Mavis, Wilson and Me

 Day 8 (Friday) After my morning cuppa, I hit the road for the long journey south. I stopped at Abington Services for a bite to eat and a bit of a rest. Not the most exciting stop, but much needed. The weather was okay all the way down: nothing dramatic, just grey skies and a steady stream of many many motorway miles. Wilson saying goodbye to Glen Banchor After nearly seven hours on the road, I finally arrived at Millers Dale. I’m meeting a walking group here in the morning, which I’m really looking forward to. The car park where we’re meeting is for daytime use only, so I found a quiet layby a bit further down the road to settle down for the night. I was more than ready to stretch my legs and get some fresh air and I noticed what looked like a cave or something similar above the layby so out of curiosity, decided to see if I could climb up to it… but it turned out to be a bit too steep, so I chickened out! I had a peaceful evening reading my book and then had some much needed sl...

 Day 6 (Wednesday) After my morning cuppa in the church car park, I headed off for a couple of days to explore a different area. I crossed the Kessock Bridge, which took me from Inverness onto the Black Isle. I spotted a sign for a viewpoint, but was a bit disappointed to find it was just a view of the bridge. Still, there were some loos, so it was worth the stop! Morning cuppa View over the Moray Firth after Kessock Bridge Despite the name, the Black Isle isn’t actually an island — it’s a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides. I continued driving and left the “isle” via the Cromarty Bridge. There were a few lay-bys before the bridge and even one on it, which made for a great photo stop with lovely views. View of the Cromarty Bridge View from on the bridge My final destination for the day was the car park for the Fyrish Monument. I missed it at first because I was looking out for brown tourist signs, but only noticed a tiny wooden sign for the turn-off when it was too lat...