Day 7: Crossing the Border: Glasgow to York

Today we bade farewell to the Premier Inn at Bearsden and hit the road fairly early as there were many miles to cover. Harry the Black Galaxy was very well behaved and all of the luggage fitted like Tetris bricks and we even fitted luggage for another traveller as Carina had decided to join us and hitch a ride to York. All set and away. 

We were doing well flying down the motorway under grey skies when, 6 exits prior to our assigned one, Chris spotted the sign to the World Heritage site, New Lanark and so, as he was the driver, off we went. And the road, wound and twisted and turned and tuned some more, before we drove down into this valley and discovered an amazingly preserved and restored entire township of New Lanark. A relic of the industrial revolution, it was established as it was at the location of the Falls of Clyde and it became a mill town as the falls provided the energy to run the cotton mill in the 18th Century. USECO regards it as one of only 6 sites in Scotland that are of ‘universal significance’. Now of course I knew none of this until today and the work that has been done to restore the town and the mill which ceased to be wheel driven in 1929 is quite amazing. The town is also famous for its social justice perspective as philanthropist Robert Owen worked hard to ensure justice for workers and care for the poor, something that just did not happen in other industrial towns. It was a short stop but a very pretty and historical place and there is even a hotel if you are interested in staying which would be cool. But back on the road because by now we were at least a half an hour later than schedule. 

The road wound up and down through some beautiful countryside and over some very narrow bridges en route to our search for the second stop, the tiny hamlet of Libberton in Lanarkshire. Last stop in Scotland before crossing the boarder into England, we found the tiny hamlet, set among stunning silence and rolling green fields. Strange place to stop, but it was here in 1717 that Liz’s Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather William Young was born. In 1743 he fathered James Young who lived all of his life in Libberton and who married Agnes Smellie in the Libberton church in 1769, apparently 2 years after fathering Robert Young, who fathered William Young in 1811. William married Jane Muir in Libberton in 1845 and in 1856 John Muir Young was born. He travelled to Australia and married Catherine Leonard, the daughter of a convict and together they had my Grandfather Walter Leonard Young ... my mum’s Dad.

We found no evidence of any old Young gravestones in the cemetery... I suspect because the headstones that remained from that time were fairly grand... and I doubt the Youngs had that wealth. I did see a Muir gravestone however and a 20th century Young gravestone that may have been a distant relative. But it was a beautiful place and standing outside the church where my ancestors were christened, married and buried was a very special moment. I wonder what they did as they lived their lives there in that small community... they probably farmed or laboured.wonder if William the elder was involved with the Jacobite uprisings and on which side he stood.  I wonder what possessed John Muir Young to leave the relative safety of the life his family had always known and to travel half way around the world as a free man and then to marry the daughter of a convict. All I know is that I am glad that he did, and I was so glad today to be able to stand in that place and to know that in this place is where I can trace my history. It was incredibly moving. The tears rolling down my cheeks a testament to the bodily connection I felt to the place. Thank you to my travel buddies for indulging this very winding but picturesque detour. 

And once back on the road, the winding got even worse! We had to have a brief stop at a roadside service centre and when consulting the GPS and the itinerary we decided that we had best not stop again for morning tea at Gretna Green as planned, but to push on to a tiny village called Blanchland. Again, spectacular scenery as we crossed the boarder into the North Pennine Hills an area which Google describes as an AONB! No not a KNOB but an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty... and beautiful is an understatement. And just when we thought that the roads couldn’t get any windier or narrower... they did, crossing single lane bridges, passing tractors and cyclists on super skinny strips of tar (thank heavens we were in Harry because I am not convinced that Shermie would have fitted!) We were late, but we were going to try to see if we could get to our lunch reservation at the Lord Crewe Arms at Blanchland. 

Where I hear you ask? A stunning old coaching inn that has its beginnings as a medieval abbey. When Chris and I married, the wedding present of fashion at the time was not a toaster, but rather sets of cork placemats. And because we were married in early January, many of our guests must have flocked to the after Christmas sales at the then Grace Brothers to buy us cork placemats. We have two complete sets of large and small placemats and matching coasters and each set features an identical set of 6 coaching inns around England. The Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland is one such coaster and because it was vaguely (very vaguely) on the way from Glasgow to York, and because today was Sunday and they had a Sunday roast, we decided to book in for lunch... but this was no ordinary Sunday roast. They serve a 2 or 3 course meal family style, where for each course they have three selections in the middle of the table and everyone shares. Oh my! What an AMAZING menu, chilled pea and Crewe franchise soup, pork terrine, salmon mouse, and wheat bread faced off for the entree. Mains were a selection of pork loin, rare  roast beef and roast chicken breast with Yorkshire pud, amazing roast potatoes, mashed pumpkin and mixed vegetables and an entire enamel teapot of gravy... and then for dessert. Oh my! The most luscious warm almond bake well tart, chocolate tart with raspberries and elderflower and Prosecco jelly with vanilla bean ice cream. What a stunning feast and everyone was so impressed when Chris produced the coaster with the picture of the coaching in, which had at is inception been the Abbots house in the monastery, which was dissolved in the Henry VIII period. Just wow!

We strolled the gardens, visited the church which is without its spire due to its removal during the disillusion. The church and the grounds simply ooozed history, and again caused me to wonder what would have happened here and how things might have been different had the English Reformation never happened. After the church we took a few pics,  and we even found a red phone box at which to take an obligatory photograph as well as posing with the coaster outside the pub, which bears an amazing likeness to the coaster!

The road out was an easier drive and Chris took a back seat for a rest while Liz drove and Martina navigated. In just over 2 hours we had driven through more stunning scenery and had arrived in York. Just one more little drama... parking our van in the totally anorexic parking in the hotel garage. Shermie would not have even made it under the roof!!! Chris took over and did a great job of parking Harry and we checked in, picked up some local delicacies from Sainsbury and had some light snacks for dinner. What an amazing and exhausting day!