Leaving Edinburgh, we set out through the Cairngorm mountains towards Inverness. Our final destination was John o’Groats. Why John o’Groats? Well, because everybody wants to start or end every trip there and, more practically, you can take a ferry to the Orkney islands.

But first, we stopped at the village of Dalhwhinnie. Why? Because a local coffee shop offers free overnight parking for motorhomes. (https://apiarydalwhinnie.co.uk/) The Apiary was charming, but sadly does not serve dinner. So we had to content ourselves with a coffee and learned that Dalwhinnie has the lowest average temperature in Scotland, and probably the UK. OK, off our list for retirement homes. But we had a sunny day and sat out to enjoy it and admire all of the touring cyclists who were stopping for drinks and snacks. 

We walked down the road to the Dalwhinnie distillery. Here too, we were too late for a tour, but we did have a wonderful tasting, complete with chocolates. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalwhinnie_distillery)

It was only later that we discovered that Dalwhinnie is favored by many of our friends who actually know Scotch whiskeys, and, after visiting more distilleries ourselves, we really regretted not having bought a few bottles!

Next up was Inverness, the “Gateway to the Highlands.” We wanted to visit the Culloden battlefield because Bonnie Prince Charlie and the whole Jacobite saga so command popular imagination. 

Inverness is not as quaint as some Scottish cities but the area along the river is beautiful. We had a great time raiding the woolen shops.

Lots of people will have noted the “Harry Potter” viaduct, which is certainly spectacular, but the simple fact remains that the Victorians built dozens, if not hundreds of amazing viaducts all over the country. Just down the road from our campsite is the Culloden Viaduct. At 1800 feet, it is the longest masonry viaduct in Scotland, and it doesn’t even merit a sign. We found it quite by accident, simply by looking out the window.

Color us Jacobite skeptics so we were thus pleased that the guide book to the Culloden site begins with a chapter on the “myths of Culloden.” The political background to the battle of Culloden is critical reading for Americans, as our Founding Fathers were keenly aware of the necessity of French intervention if we were going to gain independence from England. Spoiler alert: We got it, Charlie didn’t. We history buffs always like to see tactical events placed in full political/military context. The Jacobites had won almost every battle that they fought before Culloden, and then they did everything wrong and lost badly at Culloden. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Culloden)

The Hanoverian revenge after the battle was savage and led to the end of the clan system. (And a ban on bagpipes.)

Just down the road is a wonderful little site, Clava Cairns. (https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/clava-cairns-p245611) It always amazes us how real archeologists can look at a few stones in a field and “see” what it was. This is especially true of prehistoric sites.

And sometimes, even after a site is excavated, its purpose can be hard to discern.

Inverness is at the top of Loch Ness and linked to it by the Caledonian Canal. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Canal ) When your daughter was born in Panama you tend to develop a canal fetish, so we had to take a quick trip down the canal and out into the loch. Only went as far as Urquhart Castle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urquhart_Castle), but it was a nice sunny day.

No, Macbeth was never thane of Cawdor Castle. But it is still worth a visit as it is a nifty fortified manor house, still owner occupied and it even has a secret or lost chamber. And Denise liked the gardens. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cawdor_Castle) Any building that is constructed around a living Holly tree is interesting, even if the tree died in about 1372!

We continued up the coast to the town of Helmsdale. Again, the reason was free camping. And a good fish and chips dinner. (http://www.bannockburninn.co.uk/)

The next day we set out to explore a really charming town. Helmsdale was a Highland Clearances town, where highlanders were resettled after being removed from the land. Some became fishermen, but many emigrated. There is a small, but very nice museum. (https://timespan.org.uk/museum/) And, of course, a coffee shop where we scored scones, fresh out of the oven!

We made a quick stop at the Hill of Many Stanes. (https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/hill-omany-stanes/)

And then we reached John o’Groats.

OK, there isn’t much here but the campground, which we chose simply because it was close to the ferry dock, turned out to be lovely with wonderful views. Denise never tired of gazing out of the window at the sea and the island of Stroma.

