Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2009-05-26 06:52:38 - Graham Ellis
Yesterday I travelled from Melksham to Northern Ireland - a course to give this week. And with equipment to bring, I came on the ferry. Plenty of routes to choose, and I chose to drive up through England (picture is taken at Tebay in the Lake District) and the on through Galloway. With boats being none too frequent, a Bank Holiday Monday, and a drive that the AA told me should take 7.5 hours, I left home early to miss the crowds and to ensure that I had a "margin" ... and used that margin to take a look around in Galloway.
My map showed tome 100 miles of A75 from Gretna to Stranraer - and it was a typical 2 way trunk road, busy and with heavies even on the Bank Holiday on there way to Ireland, so I cut off and followed the more scenic and much quieter A712 through the forest. [more pictures]. And even then I was in good time at Cairnryan and took some more snaps
Carrickfergus is just 16 miles from Larne and is a pretty town beside Belfast Lough. Having spent to long driving and travelling, it was lovely to get out and have a brief look around in the evening. There are yet more pictures here and - as you might expect (or not, if you read something I wrote last week) - I left the best till last. Do have a look at them; I'll be telling you more about my trip to Northern Ireland during the week,
Yesterday I travelled from Melksham to Northern Ireland - a course to give this week. And with equipment to bring, I came on the ferry. Plenty of routes to choose, and I chose to drive up through England (picture is taken at Tebay in the Lake District) and the on through Galloway. With boats being none too frequent, a Bank Holiday Monday, and a drive that the AA told me should take 7.5 hours, I left home early to miss the crowds and to ensure that I had a "margin" ... and used that margin to take a look around in Galloway.
My map showed tome 100 miles of A75 from Gretna to Stranraer - and it was a typical 2 way trunk road, busy and with heavies even on the Bank Holiday on there way to Ireland, so I cut off and followed the more scenic and much quieter A712 through the forest. [more pictures]. And even then I was in good time at Cairnryan and took some more snaps
Carrickfergus is just 16 miles from Larne and is a pretty town beside Belfast Lough. Having spent to long driving and travelling, it was lovely to get out and have a brief look around in the evening. There are yet more pictures here and - as you might expect (or not, if you read something I wrote last week) - I left the best till last. Do have a look at them; I'll be telling you more about my trip to Northern Ireland during the week,