Photography Blog
Photography Blog
NORTH COAST 500
12/04/2024
Day -2. This is NC500 Day -2 as it is 2 days before we start the North Coast 500 proper.
We leave Cropredy at 6am on the dot and make good time to the Greggs at Stafford Services where I partake in a couple of sausage baps with coffee and Mrs. M has her usual “All-3” bap with tea.
We agree that our next stop will be in Scotland; our destination today is Falkirk with a view to seeing The Kelpies. We arrive without any undue alarms (with the possible exception of signs giving notice of a yellow warning for snow!) and have a walk round and take a few images. I had been tipped off that a ride on The Falkirk Wheel is interesting and as we had plenty of time we retrace our steps for a couple of miles and park up in the shadow of The Wheel. At £31 for the two of us a “tour” of the wheel was not cheap but, given that we are unlikely to be here again, we bought our tickets for the 2:30 tour and grab a sandwich and iced tea before boarding The Archimides, one of two tourist boats on the the Wheel. All goes well and we are soon sat high in the air above the Visitor Centre awaiting the green light to head towards the tunnel. After what we are told is “longer than normal” the light turns green and we set off….the light then turns red and there is a loud scraping noise as the bottom of The Archimides scrapes against part of the structure. We wait and wait but the light does not budge from red. Eventually the skipper comes into the lounge area and tells us that there is a software issue with the Wheel and that we must abandon ship in groups of five. Luckily we are sat near to the doors so we join the first group of “evacuees” and walk along the wheel for about 50 yards before returning to “terra firma” and making our way back to the Visitor Centre. What an adventure!! We are given an address to request a refund and also told that there is no charge for parking….result!
It is now around 4pm so we set off for our Premier Inn at Houghs Of Airth, aka Falkirk North, calling in at a Lidl for some essential supplies. Dinner is in the adjacent Brewers Fayre and it is then time to call it a day. Quite an eventful start to out Scottish odyssey.
Day-1. On stepping out of the Premier Inn for breakfast at the Brewers Fayre it is apparent that there has been a significant amount of rain overnight with large puddles in the (not well maintained) car park. Breakfast is up to the normal standard. We set the satnav for Pitlochry with the intention of filling up with diesel at Tesco in Perth. About 15 minutes into the journey I notice a car coming in the opposite direction with snow on its bonnet and a few miles further on and the landscape turns white; there is an image in the gallery. We take a couple of images as Mrs. M is concerned that we may not get another opportunity to see snow; I hope that she is right. After filling up with diesel we arrive in Pitlochry and park at the railway station and walk to the dam and salmon ladder where we take a few images. According to an electronic display 2 salmon have passed through so far this year so, not surprisingly, we didn’t see any (apparently you don’t see them anyway as they actually pass through tunnels). We go looking for a pair of gloves (I have 3 pairs at home but didn’t expect it to be quite this cold) but Pitlochry prices are a bit steep for my liking at about £30 per pair. Next stop is the House of Bruar although the purpose of our visit is to visit the falls rather than the shops. It begins to rain quite heavily but the views are worth it and I take a few semi-decent images. Despite not actually coming here for the shops they do stock some amazing looking items and we buy some provisions from the deli counter for the next day’s lunch before setting off for Inverness where dinner in the in-house Thyme Restaurant is much better than expected, especially Mrs. M’s steak which is perfectly (un)cooked just as she likes it.
Day 1. After another excellent Premier Inn breakfast we leave Inverness in the rain with an ultimate destination of, surprise surprise, the Premier inn at Thurso. First scheduled stop is a viewpoint at Struie Hill mentioned in the guidebook but unfortunately the road is closed although there was an interesting AA Box at the junction of the road that we had hoped to take. We then continued to Dornoch where we had a wander round and a coffee and a delightful slice of Bounty Cheesecake. Moving on along the A9 we make an unscheduled stop at Dunrobbin Castle, this turned out to be something of an oxymoron as admittance was £14 per person so we had a walk around the grounds (no entrance fee required) and took some images in a wooded area including an interesting derelict building which, according to Mrs. M, resembled a “hobbit house”. We stop off at Brora and then took another unscheduled detour to Lybster harbour but were not inspired to stop and instead carried on to Wick harbour which was much more interesting but extremely cold and windy, enough to make Mrs.M ask “what the **** are we doing here?” After taking a few images we moved on again to John O’Groats which was less commercialised than I expected. We, actually I, bought a couple of fridge magnets for my collection in the Groatie Buckie souvenir shop and then a fellow tourist took our picture next to the (probably) world famous signpost. A quick lunch of sausage roll and scotch egg purchased the day before at the House of Bruar. We then set off for Thurso but take a detour to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point on the British mainland. The wind here is particularly strong, it is literally difficult to open the car door. We then move onto the Thurso Premier Inn which looks almost brand new but decide to take the short drive into Scrabster in search of some fresh fish for dinner and find it at The Captain’s Galley next to the ferry terminal. It should be stated that Mrs. M did 95% of the driving today.
