Lockerbie

 Good Evening All,

I'm sitting in the lounge of my airbnb cottage in Lockerbie, I'm glad I decided to break the journey to Fort William because I've had a great day and arrived early enough to nip in to Tesco and buy cheese and salad and a lovely baguette for dinner.

So, what's happened today you ask, well I drove from Ambleside to just outside Keswick where the Castlerigg Stone Circle is located in bright sunshine with blue sky. 

When I  arrived at the circle the sky clouded over and the wind picked up, I had to don a jumper!! It's funny, the last time I was here with Warren in 2005, the same thing happened, the sun went right behind the clouds and the clouds came down over the fells.

The fells are just beautiful here, the colours are amazing, the different greens,the whites in the hedgerows, the yellows of the gorse, it's just beautiful and wild and rugged, the drystone walls, the farmhouses in the distance, it really is a wild, beautiful landscape with the sheep in the field and the stone circle which has been here 4500 years. Its amazing, you can feel the history all around you.

 I was there on my own and the solitude was so special, even the feel of the stones with the lichen growing on them. It's funny even though the temperature has dropped the stones themselves are still fairly warm. It's just a magical, magical place.

I had to come back here, I feel close to Wazzy here, even though I can here the traffic in the distance its still a wild and lonely place, a place of healing I think, its just beautiful.

From Castlerigg I headed to the Bowder Stone, note to self, always have £1 coins in my pocket, parking here is £5 for 2 hours, so never complain about parking in Wangaratta again people!! 

Now the suns come out, the clouds are white and fluffy again, the sky's blue. I really think its the stone circle that causes the overcast sky and eerie feeling.  

So I had about 600 yards to walk to the Bowder Stone, the last time I was here was about 1967-68 and you didn't have to pay for parking, you just pulled up and walked in. 

Today I'm wearing my hiking boots because yesterday I hiked in my sketchers and I have a bit of a sore foot, so today, nicely encased ankles and all should be good.

As I walked through the woods to the Bowder Stone the sunlight filtered through the trees and turned the air green and with the sound of birdsong in the air it was just beautiful, there were birds foraging for worms, it was quiet, well as quiet as it can be in England with the bloody traffic!!  

The woods are new growth, nothing older than about 200 years, I stood underneath a beautiful oak tree that will be magnificent in another 200 years.  

Then the track started pulling uphill again, and then through the trees, thar she blows, the Bowder Stone, just sitting there as she has for a millennia. They still have the gantry going up the stone so I climbed up to take some photos.

 Another Cumbrian standing stone

As I was heading back to the car park I relived memories of mum and dad, Maudie and Doug brought me here a couple of times when I was a kid and I loved it, I have great memories of this area,pony trekking with dad, rambling with mum, mum ever would go pony trekking, so it was a little bit nostalgic, this is one place I didn't get to with Wazzy, so this is one place on my pilgrimage where I've been able to say goodbye to mum and dad.

From here I'm heading to Gretna Green where Warren and I renewed our vows in 2005.

As  I walked back to the carpark I passed a group of  people, they must be a part of an outdoor activities group helping to get wheelchair bound people out into the environment. It's incredible, they're taking people in wheelchairs up to the Bowder Stone, they have straps attached to the wheelchairs so they can pull from the front while someone pushes from behind and the person in the wheelchair pushes as well. I take my hat off to them, it was hard work, but they were all so upbeat and happy to be helping. There are good people out there.

From  Barrowdale I decided to drive over Honiston Pass, which gets me back eventually onto the M6 towards Gretna Green, its Deliverance country, but so very rugged and  beautiful, but OMG, there were some scary moments.

Okay, the photos don't show how steep and narrow the road really is, but they do show the incredible scenery.

So from here its to Gretna Green, where there are so many memories of Wazzy, buying my Celtic wedding ring and then renewing our vows over the anvil, it was a special time we spent here, and I'm looking, forward to reliving those memories.

 Gretna Green - well what a disappointment, now it's just a tourist attraction selling souvenirs that are made in China. The old smithies shop was closed, and the pub is now a walk through eatery.

I had some lunch and left, not even worth taking a photo. 

Glad I have memories of how it used to be.

I'll blog again from Fort William.

Hope my furkids are okay, I really miss them.