On our way to Scotland the landscape was full of gentle hills covered in green pastures that were separated by drystone walls. Even most of the cottages were made of stone. Eventually we left the highway and followed a very narrow, winding road for some miles until we arrived at Heddon-on-the-Wall, a very old village in which again there were buildings of stone. Here we at last found out why stone was by far the preferred building material, besides the fact it was a good insulator against the cold winds that swept across here.
When we walked down a lane we found some remnants of Hadrian’s Wall, an ancient Roman wall that marked the boundary of the Roman territory and had been built to deter invaders from the north. Apparently it was far higher than the wall we saw - originally about twice the height of a man. The wall we saw was not much higher than our knees. Guess where all the stones went over the centuries after the Romans abandoned their settlement!
Unfortunately it was drizzling whilst we were there and it continued as we eventually reached the Scottish border. Quite a few people had stopped at the site of the huge stone marking the border, with a Scottish flag just about blown away by the winds. Here a lone piper was making the most of all the visitors to the site, selling souvenirs out of his car boot and requesting a donation for taking his photo in front of the stone, which I gladly paid. There was also a small van from which you could purchase hot drinks. Who could blame them for being so enterprising?
And I was so excited to have my first glimpse of Scottish heather up close, as well of the land beyond.
At last I was in Scotland, a land I have always dreamed of visiting, as many of my forebears came from there, including the gentle Camerons. I am afraid I did not inherit their thriftiness though . . .
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| Scottish heather. |
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| Our Scottish piper. And more stones! |
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| Scotland in the mist and rain. |
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| Our next stop was to be Jedburgh, shown on the map, where we were more than ready to have lunch. |
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| The Scottish flag. |
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