On returning to visit my mum in the UK, there always has to be a 'holiday within a holiday'. Mum's choice. Despite her love of Scotland, she's avoided it for the previous few years as the last time we were up there, we were there to scatter my dad's ashes at the foot of the UK's highest mountain, Ben Nevis which lies close to the town of Fort William, so it came as a bit of a pleasant surprise when I asked her where she wanted to go and she replied,
"Scotland"
Oban and Fort William it was then, and with a 320-mile drive ahead, I dragged the old girl and the wife out of bed for a 7 am start for a trip to what, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole world.
Under a cloudless, cornflower blue sky, we headed from Pontefract up the A1 North to Scotch Corner and then a left onto the A66 which provides a natural, picturesque boundary between the incredible Yorkshire Dales and the equally stunning North Pennines area of natural beauty before picking up the M6 at Penrith, which becomes the A74 and after only a two and half hour drive, crosses the border into Scotland at Gretna. Yes, back to Gretna Green, home of the world-famous Blacksmiths Forge where back in the days of auld, young English couples would go to be married to avoid the age restrictions of marriage in England which the Scots, who in my opinion are so far south they barely count as Scots, would happily marry anyone as long as they were paying.
Today, the rules are even more relaxed. You can still get married there, with or without permission from your parents and regardless of the couple's gender. I bet they were having none of that back in 1754!
And here it was we pulled in just after 10 am for some extortionately priced breakfast and the first of many shops selling 'in your face tourist-tat'. Worse than that, despite the early hour, there was a bagpiper in full blow. Nightmare.
I love the history. I love beautiful old buildings and stunning scenery, but much like social media, everything gets ruined by 'people'!
Even at 10 am, we'd been beaten by several bus trips and tours arriving and the racket being made by the bagpipes was equalled by excited chatter from huge groups of Chinese, American and German tourists, clamouring around the place to take photos and gush over the quaint buildings and perceived romanticism of young couples eloping over the border to be wed. I bet most of them ended up divorced...
Anyway, there will now follow some pictures and possibly offensive descriptions of this beautiful little hamlet which has been mercilessly converted into a mini Scottish theme park...
This is the sign that greets you and my first bone of contention. Surely, blacksmiths have 'forges', not shops? Does anyone know any blacksmiths to ask?
@gretnagreen1754. I bet they wish they'd set up their Insta account earlier and got a lower number...
The original blacksmith's forge where it all happened with horseshoes surrounding the entrance for good luck. On the subject of horseshoes, I found out recently that they represent good luck in Thailand too. Coincidence, or cultural appropriation? You decide!
This is the 'history' of the place. There was no point in me trying to spin it and ending up being blacklisted by Hivewatchers!
They could have left it there. I'd have been quite satisfied with reading the interesting history of the place and seeing the beautiful little cottage and forge but no, as tourists started rolling up and pockets began to be filled with coins, they had to expand...
So they started with a little shop. As everyone knows, sometime in history, the Scots decided to invent a word, 'wee' to replace the word 'little'. No idea why and can't be arsed googling it but by the time the 'wee Scottish shop' became too 'wee' and a bigger one was built, they'd all got bored and couldn't be bothered thinking of a word to replace 'big'. I find this strange.
Much better, now we have a big shop too. Let's fill it with 'traditional' Scottish stuff that tourists will love and want to take back to their homes scattered all over the globe...
I think it's a bit rude to assume that the Chinese are a bunch of shoplifters who, unless there is a sign in Chinese saying 'please pay here', would make a run for the bus laden with stolen shortbread and boxes of fudge. No sign in German or any other language for that matter and surely everyone knows what a cash register looks like!
They eat mugs in Scotland?
Here we go. Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. All across Shanghai, the industrial suburbs of Dortmund and the open plains of the American mid-West, people are dressing as the Bay City Rollers, it's like 1973 all over again!
Conservatory and outdoor dining area. Outdoor? In Scotland? it was about 5 degrees centigrade that morning but yet, that wasn't the reason no one was taking their skinny caramel macchiato outdoors...
... No, that would be down to this guy, the bloke with the bagpipes who doesn't actually look very happy. It looks to me like either the woman in green has told him to 'shut up', or the woman in pink has had a photo taken of them together and not put any money in his bin. Either way, it looks like trouble, with an upside that while he's pointing his finger and arguing, he isn't playing!
Here he is in happier times. It seems he only accepts dollars!