Day 2, Thurso to Ullapool
Not the best breakfast; it appeared that frying eggs was somewhat difficult, but not a complete disaster. I had anticipated that this would be too long a stretch to complete in a day but had been unable to find a hotel to break the journey…as it turned out we completed it comfortably in a day. It is extremely windy given that we are in the middle of Storm Kathleen. We make several stops along the way including at the ruins of Ardvreck Castle where we take a few images of the castle and a waterfall on the opposite side of the road. We arrive at the Harbour House in Ullapool at about 2pm and walk back into the village for a pint in the Ferryman and dinner at the Ceilidh Place followed by a “quick one” in The Argyll Hotel before returning to Harbour House.
Day 3, Ullapool to Portree (Isle of Skye)
I started the day with a “full scottish” whilst Mrs. M had scrambled eggs on smoked salmon. We filled up with diesel and picked up a Scottish version of The Times and then set off with a final destination of Portree on Skye. The scenery continually changes and is always interesting. We had hoped to see some red squirrels and stopped to walk in some woods. A local walker told us that he hadn’t seen a red squirrel for about 2 years; they had been re-introduced to the area and he used to see them in his garden but thought that the pine martens may have predated them as “there are some big pine martens in these woods” - unfortunately we didn’t see any squirrels or pine martens!
Moving on we see miles and miles of fencing designed to keep deer off the road….but no deer. We come across a couple of goats on the side of the road and are scrambling around to get a photo when Mrs. M looks up to see about 20 of them on the other side of the road; the smell should have told us of their presence! The weather alternates between sun and rain and we come across a rainbow which, unusually, can be seen against a mountain but not against the sky. Time for a coffee stop and we take a minor detour into the village of Gairloch and park up next to The Mountain Coffee Company (see image in the gallery) and order 2 coffees and a cake to share (Mrs. M then decides that she doesn’t actually want any cake so I am forced to eat it all, it’s a hard life). The coffee that we are served is a brand associated with Bob Marley and I indulge in a couple of bags of beans (expensive at my standards at £9.99 a bag) but I like to support the local economy. The weather is still variable, indeed a lady in the coffee shop says that the sea was rolling along the street at high tide earlier in the morning. We pass a sign for Victoria Falls and I ask Mrs. M. to turn around so that we can visit; a quick check of the information board advises that the falls are just a short walk away so we take a few images. Mrs. M. sees some black cows and wants a photo so pulls up on the side of the (narrow) road…a few seconds later a massive Scania low-loader trundles into view and just about manages to squeeze past, in a few miles it will become apparent why he was on such a narrow road as we come across an oil rig in a loch just off-shore, see an image in the gallery. So far there has been a distinct lack of wildlife but that is about to change….I spot a bird sat by the side of the road and ask Mrs. M. to stop, it turns out to be some type of raptor, see an image in the gallery. Things are looking up and within a mile or so I spot what looks like antlers poking out of some long grass. I yell at Mrs. M to stop and sure enough there are 5 red deer in long grass about 30 yards from us. We take several images, see the gallery. Are they wild or domestic?….we don’t know but at least we’ve seen some deer! We round a corner to be confronted by a level crossing with the lights on red; The Royal Scotsman crosses in front of us and the barriers lift. It transpires that the road follows the railway track and Mrs. M chases and overtakes the train and we are able to stop and take a few images and get a wave from the train driver. We continue to The Kyle of Lochalsh and cross the bridge onto Skye stopping at Carbost to take some images of the river and statue before arriving at Portree and the Tongadale Hotel, our lodgings for the night. First impressions are not brilliant but it serves a nice pint of Skye Red and a reasonable dinner.
