and Museum in Hawick in the Scottish Borders yesterday. Wilton Lodge, set in 107 acres of grounds was built by the Pringle family in 1859. The Lodge become the home of Hawick Museum in 1910.

The War Memorial at the side of Wilton Lodge

Motor cycle enthusiasts will enjoy the Museum exhibition about Jimmie Guthrie the 1930s Scottish motor cycling champion who was born in Hawick but died in an accident at the German Grand Prix in 1937. The Museum hosts various temporary exhibitions, at present a photo diary of St Cuthberts Way from Melrose to Holy Island and a collection of vivid oil rural landscapes.

The parkland surrounding Wilton Lodge offers lovely walks along the banks of the River Teviot. i thought that the waterfall was beautiful.

The Waterfall, Winton Lodge Park, Hawick

There a cafe in the park, a childrens play area and a walled garden with free parking nearby although disabled drivers can park outside Wilton Lodge.

I think it’s a great venue for a family day out, with no admission charges and there are plenty of benches for a picnic.

The waves at Spittal beach, Berwick upon Tweed in the north east of England looked more like Atlantic breakers this afternoon.  I’ve never seen such big waves in the 2 years I’ve lived in Berwick. I was expecting to see surfers there.

Breakers at Spittal beach, Berwick upon Tweed 

It was amazing to watch the foam cascading down the steps which lead down to the beach from the promenade.

Foamy steps leading from Spittal prom to the beach 

Ravenglass is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. I thought it was charming, situated at the confluence of three rivers the Esk, Irk and Mite. We walked across the railway bridge and down the coastal path. There’s a large free car park with public toilets next to the station. You can also reach Ravenglass on the circular Cumbrian railway from Carlisle, Penrith or Lancaster with a hop on and off day ticket costing £24 per adult and £12 for a child.

Ravensglass from the northern estuary bank

The Ravenglass & Esk Railway runs on a tiny 15 inch wide track for the 7 miles to Dalegarth.  It’s a short walk from here to Eskdale Mill the oldest working water corn mill in the Lake District,  There are several stations along the way and a full line return ticket allow you to hop on and off throughout the day.

I arrived at the station just as the steam train was leaving the platform, so only managed to take photos of the back of the train.

Ravenglass Station

Muncaster Castle with its garden, maze and owl centre lies just outside Ravensglass. You can walk the one mile on the Eskdale Trail through the Decoy Wood, this will take you past the Roman Bath House.

I had a look to see what accommodation is available in the area. The best value option is the Muncaster Country guest house, a converted school with 8 rooms. I found double rooms with shared bathroom from £36 and ensuite double rooms from £45 at the beginning of April 2008.

The Pennington Hotel is a luxury hotel in Ravenglass, where double rooms cost £120 a night.

Good - £45 a night for a twin room with breakfast on the Great Getaways rate, which could be canceled without penalty up to 48 hours before arrival, peaceful rural location.

Bad - long queues at breakfast buffet, no sound insulation between rooms. Rural location means you’re dependent on car to get there and if you want a selection of restaurants or pubs.

Rating - 6 out of 10 (at £45 a night)

We stayed for 3 nights in February 2008 at the Shap Wells hotel, which lies around 20 miles south of Penrith. I’d assumed the hotel was in Shap. so had to call into another hotel to ask for directions after we’d driven through Shap with now sight of the hotel. It’s down a single track road a couple of miles south of Shap. It’s a grand old buidling in a quiet, rural location, next to a stream.

There were no spaces in the car park when we arrived and my husband had to move a glass recycling bin so we could squeeze into a space. The receptionist on duty was not very friendly or warn just efficient. Our room was adequate. fairly compact with a small window overlooking the inner courtyard. The bathroom sink had a large crack and there were some cracks in the side of the wardrobe door. We could hear quite a lot of noise from the corridor and nearby rooms.

Breakfast on Saturday morning was an ordeal as there was a 15 minute queue at the cooked breakfast counter. The queue snaked around our table and it wasn’t very relaxing having all these people standing next to your table. There were several large unused tables left all along the window from a function the previous evening which meant that you couldn’t enjoy the lovely view out to the stream.

I asked to speak to the manager to voice my displeasure and while he listened politely he more or less said it was inevitable that there would be a queue for breakfast at a large hotel and there had been no time to remove the large function tables before breakfast. I did try to explain to him that I was trying to be constructive in order to improve the guest experience in ways that don’t necessarily involve spending more money, just more consideration of the guest. The view from the restaurant is one of the best features of the hotel and it’s a waste not to let guests enjoy this because you can’t be bothered to move some tables. When I told the manager this, his reply was “everyone would want to sit by the window”. Well at least some guests would have their wish fulfilled if the function tables had been removed.

Overall at £45 a night the Shap Wells was OK but if I’d paid much more for a rather basic room and poor breakfast service I’d had been pretty hacked off.

If you’re looking for a budget break on the coast in the south of England Park Holidays have 23 caravan parks, where you can have a short break from as little as £69. You can choose between lively or quiet parks in Devon, Dorset, Essex, Kent, Suffolk and Essex.

I stayed in many static caravans for holidays when our sons were young and thought that they were excellent value for money. I never fancied camping and youth hostelling as budget options but static caravans with protection from the elements, running water, toilet, shower and cooking facilities were an acceptable budget option as holiday cottages and hotels can be rather expensive.