20240522 Wednesday, May 22, 2024; Driving from York to Edinburgh- Hadrian’s Wall, Mary Queen of Scots House and Lots of Rainy Countryside

20240522 Wednesday, May 22, 2024; Driving from York to Edinburgh- Hadrian’s Wall, Mary Queen of Scots House and Lots of Rainy Countryside

This was a long day of driving and almost all of it through rain.  It started as light rain in York, but became drenching at times as we headed further north.  We also encountered some dense fog in places near the Scotland borderlands.  The roads heading out of York started out as normal narrow twisting roads with no shoulders but painted center lines were generally the rule.  Then in smaller villages, cars would just seem to park in the middle of a lane reducing the road to just one narrow lane for bi-directional traffic.  

We had intended to visit the Durham Castle, but as we got to the parking lot, it was barricaded, and there was an apparent squatters tent village of Palestine protestors on the grounds.  We had to back up and drive back out through the very difficult narrow and twisty cobblestone roads.  This had been a Harry Potter movie filming location.

No Durham Castle for You!

As we headed closer to Hadrian’s wall, the roads turned into unmarked pavement with no shoulders and barely wide enough to fit two cars only if each had an outside wheel on the very edge of the pavement scraping bushes with just an inch or two between the passing driver side mirrors.  It takes a lot of nerve to drive these country roads because they are constantly twisting and turning with vegetation on the shoulders high enough to obscure any long vision what’s coming down the road ahead.  Usually when oncoming traffic shows up, you literally have milliseconds to adjust and pray.  The speed limit is supposedly 60mph, but you’d have to be insane to drive more than 35mph on the roads.  You also have to contend with the occasional stray sheep.  The only saving grace was that there seemed to be sparse traffic on these roads.  

We made a couple of bathroom stops along the way and topped off our fuel tank with diesel after it had dropped below a half tank driving into the remote countryside.  I can’t imagine how long it would take to get help if your vehicle got disabled way out in the countryside.  

We finally made it to Birdoswald Roman Fort, one of the best examples of what remains of Hadrian’s wall.  That isn’t saying much because even there, the ruins of the Roman fort at that site is no more than excavated foundations and flagstones, and the wall, which had been over 15’ high in its heyday, was been reduced to just typical hedgerow height.  When the Romans abandoned it, people scavenged the stones from the all to build other buildings and structures, so it served as a second hand quarry for stone building material free to anyone with the means to carry it.  Still, it remains an interesting piece of history.  Behind the wall are earth works which persist consisting of a fairly deep and wide trench, and berms both in front and behind of the trench.  The wall stretched over 175 miles from coast to coast across northern England. Today, 84 miles remain as a hiking trail.  The rain never stopped, but did slow to a sprinkle while we wandered around the footprint of the “Mile Fort”.  The Romans had forts about every Mile, and turrets between the forts.  The forts housed and supported soldiers while the turrets served as sentry posts.  There were also typically gates at the mile forts that regulated passage of people and supplies north and south.  The museum had lots of exhibits geared towards school children and lots of activities for school aged kids.  

We got back on the road and didn’t find them to improve until long after we crossed into the Scottish borderlands.  Not only did the pavement get a little wider, but the land laid out better so we could see the road more than just a few hundred feet ahead.  And they even painted a center line.  

We made a late lunch stop at Jedburgh, which seemed highly atypical of towns in the English countryside because they actually had a spacious FREE public parking lot with toilets.  We got some take out fish and chips, and a sausage roll which we ate in the car.  They also have a free museum in a house where Mary Queen of Scots had lived.  Unfortunately it had closed before we arrived.  

We finally got onto decent roads in the outskirts of Edinburgh and found our hotel in a downpour of rain.  There was no place to stop or drop off passengers in front of the Motel One Edinburgh Royal Market Place, so we stopped in a loading zone about a half block away and rolled our smaller suitcases down the sidewalk to check in.  Once we got the small suitcases and backpacks into the room, Ben ran back out and drove the car to the recommended parking garage which charges £15/day with a discount for the hotel customers.  It was a 15 minute walk from the hotel.  

Beer battered haddock and chips

Haggis Bon-Bons

Cullen Skink- Scottish Smoked Haddock chowder

The hotel is in the heart of Edinburgh, just down the hill from the Edinburgh castle in Old Town.  The location is hard to beat, but this also means the rooms are small.  Not nearly as small as St. Raphael’s though.  This room was perhaps a tiny bit bigger than our cruise ship balcony stateroom.  More importantly, it has a real queen sized bed so we won’t be poking each other in the ribs with elbows all night long.  It is a modern hotel and is nicely appointed.  

We had dinner at The Doric Tavern, which was just steps down the street from our hotel’s front door.  The dining room was fully booked for the evening, but the head waiter said he might be able to squeeze us in if we were willing to wait a half hour or so.  So we ordered a pint of their house IPA, which was quite good, and eventually got called up to the dining room.  We had a bowl of Cullen Skink- a Scottish classic chowder of smoked Haddock with potatoes, onions and cream.  This was a delicious and hearty chowder that we will have to try to replicate with smoked salmon at home.  We also ordered some Haggis Bon-Bons which were like savory meat balls served with a framed turnip and Arran Mustard sauce.  They were also good, although Janet was a bit put off by the oatmeal texture.  And of course, we had to have an order of Fish and Chips too.  They served a huge fillet of beer battered haddock on a pile of fries.  It was also quite good, although so far on this trip, the Fish and Chips at the Guy Fawkes Inn were the best.  

The forecast is for continued heavy rain through the next two days.  Fortunately, the Museum of Scotland is just a 5 minute walk from our hotel and admission is FREE.  We should stay dry and comfortable spending the day there.  We had previously toured the Edinburgh castle when we visited Scotland with our kids, so we won’t have to get soaked by the rains.