"Short stories and travel reports from my life adventures around the globe".
Galashiels Town Centre. December, 2019. The Scottish community of Galashiels is a typical Borders town in many ways. Huddled snugly between lush terraces of green farmland, it’s a pretty enough place with a handful of charming spots. Ultimately though, there is very little to see and do. Not that this is a particularly terrible thing. Younger Leighton […]
Read MoreThe Meigle Circular, The Scottish Borders. May 2019. There are no shortages of hiking trails in and around the Scottish town of Galashiels. In fact, jump in the car from the town centre and you’ve got a dozen options within a twenty minute drive. Furthermore, my parents have access to one of the area’s prettiest […]
Read MoreThe Torwoodlee Circular. May & December 2019. The vast country estate of Torwoodlee in The Scottish Borders has belonged to the Pringle family since 1501. The Pringles are a historical clan with an illustrious lineage. Have you heard of the clothing manufacture Pringle of Scotland? That’s them! With a whopping three thousand acres at their […]
Read MoreYair Hill Forest, The Scottish Borders. May 2019. It’s always nice to discover a new hiking route in The Scottish Borders. And since my parents move to the town of Galashiels, a wealth of new routes have opened up. One of these is Yair Hill Forest, a vast expanse of woodland situated in the heart […]
Read MoreStenton Village, East Lothian, Scotland. Photo courtesy of Richard Webb. May 2019. Stenton Village is a small farming community in the Scottish county of East Lothian. The population stands at around three hundred, hence it doesn’t take long to drive through. Surrounded by acres of gorgeous farmland, the village consists of little more than a […]
Read MoreWhittingehame Church, East Lothian, Scotland. May 2019. The late evening light was rapidly fading when we arrived at Whittingehame Church. After an incredibly fun afternoon exploring the sights of East Lothian’s country lanes, we’d finally reached our last stop. Located in the dictionary definition of middle of nowhere in the heart of some lovely Scottish countryside, […]
Read MoreHailes Castle, East Lothian, Scotland. May 2019. It was a beautiful evening in East Lothian as Spackles pulled up in the little lay-by near the entrance gate to Hailes Castle. The time was about a quarter past eight in the evening, though you’d hardly know it. In fact, the sky was a calming blue and […]
Read MorePreston Mill, East Lothian, Scotland. May 2019. Spackles and I were having enormous fun driving around the countryside of East Lothian picking off the sights. Our next stop was Preston Mill, a former 18th century watermill famed for producing oatmeal. Even as we were parking I could see what a magnificent structure it was. Especially […]
Read MoreJohn Muir’s Birthplace. Dunbar, Scotland. May 2019. You simply cannot escape John Muir in the Scottish town of Dunbar. After all, there’s a statue of him out on the High Street. You’ll also find a giant bear sculpture, located near the Spot Roundabout, which symbolises the great man’s travels through America. Furthermore, one of his […]
Read MoreDunbar Battery, Scotland. May 2019. The historic Scottish town of Dunbar once had a grand defence bastion situated on an elevated section of the harbour on Lamer Island. It was built in 1781 during the American War Of Independence to protect the town from the fearsome naval captain, John Paul Jones. The defence post was […]
Read MoreBelhaven Beach, Dunbar, Scotland. May 2019. My visit to Belhaven Beach was an especially spontaneous one! It was a moody early evening and Spackles and I had been snugly installed inside his farmhouse in the nearby village of Stenton. One minute we were drinking tea and wolfing down Mother Spackles’ excellent homemade gingerbread. The next […]
Read MoreRemembering Old Times in Haddington. May 2019. A strange feeling swept over me as my old friend Spackles and I turned the corner and the car glided onto Market Street. It had been a whopping twenty one years since I’d lived here, but there was no doubting it… this was Haddington alright. As Spackles searched for […]
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