Day 4 - Around Skye
Not a good nights sleep, the walls in the Tongadale Hotel are quite thin and noise transmits easily from room to room; it appears that they have been designed to facilitate conversation with your neighbours without actually leaving your room. The breakfast room appears to be full of glum faces although the “full Scottish” is quite acceptable. We take a quick trip to the harbour and then head north for The Old Man of Storr. This is clearly (no pun intended) a major tourist attraction with loads of parking spaces which you have to pay for. This does not concern us too much as it’s pouring down with rain and the Old Man is completely shrouded in cloud. We move on and make an unscheduled stop at what is obviously another major attraction as a fortune has been spent on providing parking. At first it is not obvious why but with a bit more exploring the attraction becomes obvious; the Talisker Waterfall dropping into the sea. There is an image in the gallery. We stop in Uig to make an important purchase; beer from The Isle of Skye Brewing Company. We travel on and stop in Dunvegan for coffee and cake. It is raining most of the time and Skye is not living up to expectations. It brightens up and I consider going back to The Old Man of Storr but it is soon raining again so this is off the agenda. We complete the “northern loop” and set off on the southern section. For some reason that I cannot recall we turn off the main drag and stumble across an extremely photogenic derelict boat in Camuscross; there is an mage in the gallery. A friend had suggested a visit to the Talisker Distillery but a map reading / satnav error means that we missed the turn so when passing the Torabhaig Distillery I turned in and we visited the shop however the prices were a bit steep for me so we left empty-handed. Before returning over the bridge we saw some fairly spectacular rainbow effects in the sky and managed to get some images. We have somehow missed one of Skye’s main attractions, Fairy Glen…perhaps next time. I make a slight detour to Plockton which had been the subject of a location guide in Outdoor Photography. Although the tide was out Mrs. M had an enjoyable time collecting shells on the beach. We then made our way to our 6th hotel of the tour, The Balmacara Hotel at Kyle; first impressions are good and the room is excellent. We have an early dinner in the restaurant and a couple of drinks.
Day 5 - Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness
Due to some "proper prior planning" we made the breakfast room ahead of a coach-load of American tourists who were staying at the hotel and then set off for Inverness. The weather is "inclement". Unfortunately heading directly for Inverness means that we have actually left the NC 500 route but this is quickly corrected and also allows me to take some images of Eilean Donan Castle whilst Mrs. M guards the car (actually as I have leapt out of the car with the keys in my pocket she is powerless to move it anyway). We have an uneventful trip to Inverness luckily punctuated by a stop at Rogie Falls where I (surprisingly) take a few images. We drive along the side of Loch Ness and arrive in Inverness; we were very unlucky as we did not have a single sighting of Nessie! Much to Mrs. M's disgust we do a lap of the city centre before we find the Premier Inn which is situated on the Caledonian Canal; as it is early afternoon we take a short stroll along the canal between showers and the retire to the Brewers Fayre for an early dinner (which was just as well as it appeared to be fully booked for later in the evening).
Day +1 Inverness to Harrogate
This is Day +1 as we have now completed the North Coast 500.
When discussing this trip with a friend he dropped into the conversation that we would be going "up the M1". This seemed logical as we were heading for the east coast of Scotland bur no, we actually came up the via the M6 and probably should have returned via the same route if I hadn't booked us into the Travelodge at Harrogate to break the journey south. As it turned out this left us with quite a trip, more than 300 miles and at least 6 hours but at least we had the opportunity to drive over the newish Forth Road Bridge, aka The Queensferry Crossing, with views of the old Forth Bridge which was presumably being painted at the time. A stop for diesel at Asda and lunch in the impressive garden centre next door and we arrive in Harrogate at about 5pm and pay for parking up until 10:00 am the next day. The Winter Gardens is still selling Old Peculier at a tempting price and we then have a walk around the town before heading for Gravelly's for fish and chips....but Gravelly's is no more, it is now Bradley's. The food was still nice and we then returned to the Travelodge for a good night's sleep (except for Mrs. M. who is kept awake by noise from the night club opposite despite quadruple glazed windows). This is a problem that we've experienced before, I don't think Mrs. M will be returning.
Day +2 Harrogate to Cropredy
Having luxuriated in 7 consecutive cooked breakfasts we give the 'Spoons a miss and stop at Tibshelf services for breakfast rolls before returning home some 1847 miles after leaving. A very enjoyable experience.
