Page 2 of 15

Pubs, Walks and Waterfalls

We took a weekend van tour in Yorkshire and turned it into an unexpected four-nighter dictated by the weather back home. With iffy weather and no real plan, we seemed oddly attracted to pubs and waterfalls; an unlikely combination but one that worked well. There was a little bit of walking in between, passing a waterfall or two, on route to the pub, usually! The final tally was six pubs, all featuring here, and definitely more than six waterfalls. Special mention should go to railway themed Ribblehead with its viaduct and its Station Inn, both excelling in what they do. The weather was bleak up there, but wow, what a place.
5th October 2025, 35 photos

The Hill House

We visited Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece in Helensburgh and unexpectedly felt parallels with its story of commissioning a renowned architect and great personal friend to design a domestic house. Sadly though, desperate attempts are now having to be made to save the building from a complete deterioration due to the fatal mistake in Mackintosh’s choice of external render. Unlike our architect his genius was flawed!!
22nd September 2025, 15 photos

The Wee Hebrides

We pointed the van at the west coast for a short break, the length of which was uncertain for reasons I'll not bore the reader with. The weather forecast was a bit uncertain too, though that all turned out pretty well in the end. We visited the small islands of Kererra, Seil and Luing, as well as exploring around Crinan and down the long peninsula to Tayvallich and Carsaig. All camp spots were off-grid and all, even including the last one near Helensburgh, were superb. Along the way we took in the heritage museum at Kilmartin and the outstanding Mackintosh Hill House at Helensburgh - see separate blog for that: graemeritchie.com/The-Hill-House
19th September 2025, 34 photos

City Centre Campervanning

Making the most of the van and the city to have a wander and a bite to eat while searching for Murphies, all the while being perfectly positioned for hospital visiting in the morning.
16th September 2025, 17 photos

Partially Sunny Dunny

A wander from East Links to Dunbar Harbour and back, unexpectedly bumping into Bob Street and his dog, with a good drenching just before we got back to the van.
11th September 2025, 5 photos

New Town Wander

Second time out and about with the X100V. No decent light this time though, so harder work.
7th September 2025, 8 photos

Edinburgh With The X100V

First time out with the Fujifilm.
31st August 2025, 18 photos

Edinburgh Street Disaster

Abruptly ended with a catastrophic "dad moment".
27th August 2025, 11 photos

Hotel Califonia (Near Falkirk)

We took a fun "24 hour holiday" to Peebles, not Falkirk, to see Hotel Califonia - an Eagles-esque band that we'd seen before in Haddington and been unexpectedly impressed by.
We parked the van and took a walk along the Tweed a bit and up a little hill overlooking the town, leaving time for a beer and a bar supper before the show. They band were decent enough, given the middle-of-the-road tunes they have to work with, but it was a little disappointing that the presence of a new vocalist meant standout man, Al King, did a bit less of the singing this time - we were really only there for him.
Another reason for going though, was to see the Eastgate Theatre - Richard's church conversion, now over 20 years old. We'd never made it upstairs past the cafe on previous visits. Just before the show we bumped into flying student Mike Davidson. I'll whisper it to Richard, but he got the one seat in the house with the restricted view. Oops. The theatre was lovely though.
After a blether with Mike, we stealth camped in the town centre, and early next morning wandered past the theatre again to take a few more photos on the way for a catchup with flying friends and Peebles residents Pawel and Kasia.
24th August 2025, 14 photos

Another Doors Open Day

One of the many warm, sunny days in the summer of 2025.
12th August 2025, 14 photos

There was a lot of rocking going on that night

Cruising time for the young bright lights (of Gullane?). A great night out last night at Fringe By The Sea to see the Boomtown Rats and wow! - what a performer and showman Bob Geldof still is, 50 years on from when they started playing this stuff. They opened and closed with my first single as a twelve year old - Rat Trap - and the standard never dropped. It was fun also to meet Andrew and Rosie, by chance, again, as per last year at The Stranglers.
7th August 2025, 17 photos

Campervanning The Alps

We took our first foreign jaunt in the campervan looking for great walking in the Alps together with a good, old-fashioned road-trip. The journey delivered both, taking in France, Switzerland and Italy. Despite our adage of "always follow the weather", we inadvertently ran into an extreme hot weather system building in central Europe. Our van is well equipped for dealing with cold weather but, like most campervans, is not well suited to excessive night time heat. This meant that rather than focusing on off-grid overnights as we'd intended to do, we were inclined to seek out campsites with swimming pools whenever possible in order to cool down. Heat aside, the weather was wonderful from start to finish and the campsites we did use were all fantastic and very reasonably priced and we loved the late afternoon and early morning swims.
16th June 2025, 106 photos

The Southern Outer Hebrides

We’d always wanted to visit the Outer Hebrides and a campervan is the best way to do it. With a few days booked off coinciding with an exceptional weather forecast, in a place not known for long spells of fine weather, it felt like the chance of a lifetime. And so it proved. We sailed from Oban to Barra and toured Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist, wandering to the highest points on most. We’d hoped to return home via North Uist and Skye but Calmac ferry problems meant our only possible route home was back again via Barra to Oban. There are worse places to retrace your steps though. We were lucky enough to enjoy unbroken sunny days throughout in the lands of big beaches and even bigger sunsets. We camped, off-grid, in different locations each night, each one seemingly more spectacular than the last.
18th May 2025, 74 photos

Absent Friends

A somewhat melancholy club flyout to Gigha and for some, Mull, taking advantage of the exceptional weather conditions. We were travelling very light this time so no camera (regretfully) but here are a handful of mobile phone snaps.
17th May 2025, 6 photos

Morrone, Lochnagar and Craigendarroch

A final two night tester trip before we attempt a proper holiday in the van.
11th May 2025, 28 photos

Gigha I Think

I think this was a day trip to Gigha though half it passed me by in a bit of a blur due to a minor family drama (eventually averted).
29th April 2025, 13 photos

Page 2 of 15