I took the A7 on my way south for a change. Normally I go via the A702, which is the most frustrating road in the country, apart from the all too often lethal A9.
I am frequently in and around Greater Manchester, and while this is not a scientific observation, it strikes me that the motorway system around one English city is possibly more extensive than that in the whole of Scotland.
WHY?
Apart from avoiding the usual teethgrinding experience of the 45 miles between the capital and a functional motorway south, the A7 was a nice alternative on a bright sunny autumn day.
I passed a sign for Hermitage Castle, and decided to turn around and go visit it. The sign provided the information that it was 7 miles to get there. It did not say, 7 miles of muddy, potholed single track road with few passing places.
The scenery was spectacular, as the track rose above the valley and into the borders hills. I longed to stop and photograph the views, but was too concerned about other traffic, some of which was local and confidently whizzing along at what I thought was alarming speeds. At one point I narrowly managed to get the one sinking wheel out of a sodden verge that threatened to bog me down when I swerved to one side to let a local past.
Heart in mouth, I finally reached Hermitage Castle. It was worth it, even though my car looked like it had been in some particularly arduous motocross.
Fortification of the strategic border area of Liddesdale was begun in the 1240s. Then building on the existing castle started in 1360, although it has been transformed and modified over the centuries into a magnificent stronghold.
An inside wall looking a teeny bit spookily like two eyes, snub nose and gaping mouth.
A lovely isolated spot in glorious scenery and some history I was only vaguely aware of.
1 comment:
A magnificent looking building. I'd never heard of it and am glad you featured it. Interesting to read it was granted to Walter Scott by James VI in 1594 - a Walter Scott but not the Walter Scott!
Re motorways: Scotland's population is about double Manchester's, so I suppose it ought to have a system twice as large. I went from Edinburgh to Pitlochry by fine motorways recently; definitely good ones in Scotland. Just not many between Scotland and England. A kind of modern day Hadrian's Wall?
Though I hear they think nowadays H's W wasn't so much a fortification as a customs post. Taxation has always been with us.
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