After the Reading Music Festival,we hitched north to Edinburgh where we stayed for four days in the Youth Hostel.Edinburgh was fantastic and we enjoyed may of the smaller things that made it distinctive.
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| Poster design Pat Schleger |
We went to a pub looking for a beer and somewhere to sit down. While in the pub, we befriended a local Scott who I think took pity on us, eating bread rolls and sultanas with our one beer. He offered to buy us haggis burgers but refused to pay the going “tourist price”, so after a few words with the barman he only paid the regular price - they didn’t taste as bad as they sounded.
We also had to partake in the 6 o’clock swill. Danielle was not drinking so he bought her the largest lemonade she had ever seen, so we had a pint of beer and a pint of lemonade which we had to drink it within 15 minutes.
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| Preparing for the march |
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| Pipers jamming |
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| Start of the march |
After watching them practice, we followed the procession through the streets for a little while. Bagpipes are not a big thing for me, but the experience of hearing that many, that close, was one I'll never forget.
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| The march |
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| Passing by |
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| The end |
We picked up this interesting booklet while in Scotland. It's a humorous story on how to make Scotch Whisky written by the Great-grandson of the founder of Teacher's Scotch Whisky. It's beautifully illustrated by Rowland Emmett who was was an English cartoonist and constructor of whimsical kinetic sculpture.
After Edinburgh we hitched north to John o' Groates, the most northerly place in the British Isles, completing the journey from the other extremity, Lands End in Cornwall.
I have no photos, but have included one to show the bleakness of the place. North Scotland is an inhospitable place except in summer with strong winds and weather most of the time.
You have to be tough to live here, and especially to make a living off the land.
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| Postcard - Hairpin Bend of Berridale on the road to John O'Groats |
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| Postcard - Sunset over the Isle of Stroma from John O'Groats |
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| John O'Groats (Internet photo) |
If you need convincing, listen to these stories from Ivor Cutler's "Life In A Scotch Sitting Room".
At the time, Youth Hostels were almost the only way to travel inexpensively. They were fairly well distributed, although sometimes poorly located away from transport hubs, but a good way to meet and exchange information with other travellers.
We left our backpacks in the Youth Hostel in Edinburgh while we hitchhiked to John o' Groates, travelling light. Unfortunately when we returned, someone had rifled through our backpacks, taking only a few small things, however one of those was my travel diary with notes from the past 5 months in Britain.The loss was so depressing, I almost stopped making notes. All of the information over the 5 months to this date is based on my photos, postcards and recollections.
One other not-so-fond memory from our time travelling in Youth Hostels is the smell of socks hanging at the ends of beds to dry and/or air out.
After John O'Groats, we hitched to Wick on the East Coast and then caught a bus to Edinburgh were we stayed a few more days - hitching up north was pretty difficult. From Edinburgh we hitched back to London, arriving on the 15th of September.
