Filed under: Art, Connections, General Musings, Wales | Tags: Archaeology, art, blogging, book art, bookbinding, Glowforge, Helen Geake, Ireland, Jeremy England, jim downey, laser, Patreon, Phil Harding, Scotland, St. Cybi's Well, Tim Taylor, Time Team, Wales
My wife and I have been big fans of the UK TV show “Time Team” for a long time, and a couple of years ago when producer Tim Taylor decided to try and revive the series using a Patreon model, we were happy to sign on and tell a number of our friends about it. Unsurprisingly, we discovered that the series was also popular in our friends group, especially those who share our interest in English/Welsh/Scottish/Irish history.
Well, about a year ago, one of our friends entered a competition hosted by Time Team about the series, and, well, I’ll let her tell the rest:
Maybe you remember back in October, Time Team asked people to tell them “What are you most excited about Time Team returning, and why?” Like many people I fangirled a bit to show my appreciation, then forgot about it.
So I was very surprised when Time Team contacted me around Thanksgiving to tell me they liked my comment so much they are sending a gift. I asked if they would send it to the friends who had introduced me to Time Team, and given Customs and all they thought it would be less confusing if it came to me.
And she sent it to us: Custom Time Team Trowel #400.
Well, we were thrilled. It’s really cool to hold that thing in your hand, feel a connection to the show we loved.
But we decided that after we’d kept it for a time, that it would be best to share it. To pass it on to someone else who shared our love for the show. For it to become a ‘traveling trophy’.
I spent some time thinking about it over this past busy (and eventful) year, and finally decided to make a simple journal for recipients of the “Traveling Trowel” to record some thoughts and dreams inspired by the show. And of course, there needed to be a box to hold the trowel and journal. I wanted everything to feel informal, yet professional. Sorta like Time Team.
This was the result:
In order to set the stage for the journal, I asked my wife to write the following introduction:
This trowel is magical.
Take it in your hand. Feel the weight of it. The balance. How it fits into your palm. How your thumb and fingers curl around it.
Then close your eyes. Let your mind roam. To somewhere you love, even if you’ve never been there in person. Picture the place. Then channel your inner Phil Harding. Or Helen Geake. Or whichever member of the Time Team, past or present, comes to mind. See yourself exploring the past of the site you’ve chosen, trowel in hand.
Then, if you’re willing, share here where you’ve been. Where the Traveling Trowel has taken you.
And, as a record documenting the history of the Trowel, I mounted my friend’s letter next, followed by my own entry. For that entry I naturally pictured St Cybi’s Well …
Ffynnon Gybi
There, in the valley below the hamlet of Llangybi on the Llŷn Peninsula, the old stone structures beckon. But behind them, the Holy Well itself springs forth.
It is here that the trowel leads me. Without disturbing the ground, I can visualize scraping away the upper layers of dirt. Removing the modern soil. Down past the traces of the 18th and 19th century structures that now dominate the site. Deeper, to the remaining imprint of the medieval surface where pilgrims knelt beside the water, seeking healing for body and soul.
Then deeper still, seeking the foundations of myth of the man who would become Saint Cybi. Perhaps his simple hovel where he meditated, seeking a connection with his God. Perhaps some small artifact which has survived the centuries, uncovered, pristine in my mind’s eye, a holy relic …
The Traveling Trowel will move on. I hope that each recipient will add their own bit to the lore of it. But I also hope that each recipient will give the next person some small memento related to their time with it. Here’s what I made for my friend, us, and the person that I have passed it on to:
Thanks for visiting. And if you haven’t yet, check out the Time Team Patreon page.
Jim Downey
Just a note: none of this is for sale. And yes, I took some minor liberties with the official Time Team design to better fit my personal aesthetic and the capabilities of my laser. No criticism of the original design is intended.
Filed under: Scotland, Travel | Tags: A380, Arthur's Seat, blogging, Calton Hill, Dugald Stewart Monument, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle, jim downey, L118 Light Gun, Mons Meg, Royal Mile, Scotland, travel
Being a photo-heavy travelog of our 2018 trip to Scotland.
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Sunday, May 13.
We had a nice breakfast in the hotel, then packed up and cleared out. In a downpour. Which continued most of the drive south to Edinburgh. But our good weather-fu held out, and by the time we got to the airport to drop off the rental, it was a beautiful day. We got a taxi from the airport to our B&B back downtown, where we dropped off the bags and then went out for a walk.
It was still early in the day, so we decided to walk over to the Royal Mile and then up to Edinburgh Castle. The Castle is brilliantly sited, of course, and it’s easy to understand why it has played such an important role in Scottish history. The Wikipedia article covers the history of the castle pretty well, and there are plenty of images available online, but here are some I took.
Esplanade leading to the castle entrance.