I didn't go in here so I'm not sure exactly what the Gretna Green experience is. Could it be where some young bride's father chases you around with a shotgun perhaps?
Thats it. Final picture of the toilet block and entrance to the food hall where you can buy the same Scottish food that you could in the Wee Shop but obviously couldn't think of anything else to put in that building.
Thanks as always for dropping by and I wish everyone a wonderful weekend
Martin
@nathen007
The Bay City Rollers.. arggghhh!!!
Now you've gone and done it. Upset 'ladies of a certain age' lol....We could have just said nothing, leaving them safely trapped in history, out of sight and out of mind!
I doubt she was born, we were at little school when the Shang-a-Lang jingle was tormenting us.
Oi!!! 😡
Bye bye Baby!!!!
You're not old enough, don't give me that! I was at school when they were dominant. 🤢
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@melinda010100 thank you very much, you're always appreciated :-) I hope you're having a lovely weekend.
It's been good so far! Hope you are having a good weekend too!
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Hey @nathen007 great to see you back again posting! lovely weather there 😊 and happy traveling. Have a wonderful weekend to you and your family
Mac :-) thank you so much. I'll hopefully have a little more free time on my hands for the next few months to be able to hang out here more.
Glad to see you're as industrious as ever, I don't know how you do it, your consistency is off the scale impressive.
Hope you're having a lovely weekend. Take care, be safe and always be happy :-)
hehehe I've just decided to turn my life a little bit on the right side. I don't know how I did it too but I mean, I've self-isolate and it's time to come up 😆. Please do hangout more often here since you know there's new feature like snaps that could get you a little more addicted to this place. See you around 😊
I fucking hate pipers!!
Damn Scottish tat in those shops makes me embarrassed
haha, I had the same conversation in a pub in Lochwinnoch where we stopped for a couple of days with the brother -in-law!
I have a more pragmatic view though (not about the pipers!) that much of the stuff for sale in these places is high quality, traditional fine craftwork which represents the history and culture. The whiskies, the tweeds, the representations of local area speciality cottage industry. But then, all these shops screw it over by mixing all the good stuff with the shite imported tat which means the tourists just buy the cheapest shit and leave the expensive, decent stuff on the shelves. In the shops in Oban and places, there would be traditional and locally produced scarfs, right next to what would be described as 'pure wool scarf', made god knows where at a quarter of the price. I guess it's a case of whatever needs to be done to make a quid but just seems to dilute the authenticity and sales of the local producers.
It is great though. I am always secretly incredibly impressed by the national pride and determination to ram it down every visitor's throat at every opportunity lol...
This isn't just a Scottish thing however, try going for a meal in Yorkshire, the self-proclaimed capital of the UK for quality, locally produced food...that makes me embarrassed to be a Yorkshireman!
Hope the family is well and you're all having a great weekend :-)
That's true. I usually pick up some of the good stuff. We got a great blanket last year! The kids are like magnets for the cheap shit. Lol.
We are doing great mate hope you are too!!
I agree best part of the world. I soooo miss it.
I could have settled easily in Scotland.
Great trip up. We stopped there too on (one of) our move (s).
Have a nice weekend 👋🏻
!PIZZA
You been on so many Jackie, I lost count on where this little birdie has dropped her feathers
Oh I have… hahaha 😁
I’m far north. Haven’t finish my posts yet where I ended up. But our latitude is at the 64th parallel North ☃️❄️
I am winterizing our cabin as we expect snow anytime now.
It is gorgeous and a perfect combination of still living in 'civilisation' but having endless stunning scenery and places to discover right on your doorstep. It's especially beautiful on odd days like this with the lovely weather!
Yes… I hope we travel there again and I can explore much more.
The cloudy it misty days make it magical 😊
You're back!! On and off chain
That's early, you normally come back at Christmas, planning another trip back home again?
Im never far away, watching on from a distance lol
Just got back actually after three weeks. Trying to shorten the length between visits as my mum gets older. We were last there over Christmas, now September trying to catch the slightly longer nights and better weather for tripping around which worked out quite well as we hardly saw a drop of rain, unlike our arrival back here, right at the start of Samui's rainy season.
Now work's a little quieter, might have more time to spend here and get caught up :-)
Hope you've had a great weekend and looking forward to a late season garden report please :-)
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Interesting post. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for saying so and dropping by. Have a great day :-)
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