Matlock Bath is a village in Derbyshire, 1½ miles from Matlock on the A6 and by the River Derwent.

As we were to be travelling along the A6 and I have a crested china model of Matlock Bath’s War Memorial I was keen to stop and photograph the real thing. It lies between the main street and the river in a little wooded area and would be easy to miss if you’re just passing through.

It’s slightly unusual in style bearing the figures of a soldier and sailor holding a Union flag.

The inscription reads, “Our glorious dead,” and, “In honoured memory of the men of Matlock Bath who gave their all in the Great War of Nations 1914 – 1919,” with at the bottom of the column, “Their name liveth for evermore.”

An information board sits to its side:-

Memorial from West, inscribed , “Duty nobly done, Honour bravely won, Loyal hearts now rest, By God’s peace now blest.”

From north, inscribed, “Also in honoured memory of the men who gave their lives in the World War 1939 -1945.”

From east, inscribed, “Greater Love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Further along Matlock Bath’s main street there is a café with hints of Art Deco:-

I have featured Bakewell, Derbyshire before here and here. We passed through it again in September 2018, had a nice walk around and along the River Wye plus a good lunch in one of the cafés.

One footbridge and weir over River Wye:-

A second footbridge:-

Weir and old bridge:-

Old bridge:-

Fish and Duck:-

Fish (trout?):-

Coniston is a village in Cumbria in the English Lake District, near the lake which also bears the name (Coniston Water.) Its War Memorial is a cross with Celtic styling. Inscribed, “These men of Coniston gave their lives for their country 1914 – 1918,” followed by the Great War names and below, “1939 – 1945,” with Second World War Names beneath it:-

Very close by there is a memorial to a Victoria Cross awardee, Lance Corporal James Hewitson, King’s Own Royal Lancashire Regiment, 26/4/1918:-

Lance Corporal Hewitson was one of the luckier VC recipients. His grave, to the right of the War Memorial in the first photo above, shows he died on 2/3/1963:-

Though the lake is not easily visible from the village its approaches and main street are dominated by a hill, the Old Man of Coniston:-

Grasmere is a village in the Lake District of Cumbria, England, lying beside the lake of the same name.

It is famous as the home of the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy at Dove Cottage:-

Dove Cottage was later also home to Thomas De Quincey, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.

Side view:-

Side of house and garden:-

Part of back garden:-

Wordsworth’s bedroom:-

Sitting room of Dove Cottage:-

Back room:-

The graves of the Wordsworths are in the local cemetery:-

For the Great War Armistice anniversary some of the local lampposts were adorned with large poppies commemorating lads from the local school killed in the Great War.

Hero Oswald Hillerns:-

Henry Bowness Johnson:-

Dunning is a village in Strathearn, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Its War Memorial is a Celtic Cross set into a shaped stone above a series of steps.

The steps are inscribed with the dates 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918. The cross has 1919 just below it. The main tablet is inscribed, “Erected by the inhabitants of Dunning and District in grateful memory of the men from the neighbourhood who fell in the Great War.” The curved one above states, “These four tablets were added in memory of those who died in the war 1939 – 1945.”

From east:-

From north:-

From south:-

One of the faces of Dunning War Memorial showing names for both World Wars:-

On the wall of the churchyard is a plaque installed in 1995 expressing thanks to the villagers from grateful World War 2 evacuees:-

I had two days out really.

On Friday on the way up to Aberdeen the good lady and I stopped at Dunnottar Castle and also took the chance to visit Stonehaven War Memorial which is walkable from there. (Photos of both will be coming eventually.)

Later in the afternoon she made a good trawl of the Old Aberdeen Book Shop in Spital.

Even better pickings were obtained at the Mercat Bookshop in Castle Street the next morning (I even bought two books) and then we had a look at two antique shops before we retired to a modern style hostelry for lunch with my younger son and his wife.

Imagine our surprise when the establishment was invaded by Sons fans who certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves, which the bar staff took in good part. The flag intimated they were from Helensburgh.

On to the match, with ticket at the ready:-

The Sons contingent had several good flags on the wave:-

The pre-match entertainmenmt was way over the top. There’s absolutely no need for this sub-USian rubbish:-

Even if the Aberdeen fans in the Merkland Stand also had a good array of flags:-

The teams emerge. Two more good Sons flags at the bottom here:-

Sons to the fore. This season’s ‘home’ strip – yellow and black wide stripes, with black shorts, on show (and a rather silly-looking Aberdeen mascot at top right. They had at least two mascots, which is probably two too many):-

Sons line up for the game:-

The good lady is a keen gardener and also likes to visit large gardens.

One near to us is at Backhouse Rossie Estate but we hadn’t visited it till the summer of 2018 on what turned out to be a good day trip.

One of the exhibits there is a DNA path seen below from the side:-

Here you can see the interweaved paving stones representing DNA’s double helix:-

The DNA path from its other end:-

At the path’s central point is a sculpture on whose sides are carved the C,G,T,A initials of the base pairs which help make up DNA’s structure:-

An information board describes the sculpture’s inspiration. The garden’s creators, Andrew and Caroline Georgina Thomson, have names whose initials are also those of the base pairs:-

The garden also contains wooden sculptures illustrating the Goldilocks story:-

Daddy Bear asleep:-

Mummy Bear:-

There a putting green too (below with the estate house in the background):-

Our trip back home from Dumfries and Galloway took us through Ayr. Whitletts is an area to the northeast of the town. Its War Memorial is in the form of a Celtic Cross on a square plinth.
The cross’s pillar is inscribed with the words, “A tribute of honour and gratitude to the men of this parish who gave their lives for home and freedom in the Great War 1914 – 1919.” Below that are names for The Great War. On the base of the plinth it says, “Lest we forget.”

Reverse. (Great War names):-

The other two sides bear the names for World War 2. Why there was a piece of wire entangled round the plinth I do not know.

Kirkoswald is just south of Maybole in Ayrshiire, Scotland. Its War Memorial is a granite Celtic cross on a square plinth.

This side is dedicated to the Great War 1914 – 1919. “Erected by public subscription in memory of those from this district who fell and as a token of gratitude to those who served in the cause of honour and freedom.” Then, “Those who fell.”

Reverse. Inscribed, “1939 – 1945. Lost in Action.”

Unusually this memorial also includes the names of those who served:-

A tapering stone obelisk on a square plinth, this War Memorial stands on an expanse of grass by the side of the Firth of Clyde on the south approach to the town. This east facing side of the obelisk is inscribed Maubeuge, 1918, Cambrai, Flanders 1917, Arras.

North face. Column inscribed Somme, Loos, Ypres, Marne, Mons:-

West (sea facing) aspect. Pedestal inscribed with the names of the naval actions at Zeebrugge, Jutland, Falkland, Coronel, Heligoland:-

South face. Inscribed for campaigns outside Europe: Palestine, Salonica, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, Africa:-

Great War plaque, “The tribute of the poeple of Girvan to those of her sons who gave their lives in defence of their country’s righteous cause in the Great War, 1914 – 1919”

World War 2 plaque, “The tribute of the people of Girvan to those of her sons who gave their lives in defence of their country’s righteous cause in the World-War 1939 – 1945.” Three additional names below:-