Cannon on the Argyle Battery.
The current “One O’clock Gun”, a L118 Light Gun.
Cannon on the Forewall Battery.
One end of the Great Hall.
The other end of the Great Hall.
Little mortar in the Great Hall. There were a number of these on the floor around the walls. I could see having fun with them loaded lightly charged and shooting softballs.
These guys were dressed for the dance.
Spin the Wheel of Misfortune!
Go on, take a chance!
Axe me no questions.
My kind of party!
My, such big balls.
Which go with this monster.
Mons Meg. Seriously big gun.
William Wallace window in St Margaret’s Chapel, installed in 1922.
St Margaret of Scotland window.
St Columba window.
Inside the prison exhibition.
A very special cemetery on the grounds.
Explanation.
We finished up at the Castle, then strolled back down the Royal Mile, stopping off at a big Burger joint where I had this monstrosity:
Mac Attack: Aberdeen Angus beef patty, Scottish cheddar cheese , mac n cheese fritter, Virginia sweet cured bacon, lettuce & beer mustard. Served on a white glazed bun.
Yeah, all that stuff is on the burger. The ‘mac n cheese fritter’ was about the size of two decks of playing cards stacked together, breaded and fried crisp, sitting on top of the burger patty. It was almost impossible to bite into the whole thing. But it was pretty damned tasty.
We took our time getting back to the B&B, just exploring the town along the way. After resting a bit, we went back out to explore some more, over around the Edinburgh Playhouse. That evening we popped into a quirky little place just around the corner from our B&B for a little light dinner. We crashed early.
Monday, May 14.
We had train tickets back to Manchester shortly after noon. But that gave us plenty of time to check out one more part of Edinburgh we had wanted to see: Calton Hill.
I only took a few pics while we were there, though we did very much enjoy both the walk and the views from the top. Here are a couple to give you an idea:
Looking across to Arthur’s Seat.
Looking past the Dugald Stewart Monument towards Edinburgh Castle.
After our stroll on Calton Hill, we got back to the B&B in time for our ride to the train station and the five-hour trip to Manchester. It was pleasant to roll through the Scottish then English countryside, snacking on goodies we’d brought. We’d booked a room at a hotel next to the Manchester airport, and had a nice dinner there that evening. The flights back home (Manchester to London, London to Chicago, Chicago to Columbia) the next day were all fairly uninteresting, except we did take a new A380 for the transatlantic leg of the trip. That thing’s a monster, and it felt less like being on a jet and more like being on a large ocean cruise-liner. It was a long day (about 22 hours) of travel, but we’ve had worse, and it was good to be home.
Since then, people have asked me if I enjoyed Scotland, and wanted to go back. Unequivocally, yes, I did enjoy it. And I could certainly see returning, but it would have to be for a specific reason (to attend the Edinburgh Festival, say, or something like that). While we only got to see a small portion of the country, I feel like it was a good sampling, and now ‘that itch has been scratched.’
Jim Downey
Filed under: Nuclear weapons, Scotland, Travel, Wales | Tags: Aberdeen, blogging, Corgarff Castle, Culsh Earth House, Doune Castle, Dunvegan Castle, Eilean Donan Castle, Glenbuchat castle, jim downey, Kildrummy Castle, nuclear weapons, Scotland, Stirling Castle, Tomnaverie Stone Circle, travel, Urquhart Castle, Wikipedia
Being a photo-heavy travelog of our 2018 trip to Scotland.
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Saturday, May 12.
We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and considered our options for the day. Aberdeen and the surrounding area has a lot to offer — our preliminary list had about a dozen possibilities on it, and we had identified at least that many more in looking through “Vistor’s Guides” and such there in the hotel.
In the end we decided that we really wanted to see more of the Highlands, and figured that driving up into the Cairngorms was the best way to do that. It was probably the best decision that we made on the entire trip.
Why do I say that? Well, read on …
The Cairngorm Mountains are just incredibly beautiful on their own. Seriously, like the inter-mountain range of the Rockies in Colorado, though of course they’re not as tall.
And Martha had seen something promising on one of her research forays: Kildrummy Castle.
I admit, I was somewhat unimpressed with the number and quality of medieval castles in Scotland. That’s because for the most part, castles were repeatedly upgraded and renovated … or they were allowed to disappear completely. So you get those magnificent structures like Stirling, Dunvegan, and Edinburgh, or private fortresses such as Eilean Donan and Doune, all of which saw significant rebuilding and modernization through their history. But places like Urquhart and Old Inverlochy are pretty rare in Scotland, whereas in Wales they’re seemingly around every river bend.
