The main reason for the trip was that I'd got my daughter and I tickets to AC/DC's only UK tour date of the year at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium. It seemed like a great excuse to take the campervan on an extended break, so we planned out the 1,001 mile trip over nine days. Below is a gallery of photos from the trip, which ended up being 1,058 miles together with 29 hours and 23 minutes of driving time.
The planned route.
The first night's accommodation.
Our first stop was a night in a campsite at the foot of Scafell Pike, England's tallest mountain at 3,209ft (978m) above sea level. The campsite was also situated at the head of Wast Water, a lake around three miles long and a third of a mile wide. It's the deepest lake in England, dropping to a depth of 258ft (79m).
Wast Water lake.
The whole area is undeniably beautiful, although the drive can be hampered by lots of awkward manoeuvring while navigating the single track roads when you're driving a van and meet something similar sized coming in the opposite direction.
The view from the early part of the walk up Scafell Pike, looking over Wast Water.
The gorgeous, rugged landscape near Scafell Pike.
Welcome to Scotland.
Our first stop after crossing the border into Scotland was Duncarron Medieval Village. It's a "reproduction of a fortified village from the early Middle Ages of Scotland. It is the reconstruction of a typical residence of a Scottish clan chief from the early part of the last millennium." The site has been used in film and TV, especially the series Outlander which features many scenes in the village. It also houses props from several productions including Robin Hood and the live action How to Train your Dragon.
The outer wall of Duncarron.
Duncarron Medieval Village
Next up we headed east towards Edinburgh, stopping off to check out the Kelpies steel horse heads (which stand 30m tall). Construction was completed in 2013 and the name was chosen to "reflect the mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of ten horses. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area."
The Kelpies.
Next stop was Edinburgh where we had one night's camping arranged in the car park of an accommodating pub due to all campsites being booked. Not only were AC/DC in town, ready to play to a sold out stadium, but our visit also coincided with the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Edinburgh Castle.
AC/DC playing Murrayfield Stadium.
Sunrise the morning after, in a busy pub car park.
The following night we were fortunate enough to grab a spot on a campsite. Never underestimate the luxury of a warm shower! Plenty of room, showers, toilets, cooking facilities, a shop, and a pub. Everything needed.
The second night's location in Edinburgh.
No trip to Scotland is complete without a picture of a Highland Cow.
Upon leaving Edinburgh we headed east, stopping off at Tantallon Castle, situated in a picturesque cliffside spot. Built around 1350, it has seen many battles and several sieges (mainly between the English and Scottish). It's in a lovely location and is worth visiting if you're in the area. Fortunately, we were once again blessed with great weather (which cannot be guaranteed in Scotland!).
Tantallon Castle.
Tantallon Castle.
A mile off the coast is the very distinctive Bass Rock (which can be seen on the left of the picture above). It's uninhabited now but the remains of a chapel reside on the island, as does the lighthouse (which was constructed in 1902). King James I imprisoned people there in the fifteenth century. It's now home to the world's largest colony of northern gannets with a population of over 150,000 in peak season.
Bass Rock.
In the car park for the castle I spotted this 1928 model Ford. According to the DVLA website it was registered in 2009, so I have to assume it's either not original or has been imported. Apparently it houses a 3.2-litre engine, which must be entertaining with those tyres and brakes.
From there we headed the few miles into Dunbar for lunch, where we found another old castle (next to the fishing harbour). This castle dates back almost a thousand years and its state of decay means that the public cannot access it. Subject to a siege in 1567 it was subsequently "slighted" making it unsuitable for future use.
Dunbar harbour and castle.
Next we headed south and back into England. Somehow the weather had been on our side the entire time with no rain at all.
The border between Scotland and England.
Having recently watched the film '28 Years Later' we felt compelled to stop at the causeway to Holy Island as we passed it. The island features quite heavily in the film, with its tidal access acting as a plot point. The tide was coming in (visibly moving up the road) so here are a few shots of the road causeway to the island as we couldn't get to the island itself. In the film it's presented quite differently (as a footpath rather than a road).
Tide moving up the road.
A drone shot looking out towards Holy Island with the road disappearing into the water.
