Castles, bridges and other aspects of the Scottish Borders

More local lanery.

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As with the picture I put up at Your bike and an old barn, typical Borders farmstead. Just along the road from the farm:


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I declined to ford the stream, even though the water is so low right now - the lane goes to a muddy and steep track the other side and I didn't want to get stuck and have to come back again. But kinda thought it makes a good photo location? This is the stream from the footbridge:


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Fords are rare, hump-backed bridges are pretty common. Typical insignificant example:


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All very rural and all very green?
 
Raymond said:
More local lanery.

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As with the picture I put up at Your bike and an old barn, typical Borders farmstead. Just along the road from the farm:


View attachment 216151


I declined to ford the stream, even though the water is so low right now - the lane goes to a muddy and steep track the other side and I didn't want to get stuck and have to come back again. But kinda thought it makes a good photo location? This is the stream from the footbridge:


View attachment 216152


Fords are rare, hump-backed bridges are pretty common. Typical insignificant example:


View attachment 216153


All very rural and all very green?
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Keep the local lanery coming, Raymond. I love it!

On YouTube Channel Million Dollar Bogan, Danny Hayes is now touring Scotland on a hardtail chopper. He's touring all of the UK with no suspension, no indicators, no clocks, no mirrors, and no fuel gauge. His rented chopper also breaks down periodically. The production quality is quite good.
 
Mailman said:
Beautiful as always Raymond, I always enjoy seeing your part of the world. I hope your Enfield is running well! 😉
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Yes, thank you. The Enfield is ideal for short trips on local lanes. Very quiet - since I adjusted the tappets, there is less mechanical noise, and I ain't going to use much throttle drifting along some of these little roads.

Today, passed a couple out walking the dog, they said 'Good Afternoon' as the Bullet and I went by and I was able to reply in a conversational tone. So among its other qualities, it's a sociable bike.
 
Couple of outings on the Bullet today. Just back from visiting Blainslie. Population, according to Scottish Borders Council website, 81.

Blainslie was always a joke at secondary school - small, tucked away, not on a main road so people rarely visit the place unless they live there. Though our neighbours tell us they used to go to dances in Blainslie Village Hall . . .

So it's a long time since I went there.

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Mailman said:
Where I live is a suburb of the Phoenix Metro area, total population of nearly 5 million people. :yikes: A small village of only 81 people sounds like a dream! 🥹
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The population of Phoenix is nearly equal to that of the whole of Scotland.

The Borders is not the least densely populated part of Scotland - that distinction belongs to the Highlands - but nonetheless there are only 62 people per square mile in the Borders. And most of them live in our large towns - Galashiels is the biggest with nearly 15,000. Quite a bit smaller than Phoenix . . .
 
Today, went up the Carter Bar, where the A68 main road crosses from Scotland into England. Or from England into Scotland if you're going t'other way.

Was gonna take a snap of the Bullet against the Border marker stone, but there was a gent trying to make a living playing bagpipes badly, selling naff souvenirs and posing for selfies wiv the tourists. So on the other side of that stone, the side where it says Scotland, there's too much of a crowd.

A few bikes in the lay-by, as usual.

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The two next to the Enfield belong to a couple who take their three pet dogs - Chihuahuas? - in bags in the topbox position. More tourist selfie action, obviously.

And daft questions like, 'And do your dogs actually like travelling on the motorbikes?' Ferchissakes, No they hate it, we only do it to make them miserable . . .
 
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I got my bike running after a long layup during the pandemic and working from home. But I've not really ridden since my early twenties. I've just retired to the North East, UK (South Shields). It's taken six months to get the house sorted and so the bike has up to now been languishing in the back of the garage, taunting me from behind piles of "stuff". I've pulled it out and cured the overflowing carbs.

But then, if I'm honest, I found the prospect of getting "back in the saddle" slightly daunting. But it occurred to me that there are lots of castles here abouts. So, I thought I might start visiting them. Here's my first offering - Tynemouth Priory and Castle

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tynemouth-priory-and-castle/

And here's the proof I was there.

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PS - The Priory is about three miles from my house but somehow I racked up forty miles up the NE coast getting there. I'm back in the saddle.

Dave

Sorry to highjack your thread @Raymond
 
@DaveO
Nice photos Dave! Congratulations on your retirement and getting your ‘75 back up and running! 👍🏻 And good for you for getting your knees in the breeze again!
By the way, I like that exhaust you’re running. Most two into one pipes seem to have a megaphone muffler, but yours has a nice shape to it.
 
DaveO said:
Sorry to highjack your thread @Raymond
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No worries, Dave. It's great to hear you are out and about on two wheels again.

DaveO said:
The Priory is about three miles from my house but somehow I racked up forty miles up the NE coast getting there
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Bikes do more miles-per-journey than cars. I'm only an hour, hour-an-a-half up the road, we ought to meet up some time. Warkworth Castle?
 
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I think because they are GIF's.

While you were referring to getting the house sorted this was the "House" I was looking at. Thought to myself rough work.
 

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Regarding the blank squares ... don't know what happened there. I think I pasted something in which was sitting in my paste buffer and then shot off out without noticing. I've deleted whatever they were.
 
The other day, I mentioned the wee village of Midlem. So today, when I went out for a chuff on the Royal Enfield, thought I would take some pictures of the place.

The houses, and there aren't more than a few score of them, are spaced apart round a village green. Which, although Midlem is a pretty village, makes it not easy to photograph. But we stopped outside the village hall and took pictures facing and away:


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The corrugated village hall is very typical of ones built in the first half of the last century. Nearly every village in the Scottish Borders has one. Some are neglected but clearly there is enough community spirit among Midlem residents for the village hall to be well-maintained and by the look of it well-used.

Busy notice boards and they advise of events still in the future. Isn't it sad when the fading, curled up notices on a village board exhort you to attend last year's Christmas bring-and-buy sale or a coffee morning with a date well in the past? But not here.

And we even had some welcome March sunshine.
 
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