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One last photo from the room with a view over St Helier. Then the taxi arrived a few minutes late and we were driven to the airport.

No spitfire to wave us goodbye, it had flown over to Guernsey at the weekend to fleece the unwary of their £3,500 for 30 minutes of adventure.

After having both my bags searched for illegal substances the lady at security reluctantly allowed us to go on our way. Then it was just a case of getting on the plane and off to a Scotland with blue skies for a change. The landing was the least bumpy of any flight we’d been on, partly because this looked a very new EasyJet aircraft.

Drove home with some pretty pictures of South West Scotland in the bag. That almost made up for being back to “auld claes and purrich”.

We caught the minibus down from the hotel to the town. We’d heard so much about Locke’s food shop, we visited it first. It was a bit of a disappointment. My coffee was bitter and thin and Scamp’s wasn’t very hot. Style over substance again.

We got the Liberty Bus to Gorey. Gorey was a fishing village with a castle, a dragon and lots of rain. We sheltered in a bus shelter and were entertained by a wee boy explaining to his dad, exactly how he would deal with dragons. Basically it meant kicking them in the head and then being friends with them. Sounded like a plan. The rain was fairly light until we paid our entrance fee and started walking up the terraces of the old castle. Then it just got heavier and heavier. I was glad I’d bought a brolly before we got on the bus!

Halfway up the terraces there was a room for children to dress up in historical outfits. On this day it was more like hysterical outfits, because it was teenagers who were caught by us dressing up!

Further up and in to the castle proper we found the dragons. One was in a glass case. Another was very metallic looking and hung from the ceiling. Both scary beasts. More climbing took us to the old fashioned cannon battery and a great view over the battlements to the village below.

We walked down a slippery looking paved slope that took us down to the village and in to the bus shelter again. Where we caught the bus back to St Helier, where the weather was more forgiving.

Late lunch/ Dinner was in the Italian restaurant called Rigatoni. Then we walked back up the hill again to the hotel.

As has become traditional when we’re away from home, the write-up is more of a place marker than anything else. With bullet points to keep the memories fresh without taking up too much writing time.

• A different route to the town
• Millennium park with water curtain
• Man with golden dress (statue) in town square
• Found I could hire a Brompton folding bike
• Jersey Botanic Gardens with Japanese garden
• Giant carp in a lily pond
• Jersey lilies
• Lots of apple trees
• Too many flowers to list here
• Dined at Izakaya at night
• Peruvian & Japanese restaurant
• Wagamama on steroids!
• Walked back to the hotel through the town

– Big day tomorrow for Gillian & Ed

Today we drove to Kirkby Stephen a market town in Cumbria.

We’d been here a few times before and both of us liked it. Our initial thoughts today were that it had changed a fair bit since we were last there. Nothing major, but a few of the shops we remembered weren’t there any more and a few of the pubs and hotels looked as if they had changed hands. Well, you have to remember that nothing lasts forever.

We had coffee and a bite to eat in the town, then went for a walk round the cricket pitch and up on to the mound behind it where you get a great view all round.

A bit of shopping in the Coop and then back to the house.

PoD was a straggly line of wild geranium flowers back at the house.

Memories:

• Rosa persica. Yellow rose with dark red centre
• Climbing the hill behind the cricket pitch
• Sighting the Nine Standards from the top of the hill
• Neil’s Daal with Flatbread
• Roadworks on the Main Street causing confusion

Tomorrow is unplanned as yet. Maybe back to Kendal weather permitting.

On Monday we drove in to Sedbergh.

We wandered round the place, which didn’t take long and had coffee and a scone each in the Gundog Cafe. Old fashioned cafe with far too many tables and chairs for comfort, however, the coffee was good and so were the scones with cream and jam. Walked round the rest of the shops and bought some veg for dinner later in the week.

Memories:

• The narrow one-way streets
• The number of book shops
• Big school playing field with summer activities on the go
• Incongruous sign “Beware Cricket Balls”
• The Sedbergh Book Shelter where you can swap books
• Pretty church with lots of roses
• Old school
• School door with faded varnish (PoD)

Neil was cooking tonight and it was Spanish Chicken. Very nice and also very filling. Another one to add to our recipe book,

Tomorrow we may go further afield

It’s the waiting that’s the worst.

We were intending leaving around 12.00 to 12.30, but as usual it took a little longer. Once we were on the road I was fine. All, or almost all of last week’s worries dropped away, as I knew it would.

We stopped for a ‘comfort break’ at Tebay and bought a chunk of focaccia and some fruit to eat when we got to The House.

Turned off the M6 at exit 37 and from there we we put the motorway behind us and we were on the single track and narrow dual track roads. One wrong turn led us to the outskirts of Sedbergh, but we managed to turn at a big Spar shop and find the ‘proper’ road.

After asking directions in Dent village we arrived at the house without incident.

The rest of the gang arrived in due course.

PoD was a rusty gate just across the road from the house. The gate apparently led to Mill Beck, but I never got to find out. Maybe the next time.

Memories:

• Driving.
• M6.
• Tebay.
• Tailing a white van, then the white van tailed us.
• Rolls Royce and Lamborghini.
• A beer and a drink for Scamp on the terrace of the house.
• Drove down to the village for the worst pizza I’ve eaten in a long time.

No more driving tomorrow, hopefully.