Adventure to Europe & UK 2025

We didn't want to waste our last day just driving from York to Manchester and preparing to fly home, so we planned to visit a couple of National Trust properties along the way. The first was Nostell, a grand Palladian house in West Yorkshire. It comprises 300 acres of parkland and gardens, a stable courtyard and features a collection of authentic Chippendale furniture.  The gardens were stunning, with a fabulous display of spring bulbs on show. Spring has definitely arrived in this part of England and the trees and hedgerows are finally showing tinges of green as the leaves emerge. Closer to Manchester in the afternoon, we visited Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire. It's one of the best preserved textile mills from the Industrial Revolution. It was built in 1784 and eventually became a complete industrial community, with housing for workers, a school for children and of course the mill, which was powered by a huge waterwheel and eventually by steam engines. The family home and garden...

One of our favourite things to do is take ourselves off on a walking tour of the city we are visiting, so we set off in the morning to explore York and see what it has to offer. We made our way into the city centre, and soon found ourselves in the Shambles, where the narrow medieval cobblestone streets have ancient timber framed buildings leaning in and almost touching each other in places. The Shambles is filled with quaint shops and a market, and we found tearooms where we had brunch before going on the explore the snickleways, which are very narrow alleys and passageways connecting the streets. Close by is the famous York Minster, a majestic gothic cathedral that dates from 1220 and is the seat of the Archbishop of York.  Walking the York City Walls is another must do activity. The walk has stunning views and features historic gateways, towers and beautiful gardens where the daffodils were out and the blossom was showing on the trees. We returned to our accommodation in the suns...

Paul and Emmy kindly gave us an annual membership to the UK National Trust, and we have visited several of the properties managed by the Trust. Wallington in Northumberland comprises 13,500 acres and is one of the largest estates under its care. It was gifted in its entirety, including furniture and artworks, to the Trust in 1941 and is a magnificent property with an enormous house originally built in 1688, extensive woodlands and parkland and a walled garden. Of course, Peter couldn't resist the opportunity to play the grand piano in the great central reception hall. It's interesting to see how the other half lives!

Yesterday we said goodbye to Scotland, and realised the end of our trip is drawing near. We stopped at the border of Scotland and England for a photo, but honestly, there isn't much there. Except for my lovely man... We're staying at The Bay Horse Inn, which is a historic coaching inn in the tiny town of West Woodburn, on the Roman route to Scotland. It sits on the River Rede and has just seven rooms above the hotel. It is quite quaint and is the first time we have stayed in a country pub. Dinner in the bar was fun with the local footy team celebrating a win, and also meeting others in town for the weekend. Hadrian's Wall is not far off, so today we went exploring and found Housesteads Roman Fort, also known as Vercovicium, which is set into Hadrians Wall and was built around AD124 to house around 800 soldiers and their captains. It is incredibly well preserved and you can easily see where all the separate buildings were.  There's also a museum and many artefacts and in...

The National Museum of Scotland is filled with weird and wonderful exhibits. We only saw a fraction of what was on offer because there are six floors with over 10,000 items. These range from the quirky and unusual, such as Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, to a hands-on science floor where kids (and Peter) can try out various experiments and even see what they would look like as an astronaut. There are lots of fascinating mechanical objects, such as this Ilay Glynne sundial which has an equinoctial ring dial that allows it to measure local solar time very accurately. It is both a scientific instrument and an ornate status symbol. And very pretty. One of the first things I saw in the museum was this treasure chest from the 1700's with an intricate locking system built into the lid consisting of 15 spring bolts operated by a hidden keyhole. This chest would certainly ensure that your secrets stayed secret. Then, of course, there are the usual taxiderm...

Sunny skies  greeted us again today as we set off on foot to explore the streets of Edinburgh. We weren't sure exactly where we were going, but Edinburgh castle looming high over the city beckoned us in the right direction. Edinburgh castle sits atop Castle Rock, a volcanic crag right in the heart of Edinburgh. It has steep cliffs on two sides and a steep ascent from the west. Throughout it's long history it has served as a  national symbol,  royal residence, and military garrison and is now a major tourist attraction as well as being the venue for the world famous Edinburgh tattoo. From there we explored the Old Town, including the Royal Mile which connects Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and is the main street of the Old Town. We enjoyed discovering some of the wonderful old buildings making up this lovely city. The sunny weather enticed lots of people to enjoy the emerging spring flowers and sunshine in the parks and we walked through the park behind Ed...