After finishing wandering around the Valley Cemetery rather than head back to the train station the way I had come I decided to follow a different route down that I learned afterwards was called the Back Walk. It was created between 1724 and 1791 and follows the outline of where the old city walls would have been.
Like a lot of people I was gripped by the Paris Olympics and Paralympics over the summer – watching sports I’ve never even heard of is always compelling. When I was planning my trip to Cambridge I noted that the Fitzwilliam was putting on an exhibition about the previous Paris Olympics that took place in 1924. The exhibition was free/pay what you wish.
The Church of the Holy Rude is directly next to Stirling Castle – I’d spotted its interestingly designed building on the way up to the castle and made sure to visit on my way back down. One of the church’s main claims to fame is that Mary, Queen of Scots worshipped here and her infant son James was crowned here as James VI of Scots in 1567. This church and Westminster Abbey in London are the only churches in Britain where a coronation has taken place and that is still used regularly for worship.
Stirling Castle was another one of my day trips from Edinburgh. It was an easy train ride from Waverly Station lasting around 50 minutes and then a 15-20 minute walk from the station to the castle. Do note that the walk is mostly uphill, it’s not particularly challenging but if you have mobility issues you can catch a bus up to the castle. I had pre-booked my ticket which are timed entrance (as a member of English Heritage my ticket was free); generally an adult ticket is £17.50 online, £19.50 if bought when you arrive.
I went to school in Gedling, right next to Gedling House, and so the building has always been a source of fascination – the house and grounds were naturally out of bounds for the pupils. One weekend in mid-September it was opened to the public for free as part of the Heritage Open Days and I jumped at the chance to have a look around. Built in 1790 as a home for a wealthy Nottingham banker it is now a Buddhist meditation centre.
I wanted to visit St Cuthbert’s Church because I’m a big Agatha Christie fan and this is where she married her second husband the archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930. However, I’d already scoped out prior to arriving in Scotland that none of the opening times of the church were going to work around what day trips I already had planned so I went along knowing that I wouldn’t be able to go inside. I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find that the grounds were more extensive than I had expected and I had a very nice walk around the kirkyard late one afternoon.
You can’t really miss St. Giles Cathedral, its looming presence in the Old Town of Edinburgh means its visible from all over the city. Saying that, I found I wasn’t really as impressed by St Giles as I have been of other cathedrals I’ve visited. One of Scotland’s most important medieval buildings the current structure was begun in the 14th century and has been a centre of Scottish historical events ever since.
My main motivation for travelling to Cambridge in August was to attend the Murder by the Book exhibition at Cambridge University Library (I had intended to get this post up before it finished on August 24th but a family medical emergency – now largely resolved – impacted all my plans). I’d never been up to the part of Cambridge where the library is located before which is the main research library of the university. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott (designer of the red telephone box among other things) it opened in 1934.
As I mentioned in my Abbotsford post, the house provides a free volunteer lead shuttle from Tweedbank Railway Station to Abbotsford, but also from Abbotsford to Melrose Abbey. As it’s volunteer lead this isn’t always available (check Abbotsford’s website for details/contact info) but happily the shuttle was available on the day I visited and the driver offered to take me to the Abbey when I was done at the house (I was the only person using the shuttle that day). The drive didn’t take very long and you’re set down in a car park opposite the Abbey. The shuttle doesn’t take you back to the station but the driver pointed to a bus stop nearby and said that was where I could get the bus back to Tweedbank (it wasn’t – but more on that later!)
As I’d been to Edinburgh before a lot of my stay there was using the city as a base and going on day trips by train. The one I was most excited about and proved to be excellent was Abbotsford, the home author Walter Scott had built in 1811. I caught the train from Edinburgh Waverley Station to Tweedbank Station which took around one hour. One useful thing the house provides is free transport from the train station to the house. It’s volunteer lead so isn’t always available – you can find times and a phone number to see if it’s happening on the day you’re traveling on the house website – but the day I travelled it was waiting just outside the station, and I was the only passenger! If it isn’t there the house is a 20 minute walk away that is described on the house website, or you can get a local bus. There is also of course a car park at the house if you’re driving.
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