Another blog entry from across the border - this time it's Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, plus Linlithgow, a small town which lies 19 miles west of Edinburgh. Just one day after our visit to Queensferry and the sun was shining once again, although there was a definite chill on the bones. My mobile phone done the honours once again, not that there was another option available - that's what happens when you leave the big camera at home. After stuffing Haggis down the owld hatchet it was time to get out and about in Edinburgh, starting with Princes Street Gardens before heading up the hill towards the Royal Mile. The gardens were busy and it was clear the sun had a lot to do with it. Many people sitting on the lawns just watching the world go by. Princes Street was undergoing a lot of construction work, so the road was out of bounds to all vehicles. The place was upside down, to be honest - a right old mess. I heard they were installing a tram line to run the length of the street. Time to exercise the legs and burn off some of those Haggis calories, so up the hill we went. Half way up I was blowing out of me arse - paggered! Got there eventually and headed up towards Edinburgh Castle, where its car park was now a huge temporary seated area, ready for concerts and other events, including the world famous Military Tattoo. Below is a panoramic stitch of the arena. Again, this place was thriving - the queue to gain entry to the castle was huge, with many foreign tourists making up those numbers. With only a couple of hours to spare in the capital we decided not to inside, opting for a bite to eat and a look down the Royal Mile before heading out to Livingston on a family visit, before driving the 19 miles across to Linlithgow.
Linlithgow is a historic Royal Burgh located in the central lowlands of Scotland - about 20 miles from Edinburgh and under an hour from Glasgow by train or car. It was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and the preserved ruins of the Royal Palace can be visited in a picturesque setting next to Linlithgow Loch. It was here that we killed time, under the sun that had shone all day up to this point. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the palace was little used, and was burned out in 1746. It is now a visitor attraction in the care of Historic Scotland. A Strathspey for bagpipes was composed in honour of Linlithgow Palace. The Palace, is said to be haunted by the spectre of Mary of Guise, mother to Mary Queen of Scots. The Palace was closed by the time we arrived, which must have been around 6pm. I entered the archway to the entrance, which was locked, and heard some strange noises all of a sudden. Could it be the ghost of Mary, or just bowel noises from the fettled haggis that was necked earlier in the day!
It's not very often that I cross the border into Scotland and fine bright sunshine. More often than not I'm met with dull skies and more than a fair share of rain and wind, but not today, as conditions were ideal as we arrived in South Queensferry, which is 11 miles north-west of Edinburgh. This was our second stop-off en route to Livingston - our first being a lunch break in Eyemouth, slightly north of Berwick-Upon-Tweed. South Queensferry isn't a place I'm very familiar with, although I have visited this small town once before, a couple of years back, to meet up with Derek Forbes, former bass player with Simple Minds. A drum kit and money exchanged hands on that day - not bought by myself though, I was merely along for the ride. On that day the weather was miserable, which wasn't that important as we were only in South Queensferry for a matter of minutes before we headed south, back down the A1(M). South Queensferry, sometimes also called
Queensferry, sits on the south shore of the narrowest part of the Forth
Estuary east of Grangemouth, looking across to North Queensferry,
its twin on the Fife shore. As an
obvious place to cross the river when heading into Fife from Edinburgh it
is likely that settlements either side of the river here, and ferries between
them, date back to ancient times. Queensferry is defined by the road and rail bridges that lie either side of it.
But it is so much more as well. At times it has been an important trading and
fishing port in its own right and the town still offers an environment that can
transport you back to an earlier time more readily than most places in Scotland.
If, that is, you can catch it in a rare traffic-free moment: cars are
constrained by the narrowness and twisting of Queensferry's High Street, and
as a result intrude far more than elsewhere. 
Strangely enough, despite the nice weather, which is always a plus when photographing the landscape, I left my Canon 7D at home, which was not a good idea at all. The weather forecast on the previous day was nowt to get excited about so I took a risk by leaving the camera behind - something I'd probably regret further down the line. The photo's shown here were taken on my smart phone, which has a nice little panoramic facility on it, allowing stitches of over 6 images at a time. A couple of 'Stitches' are shown here, just for the record. There's a very small beach at Queensferry, which is accessible at low tide and is a great vantage point when looking north. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, check out the restaurants along the main street - one in particular offers excellent panoramic views across the river through its huge windows, although its name escapes me right now.
More exploits from Houghton Albion FC.
Anyway, that was the last straw for Dave (team manager). After weeks of playing with only eight or nine players he thought it best that we dropped into the 9-a-side league, mid-season. Within a couple of weeks we had done just that, and were now playing all our games at the Russell Foster HQ at nearby Newbottle. The site has numerous pitches and is packed every Saturday with teams of all ages, including parents and other spectators. The burger vans come in handy too! We had much better luck in this league, playing on our own pitch, week in week out. No more early morning starts, travelling to the likes of Ferryhill, Consett, Gateshead and Durham. A couple of new players arrived and competition for strating places hotted up. We put some great performances in, during what was left of a difficult season up to now. Goals were flying in and the kids were well and truly back on the up. Here are a few photo's from our last game of the season, against Boldon Cobra's. We were 2-0 up at half time, but after 60 minutes we lost the game 4-2. Two goals from Houghton's Jamie Fenton gave him the leading goalscorer of the season award, which was a three way tie going into this last game - Shane Smurthwaite and Christopher Corr being the other two players vying for the bragging rights.
Castle Howard has extensive and diverse gardens. There is a large formal garden immediately behind the house. The house is prominently situated on a ridge and this was exploited to create an English landscape park, which opens out from the formal garden and merges with the park.
