Blackness Castle sticks out into the River Forth a few miles west of the Forth Bridges. (See photograph in the link.) Because of its situation and prominence it is sometimes known as ‘the ship that never sailed’. It has had several uses over the years since it was built in the 1440s including as an ammunition store. As with most Scottish castles it has featured in the TV series Outlander.

Infiormation board:-

From approach road:-

Closer view and modern entrance:-

Side view and old entrance:-

Old entrance: now blocked off. The notice warns you not to climb on it:-

As you can see in the photo in the link a pier pokes from the castlefurther out into the river.

Castle from pier. (Stitch of two photos.):-

Pier, part of Castle and Blackness village beyond:-

View west from pier:-

View east: three bridges across the Forth:-

Close-up:-

From Huntingdon we travelled up to Buxton for an overnight stop.  We stayed at the Palace Hotel. My photo of the facade did not come out well.

The room they gave us was well appointed and we had a good stay. Unfortunately we returned later in the year and that room was looking extremely tired and in need of refurbishment, which kind of put us off going back.

Nevertheless, the hotel has an imposing staircase:-

And the dining room ceiling is quite fancy:-

I took another photo of the Opera House and adjacent Pavilion Gardens:-

Pagoda in Pavilion Gardens:-

Pond and bridge:-

Bridge parapet, pond and trees:-

A different bridge:-

15 goslings with parents in the Gardens:-

Incarcerated train. It was late in the evening; the miniature railway was shut for the night :-

John Frostbrug in Dutch, this is the famous bridge too far, except it’s a replacement for the original Rhine Bridge fought over in the Second World War during Operation Market Garden. It’s somewhere in The Netherlands I’ve always wanted to visit.

I must say the River Rhine looks not very wide here – not as wide as the Clyde at Dumbarton certainly. Still an obstacle to an army though:-

Eastern guard post. Slight Deco styling.  I assume this is original:-

Western guard post. Note groove up the middle of steps, for wheeling bicycles up and down.:-

Reverse view of bridge:-

Roadway:-

Commemorative plaque with inscription to John Frost by roadway on north side of bridge:-

After visiting the ‘big house‘ we went for a walk around the surrounding farmland and decided to visit the farm worker’s house which we could see in the distance. We’ve been to loads of stately homes in the UK but I don’t ever recall any of them also having a farm worker’s house that you could look inside. Most probably the small estate houses in the UK have been modernised and rented out to holidaymakers.

This photo of the outside of the worker’s cottage is copied from the Burg’s website.

Cottage interior:-

It would have been a lovely living space. Still is, but no-one actually does live in it now.

The rectangular box in front of the chair in the photo below is lined with metal and you put hot coals in it and put your feet on it with a blanket or long dress draped over it to keep your feet and legs nice and warm.

The wee house is surrounded by farmland and of course you are never far from a canal in The Netherlands over one of which this bridge crosses:-

Bridge in the Chinese Garden at Hortus Botanicus Horen:-

A huge carp was keeping position by swimming against the flow here. It was the only fish we saw there. We assumed it had eaten any others:-

I managed to photograph one of the many dragonflies:-

Waterfall:-

Video:-

Tunnel just to left of waterfall:-

Video with frog calls:-

Continuing on (and still going clockwise) from my first post about Oxburgh Hall, this view of the moat and rear of Oxburgh Hall shows a jumble of architectural styles:-

I believe this was the original entrance but it has been extensively altered over the years:-

View of towers from courtyard:-

On our way down south last May Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk was one of our intended stopping points. It’s a country house surrounded by a moat and was built by the Bedingfield family who have lived in it ever since though it is now in the care of the National Trust.

Parterre:-

Entrance gatehouse. Apparently only two windows are the same:-

The house has undergone several renovations/updatings over the years and betrays different architectural styles arising  from each change. In the next few photos we move clockwise from the gatehouse round the building.

Gatehouse and bridge to courtyard :-

The room on the lower corner here is now the café:-

Due to internal reconstruction there is a floor running across the upper part of the lower windows here to accommodate the café:-

Large Window. One of the many updatings/reconstructions the Hall has undergone:-

The bridge is very close to Elgin Cathedral. It can be seen viewed from one of the Cathedral towers in the first photograph in this post.

You can climb both towers of Elgin Cathedral (but take your time.) One of them contains the architectural exhibits and carvings from my previous post. Unfortunately you have to descend again to get up the other one.

But it’s well worth it as it has a viewing platform at its top.

Ruins plus (intact) Chapter House on left. Behind it can be seen the River Lossie and two bridges across it.

View of Elgin:-

View north through park area:-

View west. There is a garden just across the road here to the right of the gates:-

You know I like bridges.

This one could be seen from Sueno’s Stone. It’s a pedestrian one across the A 96.

In Forres itself there was this impressive church, St Leonard’s:-

And an Art Deco style shop with great upper glazing and, partial “sunburst” metalwork on the roofline:-