Spent a wonderful day with friends James and Catriona getting to know their part of the West End of Glasgow.

Despite the wet weather we headed out with Coco and Ruby.

Brunch was at Cottiers, in a converted church which did the best tomato soup + chips!

We then walking over to the Glasgow University grounds, the fourth oldest in the world and marvelled at the gothic architecture from its lofty position looking down on the city from one of the many hills.

We say goodbye to the Rowan’s tomorrow and head off up the road to Edinburgh.

Today we arrived in Scotland and visited the pretty towns and villages along the ‘coastal golf road’.

First stop was North Berwick with it’s wonderful sandy beach and old volcano mounds!

The towns location became key in the Second World War as a look out point for German U boats in the North Sea.

Nowadays fishing, tourism and golfing are the reasons to visit and make it a great place to wander around.

There are great views out to the Forth and the imposing Bass Rock.

This area of the coast line is awash with links golf courses and we can came across a statue of one of the early devotees to the sport Ben Sayers.

Next stop along the coast was Gullane, with its fab sandy beach and great coffee shop, Goose on the Green.

We then ventured to Lingniddry and came across a great food stop serving the best fish & chips.

Our final stop along this section of the coast was Musselburgh and the adjoining fishing village of Fisherrow.

A little treat this afternoon was a visit to an ice cream heaven, S Luca on the high st.

We then departed to our final stop of the day Glasgow, where we are staying for a couple of days with one of my old friends James and his wife Catriona, who I first met in Australia some 30yrs ago.

Great start to the day with Michelle getting stuck into a full Scottish breakfast.

Our first stop was Holy Island which involves a causeway across the North Sea.

Being on the island you realise how quiet and peaceful the place is.

We had a long walk around the island and saw an array of wildlife alongside great views of the surrounding countryside and estuary.

After leaving the island we drove in land and took a walk out to another ancient site at the Duddo Five Stones, dating back to the Bronze Age 4,000yrs ago.

With lunch beckoning we headed to Etal home to a small castle and of course a tea room and cakes.

This afternoon we officially entered Scotland and the border town of Coldstream and the famous ‘guards’. It sits on the River Tweed and creates a natural border to England.

Our final stop today was Berwick which has wonderful bridges spanning the River Tweed as it reaches the North Sea.

We finished the day with a wander around Berwick before stopping off at Atelier for an IPA and Pinot.

We had the longest drive of the trip today with a 150 mile route through the northern Lakes via Penrith & Carlisle before heading east to the great city of Newcastle.

On the way we stopped off to walk around one of the old Roman Milecastles which formed part of the gateways through Hadrian’s Wall.

We took a detour via Newcastle to see our daughter Amelia who is up in the NE seeing friends at Uni.

Like good parents we made sure Amelia was fed and watered and then treated her to some retail therapy with an early Xmas present.

Whilst in Newcastle I took a quick trip to Eldon Square, a shopping centre I acted on for over 20yrs for the former owners CSC/intu.

Northumberland St remains the iconic retail strip with great footie gear….

Then headed to a cafe in the Bigg Market for more cake….

Any trip to Newcastle also requires a visit to pay homage at St James’s Park.

One last selfie with the family before we headed north to Berwick.

Chow for now Amelia…

After a wet and windy day on Monday, today proved to be a lot more suited to enjoying the Lakes’ great outdoors.

We headed out post breakfast and walked from the Low Wood Bay Hotel across fields with amazing views of the lake and into Ambleside.

From Ambleside we took a boat cruise down to Bowness and experienced views across the lake and surrounding hills.

Bowness and Windermere were both surprising busy with many hotels and restaurants getting decked out for Xmas.

Early morning final walk with my parents.

Goodbye to Bolton and off to the Lakes and a 2 day spa trip on Lake Windermere.

Enjoyed a relaxing swim, sauna and steam room, then got down to the proper work with a bottle of Prosecco and wood fired fish and chicken for Michelle and I.

As today was Remembrance Sunday we joined Andy’s parents at their local church, St Andrews for the Sunday service. The visit brought back many memories from his childhood and it was enjoyable to see and hear all the good works that the church is doing in the local area.

Then off to Royton, nr Oldham to meet Michelle’s sister Deborah and her husband Andy for lunch along with our niece Lois, her boyfriend Thomas and their two children Eloise and Freddy. Had a great time at the Halfway House, a pub we last went to with Michelle’s dad Neil over 10yrs ago. Lots of funny stories ensued about Neil and his love of Banoffee pie!

The later part of the day was spent watching the epic Chelsea v Man City 4:4 all draw. Fab viewing for the neutral, particularly ones who support Oldham Athletic & Bolton Wanderers like Andy and I!

We headed back for one final meal with my parents and I popped round to see my youngest bro Ian who conveniently lives two doors from my parents.

Tomorrow we head north to The Lakes for a 2 night stay at Lake Windermere.

Met up with my brother Simon, Elaine and my mum Marian and headed out for a walk in the Nov sunshine around the stomping ground of my youth, Over Hilton.

The countryside has changed in the last 40yrs, with the old slag heaps replaced by a nature park with increasing amounts of wildlife.

Into the late afternoon we headed over to Leyland to see my old friend Jonny and his wife Jo, their 4 boys and grandson Maddox, who was celebrating his 1st bday. Great to see them after over a year, especially after Jonnys recent ill health.

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day and headed out for a return walk to Tatton Park – wearing sunnies in November proved to be an unexpected pleasure.

Gail’s in Knutsford was a brunch stop, before we moved on to the affluent suburb of Hale and then back to Altrincham for a meet up with Nick Looker, an old friend from Uni and my fellow traveller who joined me 30yrs ago for my round the world tour back in 1993.

After an enjoyable lunch in the food market, we made our way to Bolton to stay with my mum & dad and the house where I grew up.

Evening was spent at a great restaurant called Juniper in Standish with the folks for a proper catch up.

Despite another wet day, we headed out early to Marbury Country Park, stopping off for a bacon sandwich breakfast in Northwich and a quick look around Barons Court.

Our walking continued late morning when we moved on to the stunning Delamere Forest and a Gruffalo themed walk around the woods before treating ourselves to a jacket potato lunch with cheese and beans – living the dream.

We finished up in Holmes Chapel (stomping ground of Harry Styles childhood) with beer & wine in front of a hearty fire, whilst we dried off following an afternoon of rain.