We leave Cropredy at 6am on the dot and make good time to the Greggs at Stafford Services where I partake in a couple of sausage baps with coffee and Mrs. M has her usual “All-3” bap with tea.
We agree that our next stop will be in Scotland; our destination today is Falkirk with a view to seeing The Kelpies. We arrive without any undue alarms (with the possible exception of signs giving notice of a yellow warning for snow!) and have a walk round and take a few images. I had been tipped off that a ride on The Falkirk Wheel is interesting and as we had plenty of time we retrace our steps for a couple of miles and park up in the shadow of The Wheel. At £31 for the two of us a “tour” of the wheel was not cheap but, given that we are unlikely to be here again, we bought our tickets for the 2:30 tour and grab a sandwich and iced tea before boarding The Archimides, one of two tourist boats on the the Wheel. All goes well and we are soon sat high in the air above the Visitor Centre awaiting the green light to head towards the tunnel. After what we are told is “longer than normal” the light turns green and we set off….the light then turns red and there is a loud scraping noise as the bottom of The Archimides scrapes against part of the structure. We wait and wait but the light does not budge from red. Eventually the skipper comes into the lounge area and tells us that there is a software issue with the Wheel and that we must abandon ship in groups of five. Luckily we are sat near to the doors so we join the first group of “evacuees” and walk along the wheel for about 50 yards before returning to “terra firma” and making our way back to the Visitor Centre. What an adventure!! We are given an address to request a refund and also told that there is no charge for parking….result!
It is now around 4pm so we set off for our Premier Inn at Houghs Of Airth, aka Falkirk North, calling in at a Lidl for some essential supplies. Dinner is in the adjacent Brewers Fayre and it is then time to call it a day. Quite an eventful start to out Scottish odyssey.
Day-1. On stepping out of the Premier Inn for breakfast at the Brewers Fayre it is apparent that there has been a significant amount of rain overnight with large puddles in the (not well maintained) car park. Breakfast is up to the normal standard. We set the satnav for Pitlochry with the intention of filling up with diesel at Tesco in Perth. About 15 minutes into the journey I notice a car coming in the opposite direction with snow on its bonnet and a few miles further on and the landscape turns white; there is an image in the gallery. We take a couple of images as Mrs. M is concerned that we may not get another opportunity to see snow; I hope that she is right. After filling up with diesel we arrive in Pitlochry and park at the railway station and walk to the dam and salmon ladder where we take a few images. According to an electronic display 2 salmon have passed through so far this year so, not surprisingly, we didn’t see any (apparently you don’t see them anyway as they actually pass through tunnels). We go looking for a pair of gloves (I have 3 pairs at home but didn’t expect it to be quite this cold) but Pitlochry prices are a bit steep for my liking at about £30 per pair. Next stop is the House of Bruar although the purpose of our visit is to visit the falls rather than the shops. It begins to rain quite heavily but the views are worth it and I take a few semi-decent images. Despite not actually coming here for the shops they do stock some amazing looking items and we buy some provisions from the deli counter for the next day’s lunch before setting off for Inverness where dinner in the in-house Thyme Restaurant is much better than expected, especially Mrs. M’s steak which is perfectly (un)cooked just as she likes it.
Day 1. After another excellent Premier Inn breakfast we leave Inverness in the rain with an ultimate destination of, surprise surprise, the Premier inn at Thurso. First scheduled stop is a viewpoint at Struie Hill mentioned in the guidebook but unfortunately the road is closed although there was an interesting AA Box at the junction of the road that we had hoped to take. We then continued to Dornoch where we had a wander round and a coffee and a delightful slice of Bounty Cheesecake. Moving on along the A9 we make an unscheduled stop at Dunrobbin Castle, this turned out to be something of an oxymoron as admittance was £14 per person so we had a walk around the grounds (no entrance fee required) and took some images in a wooded area including an interesting derelict building which, according to Mrs. M, resembled a “hobbit house”. We stop off at Brora and then took another unscheduled detour to Lybster harbour but were not inspired to stop and instead carried on to Wick harbour which was much more interesting but extremely cold and windy, enough to make Mrs.M ask “what the **** are we doing here?” After taking a few images we moved on again to John O’Groats which was less commercialised than I expected. We, actually I, bought a couple of fridge magnets for my collection in the Groatie Buckie souvenir shop and then a fellow tourist took our picture next to the (probably) world famous signpost. A quick lunch of sausage roll and scotch egg purchased the day before at the House of Bruar. We then set off for Thurso but take a detour to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point on the British mainland. The wind here is particularly strong, it is literally difficult to open the car door. We then move onto the Thurso Premier Inn which looks almost brand new but decide to take the short drive into Scrabster in search of some fresh fish for dinner and find it at The Captain’s Galley next to the ferry terminal. It should be stated that Mrs. M did 95% of the driving today.