But Kildrummy Castle is a magnificent ruin, substantial in structure and easy to understand in terms of layout and architecture. It would have been a formidable stronghold, and played an important part in Scottish history. We stopped in at the ticketing office, and had a chat with the caretaker — who was both enthusiastic about the castle, and a little surprised to find a couple of American tourists stopping in to check out the place. Then we walked up the path to the castle, which I hadn’t seen at all while driving.
But this is what we saw:
Promising …
Up the hill and across the dry moat.
Across the drawbridge, left …
… and right.
Elphinstone Tower.
Great Hall and Warden Tower.
Chapel.
Exterior of the Chapel and Warden Tower.
Martha in the inner ward.
More of the inner ward.
I want to note that we were the only people there, the entire hour or so we spent exploring the castle. On a beautiful Saturday, in the largest National Park in the U.K.
And this, I think, is important, and in itself changed the way I thought about the entire trip. Scotland has done a fair amount of work to promote tourism, and there were places we visited which were crowded with tourists from all over the world. But just a little work to get off the beaten path always took us away from the madness, into a part of the country which was just as beautiful, just as full of history, and a whole lot more enjoyable (at least for this introvert).
We stopped back by the ticketing office. I thanked the caretaker, and told him that I thought that Kildrummy was one of the best medieval ruins I had seen anywhere, in Scotland, Wales, the UK, or on the continent. I’m sure it made his day. Visiting Kildrummy made mine.
Spirits high, we headed further into the mountains. First we stopped at Glenbuchat castle, a nearby fortified home dating to the 16th century. It was well-sited, but closed for renovations. Then we went to Corgarff Castle, a medieval tower which had been expanded in the 18th century, but didn’t hold our interest. We had a nice lunch at a little cafe, then proceeded south across the moors on the Old Military Road:
Stairway to heaven.
We took the A93 back towards Aberdeen for a while, but then went north again towards the small village of Tarland, but stopped at the Tomnaverie Stone Circle. From another website about the circle:
The restored circle is a truly beautiful site to visit, the circle is now neatly grassed over, the quarried area to the south has been filled, and there is a small car parking space available below the hill. The raised location allows for panoramic views in all directions, and there is also an information plaque which gives details of the circle and its history. Those with an interest in prehistory or megalithic monuments will need no coaxing to visit Tomnaverie, and for the casual visitor it is wonderful place for a stroll or a picnic.
See for yourself:
Oh, say can you see?
One unusual feature of the Tomnaverie Stone Circle is noted on the information board:
Which is here:
The small structure just right of center is the bunker entrance.
Strange juxtaposition.
We decided to make one last stop before heading back to Aberdeen, which was just a short way away: Culsh Earth House. Description from that site:
Earth houses, or souterrains, can seem mysterious structures: stone-lined tunnels dug into the earth, usually leading to a dead end and with no obvious purpose. The reality is actually fairly mundane, and it seems that earth houses were simply built as underground storage for agricultural produce.
Culsh Earth House probably dates back to some time before AD100. At the time a timber roundhouse farmstead would have stood nearby, perhaps a direct predecessor of the farm which stands immediately to the south today. The entrance to the earth house might have been inside the roundhouse to next to it, and the earth house itself would probably have been used for the storage of grain or other produce.
Here ya go:
Wonder where that goes?
Cool!
Looking back.
Reemergence.
The rest of the drive to the hotel was uneventful. We had a nice dinner in the pub, and crashed relatively early.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Scotland, Travel | Tags: blogging, Calgary, Clan MacLeod, Dunvegan Castle, Faerie Pools, Fairy Flag, Isle of Skye, jim downey, Mallaige, Scotland, travel, Wikipedia
Being a photo-heavy travelog of our 2018 trip to Scotland.
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Tuesday, May 8.
A driving day. Just as we loaded our bags into the car, rain started falling. It persisted for most of the next 3.5 hours as we drove NE to Invergarry, then NW to the Isle of Skye. Because of the geography of Scotland, this sort of back & forth to get somewhere is typical, and you quickly learn to just enjoy the scenery or it’ll drive you nuts. This probably explains a lot about the Scots and Scottish history, now that I think about it.
Anyway, yeah, it rained while we drove. And I discovered something about our rental car (a new Vauxhall Astra): it had a ‘rain sensor’ setting on the windshield wipers. Yeah, it would vary the speed of the wipers depending on how much rain you had on the windshield. Handy, for driving in the UK, I imagine.
The rain started breaking up when we got to Skye, and wow, is that island beautiful in its stark emptiness:
We crossed the island to the west coast to Dunvegan Castle. While the current appearance of the castle is largely due to Victorian-era renovations, parts of the castle itself date back to the early 1200s.
It is home to the Chief of Clan MacLeod. It’s been the home of the Chief of Clan MacLeod for over 800 years. And the history inside the castle shows it. Here are a few glimpses:
Martha thinking: “… hmm … yeah, I could live here.”
Trinkets!