Big cities are always a challenge when traveling by camper – driving in a strange city can be hard and, in a city, like Edinburgh, where parking is already difficult for cars, a camper is simply impossible. Thus we carefully picked the Mortonhall Campground in Edinburgh because it is on the number 11 bus route, and the buses run every 10 minutes. (https://www.meadowhead.co.uk/parks/mortonhall/) This is serious transit service!  And we got to know the route quite well, as we used it both days we were there to get to and from the tourist area of Edinburgh. 

Denise had always wanted to visit Holyrood House Palace. (Fred, on the other hand, had never heard of it.) Holyrood House is, to this day, the residence of the Royal Family in Scotland. The place simply drips history and thus the Wikipedia entry is a LONG read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holyrood_Palace , but well worth it. So this was our first goal. Fortunately, we were able to get tickets for the next day. And only the next day, as someone named Charles was coming to visit and would be taking over the whole place! Yes, it is more than just a tourist attraction.

The first day we caught the city bus for the 30 minute ride into town. Once we arrived downtown, we started with a hop on hop off bus with a live guide, which we found so much better than the recorded version. Also a great way to get oriented to the layout of the city. Our first hop off was the palace of Holyrood House.

Fred found the design of the Palace unexpected.  The palace is built with cloisters around a central atrium, a design dating back to the Romans and commonly found in Mediterranean buildings in a much warmer climate.

Photography is prohibited inside the palace but is is most impressive. The place was build along side an existing abbey. The abbey suffered over the years from wars and religious strife and is now in ruins.

We hopped back on the bus to get back to the bus stop for our bus back to the campground. Waiting for the bus, we could admire the architecture. (Yup, a lot of buses)

The second day, we had procured tickets for Edinburgh Castle so we were back on the bus, this time getting off a bit up the hill. After fortifying ourselves with a cappuccino, we set off to climb up to the castle, congratulating ourselves on getting off the bus halfway up. Edinburgh castle, too, has a long and complex history, changing hands many, many times. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Castle) To be fair, there was a Scottish nobleman who switched sides so many times that he was known as “Bobbing John.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Erskine,Earl_of_Mar(1675–1732)) Fans of the band Steeleye Span will know him from the song, “Cam ye or’e frae France?” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cam_Ye_o%27er_frae_France) And, if you are not a Steeleye Span fan, you should be!

So the first thing we found was that the road was closed for repairs, and we would have to climb DOWN a million stairs before we could start up the hill again. (Good thing it was a good coffee!) When we finally reached the top, through the heaving crowds, we were fascinated by the fact that they were already constructing the seating for the Edinburgh Tattoo though apparently there was a popular concert also in the near future. 

A Viking cruise ship anchored nearby gave a us a hint as to where some of the folks were coming from. We had a bit of nostalgia from Viking trips, but we were quite happy not to be in a group with our ear pieces!

“Mons Meg” has a bore of almost 20 inches, making her one of the largest guns ever made. The gun carriage was only used to move the gun; she was actually fired from an earthen embankment. Like trebuchets of a previous era, she was not aimed at the defenders of a castle, rather used as a form of long range battering ram against the walls. Thus the goal was that each stone ball land in almost the same place in order to break down the wall.

We liked the Great Hall and spent some time discussing it and the copy of the Stone of Destiny on display there with one of the docents.  The real one was used in the recent Coronation of King Charles. The stone was originally seized by Edward I, aka “The Hammer of the Scots” or, if you prefer, “Edward Longshanks.” When he took it, it symbolized English domination. When James VI of Scotland became James I of England, the role reversed – you could not be legitimate “unquestioned” king of England unless you sat upon the Scottish stone.

Denise loved the tiny St. Margaret’s Chapel.

Then it was time to start the trudge down the mountain to find our bus.

A great visit.

Bank Holiday weekends finally over, we headed north to revisit Hadrian’s Wall, an area we had visited years previously. The last time we visited it was pouring rain!  This time the weather was much better.  So much so that, once installed in our campsite, at Brockalee Campground, we decided not to waste the sunny afternoon and set off on our bikes to see if we could find the Roman camp at Vinolanda again. 

