Ginger Beard Man

Well you all will have noticed (aside from perhaps the odd blissfully ignorant male) through the photo stream that I have (had) been growing a beard.  The reason, as I told it to anyone who asked, was to get in touch with my Scottish side, as we travelled through Scotland.  The real reason was much less dignified - I was simply too lazy to shave!  Before we left I thought I was onto a brilliant idea - skip the shaving and I can skip the daily hassle of getting out the shaver, inverter and adapter, spending 5 mins shaving, and putting it all away again, only to repeat the monotony the following day.  I had thought about implementing this "brilliant" plan throughout our entire trip.  That idea was short-lived, and my plan short-circuited by the itchy, straggled and tangled mess that was my beard after only 1 month!  Shaving each day, I realised, was probably less hassle than having to trim and maintain a beard every few days.

So the beard-idea was ditched, in time for our departure from Scotland.  After spending a couple days back at "home" in Yorkshire, and further few days with Jean's relatives in Kent, we have now crossed the channel for France.  Our continental adventure has begun!

Guilty, surely!  Visiting a prison museum :-)

And Voilà - the beard is gone and I am innocent again (Ramsgate harbour)

The Cowal Highland Gathering in our last days in Scotland - Jean was excited to visit here, the gathering of the World Highland Dancing Championship

Along with plenty of pipes and drums - this band is wearing McLean tartan.

In Glasgow, the mascot of the games.  Glasgow was a very surprising city.  It doesn't have a great reputation in the rest of the UK, but it's a fabulous city with a surprising amount of heritage and culture.  We want to come back!

Travelling south towards Kent, we stopped for the night by this signal box.  We couldn't believe it when we saw a man appear out of the "box" and run to open the gates for an approaching train (and close them on the road).

We got chatting to the signalman, and ended having a cup of tea and a good chat with him.  It turns out there are still many manned train crossings in this part of England.  All the controls inside the room look unchanged since the 50s or 60s - it was like stepping back in time.  Truly - he still communicates with the next signalman down the line with a morse-code like "tapper" which rings a bell in that box.

Train has passed, and gates closed to allow cars to cross again until the next one.

Workout on the Thames with Jean's relatives!

Having a sandwich in Sandwich!