A drone shot into the mainland from the flooded causeway.
Sadly, waiting for low tide didn't fit in with our schedule so we never made it to the island. From there we continued south to the majestic Bamburgh Castle, which sits in nine acres of land atop a rocky plateau. With a history going back in excess of 1,400 years, it makes for an imposing sight sitting 150 feet above the beach.
Bamburgh Castle.
Bamburgh Castle.
Our stop for the night was just a few hundred metres away from Hadrian's Wall, which we arrived at just in time for me to grab a sunset drone picture over the wall. It was constructed on the order of Emperor Hadrian, during the Roman occupation of Britain, and construction commenced in 122 AD. Running for 73 miles it was designed to defend the northern border of the Roman Empire after the army pulled back from Scotland.
Sunset over Hadrian's Wall.
The following day we visited Vindolanda, just a few miles away, which is the site of a large Roman fort and village. Construction commenced in 85 AD (before the wall) and several iterations of fort were constructed on the site, which housed around 600 troops plus villagers. It's a large and fascinating site from which new discoveries are still being made and careful excavation works are in progress. It's estimated that only 27% of the site has been uncovered.
After spending the day taking in some of Britain's most formative history we continued south to the seaside town of Whitby, where we planned to stay for a couple of days. Approaching the town we noticed some oddly ominous smoke clouds in the sky. These were the result of a large wildfire on the nearby moors. At the time of writing it's estimated that the area affected by the fire (started by someone with a BBQ and helped by a prolonged period of dry weather) is around 10 square miles.
Smoke from the wildfire on Langdale Moor.
Smoke from the wildfire on Langdale Moor.
The pictures above are from when we arrived at our campsite, a few miles south of Whitby. We were awoken the next morning by a firefighter knocking on the window of our van. They were going around everyone on the site and "strongly advising" people to move because the wind had changed direction over night, bringing the fire closer to residential areas. This meant our visit to Whitby was cut short and we spent just one night there.
Whitby at night.
Whitby Abbey.
In light of losing our campsite we made a quick visit to Whitby Abbey. Largely in ruins, it dates back to 657 AD. Whitby features in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, as the location at which he comes ashore, before he climbed up to the churchyard adjacent to the Abbey.
After we left Whitby (and the smoke) behind us, we headed to a new location just outside York for what would have been our second night in Whitby if not for some careless clown with a BBQ. It was a booking on the fly but it was in the correct direction for our continued journey south and York is lovely, so we spent the afternoon amongst some of its incredible architecture.
We parked next to Clifford's Tower, the original keep from York Castle. If you're noticing a running theme of castles through the trip, it wasn't planned in advance but we have so many of them in Britain (and I'm not quite done yet). Anyway, York castle dates back to 1068 and, as well as the keep, many of the exterior walls still stand imposingly around the city.
Clifford's Tower, York Castle.
In terms of architecture, there isn't much to rival York Minster. The seventh century cathedral is huge, measuring 525ft (160m) in length, 222ft (68m) in width and the tallest tower stands at 235ft (72m).
York Minster.
A good part of it was obscured with scaffolding and covers while we were there, so here's a stock picture of the entire structure:
York Minster.
Next up was our final night, which would leave us about three hours drive from home, in the Peak District. Castleton is a lovely little village and is home to (yes, you guessed it) a castle.
Our final night's camping location.
Our final castle visit of the holiday was Peveril Castle, situated atop a hill in the Derbyshire countryside. This eleventh century castle commands excellent views of the surrounding area. Never seeing battle, it would have fared poorly in a siege due to its height and position on limestone rendering the inclusion of a well impractical.
Peveril Castle's keep.
The view from Peveril Castle's outer wall, looking down over Castleton.
On the way home we passed by the excellent Caffeine & Machine, which is always worth a visit for any petrolhead.
Caffeine & Machine.
Then, home: 1,058 miles, 9 days and 29 hours and 23 minutes drive time. At some point, we'd all seen parts of the country we hadn't visited before and we had a great time. Most importantly, the VW Transporter T6.1 campervan performed flawlessly and housed four of us in good comfort for the whole trip. Here's to the next one!
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