We could but we chose not to enter the Vidolanda museum, but rather to continue to the Wall itself at Steel Rig.  (https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/places-to-visit/hadrians-wall/steel-rigg/) For anyone who missed it, Hadrian’s Wall, and the lesser known Antoinine Wall, are a fascinating study in Roman governance and political/military/economic policy. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian%27s_Wall)

The views on a sunny day were so much better than they had been in mist and rain. 

The Brockalee Campground is a small site with a superb view over the hills and just up the road from Hadrian’s Wall and Vinolanda.  We certainly would recommend it.  (https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/campsites/uk/northumberland/hexham/brockaleefarmcampsite/) On our way out, we decided to revisit the Roman Army Museum. (https://www.vindolanda.com/roman-army-museum) This is a really well done museum with excellent, detailed presentations and recreations; an essential stop for anyone visiting Hadrian’s Wall. We spent a great hour with a medical doctor who, in costume, did a detailed presentation on Roman medicine and surgery.

Then off to Northumberland. 

Denise had long wanted to visit Linesfarne, the “Holy Isle.” Lidesfarne was a center for early Celtic Christianity and bore the full force of Viking raids. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne) Lindesfarne was where Saint Aidan began his ministry. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_of_Lindisfarne)

Today Lindesfarne is home to fewer than 200 people and accessible only by a causeway at low tide, and not a place where you would want to try to park a large truck. So we booked a boat trip to Lindisfarne from the town of Seahouses.

The day dawned grey and cold and the sea was quite rough. We were glad to have dressed warmly for the sea crossing as there was no shelter on the boat.  The best part of the trip was passing by the Farne Islands which are closed to landing because of the risk of avian flu. Sailing by, we were able to see thousands of nesting birds, kittiwakes, ghilliemoffs, shags, puffins and a gannet or two.  We also saw a number of grey seals.

After about an hour sailing around the islands, we sailed up the coast past Bamburgh castle to Lindesfarne. 

The tide was high in Lindisfarne so tourists could not drive the causeway and thus there were no crowds. We visited the main part of the town, enjoyed lunch in a cafe, and wandered the ruined Priory. 

We spent some time in the (relatively) modern church, which provided a lot of information on the history of Christianity on the island. We then returned to the boat and set off for Seahouses.  The highlight of the return trip was a pod of dolphins playing in the water just off of Bamburgh Castle.  Great fun!  Everyone on board was thrilled.

At Seahouses we were greeted with a parking ticket! Grrr! Took three days for them to finally post it so we could pay. Double GRRRR!

The next day we cycled into the town of Bamburg to visit St. Aidan’s Church and Bamburgh Castle. 

Lunch was a snack pastry and sandwich from a local “Butcher, Baker and Sausage Roll Maker”.  (And it was very good.)

Bamburgh Castle is used, very anachronistically, in the TV series “The Last Kingdom.” Anachronistic not because of location, but because of architecture. The castle you see today is a Victorian fantasy rebuild of a real medieval castle. At the time of “The Last Kingdom,” it would have been a Dark Ages wooden stockade, well within the ability of the Vikings to raid and capture.

We confess to enjoying a scone and cappuccino coffee at the Castle also.  We even cycled back into Bamburgh town the next day to enjoy some ice-cream.

Then it was time to get back on the road to Scotland. On our way to Edinburgh we discovered the Ford and Etal miniature narrow gauge steam railway, so we stopped off for a ride.  (https://www.heatherslawlightrailway.co.uk)

With a gauge of only 15 inches, it was almost like riding a toy train, but it was built to do real work. Quite fun and we enjoyed a lovely lunch in the Lavender Tea Room in Etal. 

The ruined Etal Castle also provided an interesting visit. This was the medieval English equivalent to the Roman mile castles, set up as a defense against the Scottish reivers.

It was an interesting study in a miniature castle, barely larger than a fortified manor house. It could not resist the full Scottish invasion at the time of the Battle of Flooden.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etal_Castle)

So after a pleasant morning, we continued north.

