Rambling Russells

When I looked at details about the Scottish Snowdrop Festival (in association with Visit Scotland & Scotlands Gardens) I looked particularly to see if there were any new gardens on the list. The festival has grown over the last few years and it is always nice to support new venues. This year it runs from 30 January - 13 March and is an opportunity for visitors to see snowdrops in a natural setting. Gardens and woodlands that may not be open at any other time of year are open for viewing during the festival. Many of the gardens can be entered for a small ticket price or a donation. Several gardens provide delicious teas during the time they are open and can also offer plants for sale.      We decided to visit a garden that was new to the Festival this year at Barjarg Tower. I had never heard of Barjarg, and only because the information said it was between Auldgirth and Penpont did I have any idea where it w...

The Puzzling Place is a unique attraction hidden away in the heart of Keswick. It is just off Main Street but be aware that there is a flight of stairs to climb to enter! There is no parking outside but public car parks are close by. There is no café or any public toilets at the Puzzling Place.     The Puzzling Place is a fun attraction based on optical illusions, with pictures, sculptures and interactive exhibits. The World of Illusions, within the Puzzling Place, has an entry fee, but it is definitely worth a visit.     There is a distortion mirror to make you look as if you are standing on your head, make you look short and fat at the same time, or have a pointed head!       There is an ‘Anti-gravity Room’ where snooker balls roll up the table and a chair, that you can sit in, that travels uphill without even a push! We have to say – and the Puzzling place has a notice advising people of this - that this roo...

In great anticipation, with our Runrig tickets safely stowed away, we set off for Edinburgh on Saturday morning. Having decided to travel via the A7 we made good time initially, but then the weather began to change...     Suddenly the scenic journey began to look more of a problem...       It looked beautiful from inside the car......           ... but it was really coming down very heavily! We had originally planned to spend a short time in Musselburgh but as we got closer the snow got thicker on the road, so we decided to head straight into Leith. By the time we got there the snow was thankfully turning to rain. ...

Having heard very good things about the Eskdalemuir Community Hub & Old School Café we set off to visit on a beautiful sunny day. (not been able to say that for ages!!) This is a multi-purpose centre owned and managed for the community. It provides drinks, snacks, lunches & dinners, with delicious home cooking, using local produce. The prices are very reasonable and they are open all year round. Although too early for lunch, we called in to see if they had details about the Prehistoric Trail that we had seen advertised on the way. After a very helpful chat with staff in the centre we set off to visit Castle O’er Fort. The idea of the trail was to outline and waymark a route in Westerkirk and Eskdalemuir, accessible to motorists or cyclists who were prepared to do a modest amount of walking, linking several prehistoric sites of outstanding archaeological interest. Nine sites were chosen from the roughly sixty sites which were identified ...

The weather hasn't really been an awful lot better over the last month. Strong wind and rain have been the norm with only an occasional bright spell of sunshine. The birds have been doing the same as most humans - only going out if they have to! The only thing to applaud is the slight lengthening of the days. 30th/31st January was the weekend of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. This is the time to count the birds visiting your garden and record other wildlife that have visited your garden over the year. We have completed this survey every year for several years now and always hope to see something exciting to add to our list. Sunday 31st was the chosen day for us this year and we watched from 10-11am. Our list of birds included blackbird - 2, blue tit - 2, carrion crow - 1, chaffinch - 6, coal tit - 1, collared dove - 2, dunnock - 1, great tit - 2, house sparrow -10, jackdaw - 1, robin - 1, starling - 15, woodpigeon - 1 and yellowhammer - 5. We were really chuffed to see the yellowha...

Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, Flying Scotsman was built at Doncaster Works in February 1923. It is 70ft (21m) long and weighs about 96 tonnes. The Flying Scotsman is the name of a train service which has been running between London and Scotland since 1862 not the name of the locomotive. The British Empire Exhibition in 1924 made Flying Scotsman famous. The exhibition was opened by King George V in April 1924 and attracted millions of visitors to what was then the largest exhibition ever staged. The British Empire contained 58 countries at this time and only 2 of them did not take part. The exhibition had 3 main buildings called the Palaces of Industry, Engineering and Arts and they had several light railways connecting them. Several railway companies had stands at the exhibition, in some cases showing off their latest locomotives or coaches. One of these was the famous locomotive, LNER no. 4472 Flying Scotsman. Note re number of Flying Scotsman - as well as th...