Day 2, Thurso to Ullapool
Not the best breakfast; it appeared that frying eggs was somewhat difficult, but not a complete disaster. I had anticipated that this would be too long a stretch to complete in a day but had been unable to find a hotel to break the journey…as it turned out we completed it comfortably in a day. It is extremely windy given that we are in the middle of Storm Kathleen. We make several stops along the way including at the ruins of Ardvreck Castle where we take a few images of the castle and a waterfall on the opposite side of the road. We arrive at the Harbour House in Ullapool at about 2pm and walk back into the village for a pint in the Ferryman and dinner at the Ceilidh Place followed by a “quick one” in The Argyll Hotel before returning to Harbour House.
Day 3, Ullapool to Portree (Isle of Skye)
I started the day with a “full scottish” whilst Mrs. M had scrambled eggs on smoked salmon. We filled up with diesel and picked up a Scottish version of The Times and then set off with a final destination of Portree on Skye. The scenery continually changes and is always interesting. We had hoped to see some red squirrels and stopped to walk in some woods. A local walker told us that he hadn’t seen a red squirrel for about 2 years; they had been re-introduced to the area and he used to see them in his garden but thought that the pine martens may have predated them as “there are some big pine martens in these woods” - unfortunately we didn’t see any squirrels or pine martens!
Moving on we see miles and miles of fencing designed to keep deer off the road….but no deer. We come across a couple of goats on the side of the road and are scrambling around to get a photo when Mrs. M looks up to see about 20 of them on the other side of the road; the smell should have told us of their presence! The weather alternates between sun and rain and we come across a rainbow which, unusually, can be seen against a mountain but not against the sky. Time for a coffee stop and we take a minor detour into the village of Gairloch and park up next to The Mountain Coffee Company (see image in the gallery) and order 2 coffees and a cake to share (Mrs. M then decides that she doesn’t actually want any cake so I am forced to eat it all, it’s a hard life). The coffee that we are served is a brand associated with Bob Marley and I indulge in a couple of bags of beans (expensive at my standards at £9.99 a bag) but I like to support the local economy. The weather is still variable, indeed a lady in the coffee shop says that the sea was rolling along the street at high tide earlier in the morning. We pass a sign for Victoria Falls and I ask Mrs. M. to turn around so that we can visit; a quick check of the information board advises that the falls are just a short walk away so we take a few images. Mrs. M. sees some black cows and wants a photo so pulls up on the side of the (narrow) road…a few seconds later a massive Scania low-loader trundles into view and just about manages to squeeze past, in a few miles it will become apparent why he was on such a narrow road as we come across an oil rig in a loch just off-shore, see an image in the gallery. So far there has been a distinct lack of wildlife but that is about to change….I spot a bird sat by the side of the road and ask Mrs. M. to stop, it turns out to be some type of raptor, see an image in the gallery. Things are looking up and within a mile or so I spot what looks like antlers poking out of some long grass. I yell at Mrs. M to stop and sure enough there are 5 red deer in long grass about 30 yards from us. We take several images, see the gallery. Are they wild or domestic?….we don’t know but at least we’ve seen some deer! We round a corner to be confronted by a level crossing with the lights on red; The Royal Scotsman crosses in front of us and the barriers lift. It transpires that the road follows the railway track and Mrs. M chases and overtakes the train and we are able to stop and take a few images and get a wave from the train driver. We continue to The Kyle of Lochalsh and cross the bridge onto Skye stopping at Carbost to take some images of the river and statue before arriving at Portree and the Tongadale Hotel, our lodgings for the night. First impressions are not brilliant but it serves a nice pint of Skye Red and a reasonable dinner.
