A Date With An Old Friend! Now To Get There!

It was time to return to Inverness and Collect my old friend my bike!
This time though it would be a journey along the road.
The A1 North past Darlington, then the A68 and through my old Town and places along the A7 through some stunning countryside.
The A720 city bypass of Edinburgh Over the Forfar Bridge along the M90 and finally the A9 that would take us all the way to Inverness..........

 
The route began pleasantly enough with not much traffic, but as we got further north speed restrictions came in as roads were being widened, but a lorry thought that 50mph was to slow for him and with blaring horn and flashing lights we were eventually forced over by him as he accelerated passed doing well in excess of 60mph (I wonder if he altered his tachograph as I used to be a lorry driver and know all about tacho`s etc).
It`s 50mph for a reason, not so you can please yourself - idiot!
If you see this Lorry driver Vehicle reg can clearly be seen, be sure to afford him the same courtesy as he afforded us, or better still get a woman driver to show him how to drive properly with a load!

 

With fields of poppies joining us along the A68, the weather also changed to sunshine and a clearer journey, indeed as we passed the sign for Newcastle I gave JZ a wave! And soon we were upon the route that changed England into a very welcome Scotland and Alan Smith the Scottish Piper was there welcoming us in and his light hearted manner and cheerful tunes made for pleasant memories. 

 

 The view from the top of the Scottish Borders was outstanding and the welcome cup of tea would take us a little further as we would stop for a while in Jedburgh.

Jedburgh is a lovely old place to go and visit and is near a place called ColdStream - because of the Coldstream Guards.
It was first documented in 847 as Gedwearde and then in 1147 the Abbey was formed although being near the borders, constant battles between the English and Scottish and also the French (who helped Scotland hold the Abbey and other areas) meant that the Abbey was constantly being ruined then re-built and then ruined again.
Today it still stands proud, a testament to the Scottish builders who failed to bow down to English bullies and bureaucrats for centuries.

 The main front of the Abbey that awaits visitors.


This picture holds a different story.
As I took this and thought I saw something in the archway, on closer inspection, a figure can be seen.
My friend also took the same picture but on closer inspection, nothing could be seen on her picture.
Was this an apparition watching everyday life of an ever changing Jedburgh or is it just a trick of light and stone that makes it look as if someone is there, but the other 8 people who looked at the photograph can`t be wrong, can we?


You`ll have to decide.......

 

Many gravestones still line the Abbey and also inside and this was one of the oldest.


The main graveyard is just next door.


The ruins of the Abbey are well worth a visit and the £5.50 entrance fee we paid was very acceptable.














Whilst in Jedburgh we grabbed a couple more photographs before going to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill for a soup and a well deserved cup of tea!

 


Pleasantly full we continued north and turned off onto the A7 through Galashiels before joining the A720 and over the Forfar Bridge and then into the wilds of the Highlands and eventually Inverness.

 
Inverness by night is stunning and I`m finally re-united with my bike that had completed a long journey of over 200 miles, now to get it back home...........!!