Well sort of!  As we had yet another Bank Holiday long weekend before us, we decided to head towards Liverpool.  We both enjoy Beatles music and would have enjoyed visiting the Cavern Club, especially after watching the Mona Lisa Twins performing there, but were disappointed to learn that the old club was destroyed and the new one is but a replica. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MonaLisa_Twins)

But we still wanted to visit Liverpool as we had once finished a great jigsaw puzzle of the Royal Albert Dock that Denise’s brother had loaned us. So we were thrilled to find a farm campsite that would take us for the four night weekend. Better yet, it was within walking distance of a new railway station with regular trains to Liverpool. N.B. We used to have public transport like this in the US.

The weather was warm and sunny and we set off on the train to discover Liverpool. The trains run every 20-30 minutes and in less than 30 minutes we were downtown. Fans of gritty old post war English cities will be disappointed; many of the central streets are now reserved for pedestrians and sidewalk cafes.

To say Liverpool was busy was an understatement.  In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic, there were displays by all three armed services and hordes and hordes of people. 

There were big queues for everything, including the hop on hop off buses, and all Beatles tours were fully booked, so we changed rock n roll groups and rode the ferry across the Mersey. 

A very pleasant trip with lots to see. Funny thing. We asked for a round trip ticket and were told that you had to get off on the other side and await the next crossing, an hour later. When we said that we didn’t want to do that and started to walk way, he called us back and said, “Just buy a one way ticket.” So we did and discovered that no one made you disembark – you just rode back. 

After lunch, we set out to find the site where the picture on our Albert Dock puzzle was taken.

It took some walking and looking, but we got it in the end – except for the railing on the right of the picture.

And, of course, Denise demanded a ride on the Ferris wheel. We completed the ride with a 99 soft ice cream.

From the top of the Ferris Wheel you can see the brilliance of the Liverpool dock system and its fatal flaw. The enclosed docks protected ships from bad weather and allowed a completely enclosed customs zone. But, sadly, all of the basins and their access locks were too small and by the end of the 19th century, could no longer accommodate the larger ships.

Denise has always wanted to visit Chester, so, after a day on our bikes, we hopped on the train again for the slightly longer journey into Liverpool and then out to Chester. We had one change of trains, that went smoothly (both ways), and walked from the station to the town centre. 

Like many British cities, Chester is an old Roman town. (“Chester” comes from “castra” or fort.)

We admired the old houses and the “Rows.” The Rows appear to be unique to Chester, a second sidewalk, up one flight of stairs, giving access to another row of shops. Many of the rows connect building to building, allowing a parallel sidewalk, one flight up.

We stopped for a coffee and an ice-cream at a wonderful small cafe on the Castle wall. (https://www.instagram.com/huxleys_chester/) If you don’t know it is there, you will never find it at street level.

Inside the cafe was a porthole, installed by a former navy captain who had lived in the cottage in the nineteenth century.  Quite an eccentric, obviously.  Fascinating to think how many people have lived in these old buildings over the years, no, over the centuries.

We also took an afternoon boat ride on the River Dee, which was not as relaxing as we had hoped as there were several unhappy toddlers and an unhappy dog nearby!  Such is life.  But it was a lovely afternoon and the houses along the river were spectacular.  Would that we could afford one.

At that point, we hopped the train and joined the commuters going home.

After a visit to a distant cousin of Denise’s in the lovely Yorkshire town of Wetherby, we headed south to be ready to take the truck to Mansfield to PB Electrics for service on the Webasto Dual Top.  It was misbehaving and we had found a Webasto repair station with a special “Dual Top” certification.

Our next stop was near Bakewell, famous for its tarts. We spent the  weekend at a campground near the charming village of Youlegreave.  The internet was full of horror stories about the road to the campsite, narrow, people parked on both sides, steep, tight curves, a disgrace, should not have a campsite there, and the list went on. We drove it and decided that, for once, the internet had understated the challenge. I really have to admire the people who work their way in (and out) with huge caravans (trailers) pulled by tiny cars!

We rode our bikes back into Youlegreave up the impossible road. Youlgreave is a tiny village, with two pubs and a church and it was heaving with tourists and hordes of cyclists. (Don’t get behind a line of cyclists ordering £60 worth of drinks!) We sat in the sun and enjoyed watching the people – and the bus navigating the narrow street

The Youlgreave church was simply a find, way below the tourist radar. Wonderful commentary and information here: https://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/youlgreave.html Amazing that people study these churches in such detail.