Day 4 - Around Skye
Not a good nights sleep, the walls in the Tongadale Hotel are quite thin and noise transmits easily from room to room; it appears that they have been designed to facilitate conversation with your neighbours without actually leaving your room. The breakfast room appears to be full of glum faces although the “full Scottish” is quite acceptable. We take a quick trip to the harbour and then head north for The Old Man of Storr. This is clearly (no pun intended) a major tourist attraction with loads of parking spaces which you have to pay for. This does not concern us too much as it’s pouring down with rain and the Old Man is completely shrouded in cloud. We move on and make an unscheduled stop at what is obviously another major attraction as a fortune has been spent on providing parking. At first it is not obvious why but with a bit more exploring the attraction becomes obvious; the Talisker Waterfall dropping into the sea. There is an image in the gallery. We stop in Uig to make an important purchase; beer from The Isle of Skye Brewing Company. We travel on and stop in Dunvegan for coffee and cake. It is raining most of the time and Skye is not living up to expectations. It brightens up and I consider going back to The Old Man of Storr but it is soon raining again so this is off the agenda. We complete the “northern loop” and set off on the southern section. For some reason that I cannot recall we turn off the main drag and stumble across an extremely photogenic derelict boat in Camuscross; there is an mage in the gallery. A friend had suggested a visit to the Talisker Distillery but a map reading / satnav error means that we missed the turn so when passing the Torabhaig Distillery I turned in and we visited the shop however the prices were a bit steep for me so we left empty-handed. Before returning over the bridge we saw some fairly spectacular rainbow effects in the sky and managed to get some images. We have somehow missed one of Skye’s main attractions, Fairy Glen…perhaps next time. I make a slight detour to Plockton which had been the subject of a location guide in Outdoor Photography. Although the tide was out Mrs. M had an enjoyable time collecting shells on the beach. We then made our way to our 6th hotel of the tour, The Balmacara Hotel at Kyle; first impressions are good and the room is excellent. We have an early dinner in the restaurant and a couple of drinks.
Day 5 - Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness
Due to some "proper prior planning" we made the breakfast room ahead of a coach-load of American tourists who were staying at the hotel and then set off for Inverness. The weather is "inclement". Unfortunately heading directly for Inverness means that we have actually left the NC 500 route but this is quickly corrected and also allows me to take some images of Eilean Donan Castle whilst Mrs. M guards the car (actually as I have leapt out of the car with the keys in my pocket she is powerless to move it anyway). We have an uneventful trip to Inverness luckily punctuated by a stop at Rogie Falls where I (surprisingly) take a few images. We drive along the side of Loch Ness and arrive in Inverness; we were very unlucky as we did not have a single sighting of Nessie! Much to Mrs. M's disgust we do a lap of the city centre before we find the Premier Inn which is situated on the Caledonian Canal; as it is early afternoon we take a short stroll along the canal between showers and the retire to the Brewers Fayre for an early dinner (which was just as well as it appeared to be fully booked for later in the evening).
Day +1 Inverness to Harrogate
This is Day +1 as we have now completed the North Coast 500.
When discussing this trip with a friend he dropped into the conversation that we would be going "up the M1". This seemed logical as we were heading for the east coast of Scotland bur no, we actually came up the via the M6 and probably should have returned via the same route if I hadn't booked us into the Travelodge at Harrogate to break the journey south. As it turned out this left us with quite a trip, more than 300 miles and at least 6 hours but at least we had the opportunity to drive over the newish Forth Road Bridge, aka The Queensferry Crossing, with views of the old Forth Bridge which was presumably being painted at the time. A stop for diesel at Asda and lunch in the impressive garden centre next door and we arrive in Harrogate at about 5pm and pay for parking up until 10:00 am the next day. The Winter Gardens is still selling Old Peculier at a tempting price and we then have a walk around the town before heading for Gravelly's for fish and chips....but Gravelly's is no more, it is now Bradley's. The food was still nice and we then returned to the Travelodge for a good night's sleep (except for Mrs. M. who is kept awake by noise from the night club opposite despite quadruple glazed windows). This is a problem that we've experienced before, I don't think Mrs. M will be returning.
Day +2 Harrogate to Cropredy
Having luxuriated in 7 consecutive cooked breakfasts we give the 'Spoons a miss and stop at Tibshelf services for breakfast rolls before returning home some 1847 miles after leaving. A very enjoyable experience.