We also found figures representing the Coronation still on display in the village square. 

After finishing our drinks at the local pub we cycled back to the camper.

We then headed into Bakewell for some useful shopping.  And some badness in the form of Bakewell tarts, both the original and the iced!  After pretty much skipping lunch we continued to Rose Cottage, a lovely restaurant in our BritStops book.  They did not think that they were members of BritStops but they let us stay anyway and we enjoyed a roast beet carvery dinner with Yorkshire Puddings.  It was Mother’s Day US style after all!

We found a campsite gem just outside of Mansfield, the Lurcher Farm Cottage.  Surrounded by fields, we found our way to the corner of a large field and settled in.  The owner proved to be exceptionally flexible as we came and went over the course of the next week or so.  Denise enjoyed the public footpaths that went by the campground, and we also had sunny days so managed some laundry.  The heating/hot water repair went smoothly and while waiting for a couple of items to be sorted out in the camper, we took ourselves to Lincoln for the weekend.

En route, we stopped to admire the airplanes at the Newark Air Museum. (http://www.newarkairmuseum.org)

We thoroughly enjoyed Lincoln.  Our campsite, surrounded by fields of horses, was close to a bike route, so we cycled into Lincoln on two consecutive days. 

Once for research and to find out how to lock up the bikes and once to actually see the town. 

Lincoln is an old Roman site (like every place else) founded on a hill overlooking a pool (Brayford Pool) in the River Witham. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln,_England)

In modern times, it is famous as one of the homes of the tank.

We were amazed how steep the cobbled streets were in the old part of the town.  In fact one of the streets is called Steep Street! 

But we made it to the top and thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Cathedral and a brief visit to the Castle.  Our pizza lunch was excellent also! 

Lincoln Cathedral is the opposite of Youlgreave – it is on the main tourist route and well worth it. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Cathedral)

Lincoln had one shop that is unique in our experience. A shop dedicated to selling instruments and other odd items, mostly from airplanes.

Back in Mansfield, we dropped off the camper and headed to Nottingham by train for a day or two. 

Other than the usual Robin Hood associations, we knew nothing of Nottingham. One of he first things we learned is that Nottingham has a huge network of caves, dating back to the Middle Ages, at least. Over the years they were used as storerooms, Luddite meeting places (complete with alarms – pebbles dropped down a vent), tanneries, and, during WWII, bomb shelters. Many caves have been damaged or lost with the construction of building foundations and railway tunnels. We visited the City of Caves. (https://www.nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk/cityofcaves)

Caves explored, it was time for some horrible history – so we visited the sister Museum of Justice. Let’s just say that juristic procedure has improved since past times!

The actual court room wasn’t that different. But there were some interesting details. The defendant did not have representation, you were on your own – a bit of a challenge for the mostly illiterate young men (and a few women) on trial. The odds were stacked against you with everything from upper class judges to the fact that the defendant entered the court by a special stair that led directly from the dark cells below. So you would enter the court blinking in the glare.

Before Victorian times, imprisonment was not a common punishment. You were only held long enough for trial and execution or transportation. Still, the cells were bad enough and you had to wait for a magistrate to be available.

While you awaited your fate, you did get to go to the exercise yard where you could spend time carving your details into the wall.

Soon enough, it might be your turn to “dance on air.” In the yard, if you were ordinary, or out on the front steps (see image above) if you were special. Executions were nowhere near as common as you might think, and thus the drew a crowd. And, it is recorded, pickpockets. One crowd was so large and unruly that some twenty people were killed. (!!)

We also took the bus to Roddington to the Framework Knitters Museum.  Knitting in wool and then cotton on these framework machines, developed in 1587, was a cottage industry and the whole history was quite amazing.  We toured a couple of cottages and watched a demonstration on one of the machines.

Imagine the racket of twenty of the machines jammed into a tiny space. Hearing loss was common among the men (no women) who were knitters. Individual knitters rented their machines and were paid piecework.

We spent the Coronation in what is perhaps the most beautiful campground we have ever visited – looked like a country club! (https://www.thornbrookbarn.co.uk) Everything you could ever want, save a laundromat! But that is coming.

We had a nice walk into the village of Ingleton, admiring the country road signs, new and old and visiting the local pub. Sadly, they were not doing anything for the Coronation.

Since nothing was happening at the pub, Fred walked to an amazing, eclectic farm/country store for a bottle of bubbly and we sat down to enjoy the pageant.(https://www.country-harvest.co.uk) And we went back for more goodies before leaving. They have a pork pie, topped with turkey and stuffing, that is amazing!

OK, historians gotta comment. It is amazing how almost every element of the ceremony had, at least at one time, a very serious, life or death meaning. Some examples:

— Charles is always referred to at the “unquestioned” monarch.

— The Stone of Destiny was brought back from Scotland so that he could sit on it.

— His son, William, the Prince of Wales, pledged personal fealty. The rest of the nobles did it by acclamation, but in the old days they would have done it each and every one, personally.

Today, it can all seem anachronistic, or merely a show for the tourists, but over the years, bloody wars were fought over these very details.

We moved on to a town named “Settle” which turned out to be a lovely market town with an excellent Booths supermarket. We camped in a field belonging to farmer Jack, who was busy lambing and calving but happy to welcome campers!  The weather continued to be pretty miserable with lots of rainstorms and lots of cloudy days.  It took ages to dry our towels each day.  Fortunately, the Webasto continues to work at least in the morning for an hour or so, so the camper warms up and we can shower.  

We visited Atkinson Vos as planned and they reviewed the truck.  (https://www.unimogs.co.uk) They were able to fix the radiator hose that was in bad shape on the spot, but we await the full pricing and projected work from them and a future date for completion.

Dinner that night was at the Golden Lion in Settle.

Settle has an interesting war memorial. Pretty standard, until you look at the World War II side and find the names of to US aviators lost in the area. A reminder that the weather was just as bad back then as it is today. (http://settlelibrary.org.uk/talks-two-us-airmen/)

See also: https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/dales/ag509.html and https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/dales/bx195.html

Our next stop was Skipton as we were desperate to find a laundromat. (Language lesson: they are called launderettes.) After an online search, it turned out to be a machine out in the open in the parking lot, attached to a Morrissons supermarket, but it worked and given the inclement weather it made laundry easier than draping half dry clothes around the camper!  Clean clothes in hand, we retired to the Town End Farm Shop for tea and, as they are part of BritStops, the night. (https://townendfarmshop.co.uk/town-end-tea-room/)

Returning to Skipton we visited the Castle, an amended Norman motte and bailey.  Rebuilt in the 1300’s with four meter thick walls and a sloping skirt or sloped wall, the source of the word outskirts, it was a serious military position, largely aimed at preventing raids by the Scots.

Skipton was never taken by the Scots, but it fell to Cromwell in 1645, after a three year (!!) siege during the Civil War. It had ample water, but the parliamentary artillery could fire down from a higher position and, most important of all, there was no relief coming from Royalist forces. The keep walls were too thick to be slighted, so the roof was removed. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipton_Castle)

Now we come to the most interesting part of the story. In 1590, Anne Clifford was born in Skipton Castle. Her life story is simply amazing and she actually did some of the things so beloved by modern writers of anachronistic historical romances. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Anne_Clifford) Most importantly, for us, at least, she restored her family home after the siege and thus assured that there would be a Skipton Castle for us to visit.

The inner courtyard has a tree planted in 1659 by Lady Anne Clifford which is still healthy and thriving.

And today, Skipton Castle is owned by the Fattorini family, and that, too, is a history to be savored! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Fattorini_Ltd)

We loved the pastures, full of sheep, in both the Derbyshire Peaks and Yorkshire Dales.  The views have been magnificent!  The stone walls dividing the pastures could have been in place, repaired, for hundreds of years.  Less fun are the narrow country lanes but we manage as long as there is a chance of passing the cars or buses one meets!