Weapons!
The Faerie Flag!
And a whole lot more. Seriously, spend some time poking around their website, or peruse the Wikipedia entry.
After a light lunch in the castle cafe, we thought we’d see if we could find the Faerie Pools. Getting there wasn’t a problem, though the last section of road (about 5 miles) is one-way, with passing areas. But it was a popular enough that parking was a bit of a nightmare, easily 5x the number of cars parked along the narrow road as were in the small designated parking area. But we lucked out, and got a spot in the gravel lot.
While the rain had passed, there was a stiff cold breeze blasting across the landscape. We dressed appropriately and set out. It was about a mile to the first pool, and we kept going for about another half mile to see some of the higher pools. Just an incredible landscape and a lovely walk:
After the walk back, we climbed into the car and drove to our B&B in Ardvasar on the SE corner of the island, just across the bay from the fishing village of Mallaig. We had a very yummy dinner at the hotel restaurant just down the road.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Harry Potter, Scotland, Travel | Tags: blogging, Fort William, Glenfinnan viaduct, Harry Potter, Hogwarts Express, jim downey, Mallaig, movies, Neptune's Staircase, Old Inverlochy Castle, Scotland, The Jacobite, travel, video, Wales, Wikipedia
Being a photo-heavy travelog of our 2018 trip to Scotland.
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Monday, May 7.
We had a lovely early breakfast at the B&B, then popped down to the railway station. We were early because we wanted to queue up for non-reserved tickets for The Jacobite, a steam train that runs out to the coast and then up to the charming little fishing village of Mallaig. But in another reality, the train is known as the Hogwarts Express, and yes, it does cross over the wonderful curving Glenfinnan viaduct:
We were lucky, and got tickets. They even had a Harry Potter giftshop on the train. And served HP-themed snacks from the food trolley. Seriously.
Mallaig was a small, but pleasant place. The weather this day was cold and wet, so first thing we opted for was a hot lunch at The Fishmarket Restaurant, then we walked about a bit looking at the town and harbor before it was time to head back to Fort William.
It was a pleasant two-hour ride up, and then back, with wonderful views all along the route. I could have done without the idiots who had their windows open while the train went through a couple of tunnels, which brought in loads of coal smoke into our car and liked to asphyxiate us all, but otherwise it was a delight.
It was still early in the day when we got back to Fort William, so we decided to jump in the car and do some more exploring. As it turned out, there was a very nice castle ruin there: Old Inverlochy Castle.
These are the kinds of ruins you can find all over Wales. But they were relatively rare in Scotland. Because it seems that through Scottish history, there had been a tendency to keep rebuilding and updating castles and other strongholds at least well into the 1600s, subsuming the earlier structures into the new in whole or part.
From the castle we went to look over Neptune’s Staircase:
This does it much better justice:
Driving back from the Locks, we passed a Marks & Spencer, and stopped in to pick up some salads and nibbles for dinner — while the food we’d had all along the trip so far was generally quite good, both Martha and I were feeling like we really had to make an extra effort to get as much fresh fruit and veg as we were used to.
Jim Downey
Filed under: movies, Scotland, Travel, Wales | Tags: Ben Nevis, blogging, Caernarfon, Conwy, Doune Castle, Fort William, Game of Thrones, Holy Grail, jim downey, Monty Python, movies, Outlander, Scotland, Stirling Castle, travel, Trossachs National Park, Wales, whisky, Wikipedia
Being a photo-heavy travelog of our 2018 trip to Scotland.
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Sunday, May 6th.
We had a lovely breakfast at the B&B, and for the first time I had real, actual, haggis … and discovered that I quite liked it. It was our host’s own home-made, and the slice I had with breakfast was buttery, crunchy, full of flavor. Yum. The haggis I had a couple of additional times during the trip was similar, and likewise quite tasty.
Following that, we packed up, then went up to Stirling Castle, just up the hill. Stirling is a very substantial royal castle, on the order of such Edward I castles in Wales as Caernarfon or Conwy. But as with a number of additional castles in Scotland, Stirling had been renovated and updated repeatedly after the medieval period, serving different functions both personal and military up until almost the current time.
The Great Battery.
Nothing quite like commanding the heights.
The Great Hall.
Hmm … feels oddly familiar …
Royal Chambers.
King’s and Queen’s Knots, seen from the walls of the castle.
It was good that we were able to get there first thing, because by the time we had enjoyed our tour of the castle, the crowds were starting to get thick. We headed off on our way.
To Doune Castle. Doesn’t sound familiar? Maybe this will help:
I love that they sell coconut halves there.
Yeah, Doune was used for multiple different ‘castles’ in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As Wikipedia outlines:
- At the start of the film, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and Patsy (Terry Gilliam) approach the east wall of Doune Castle and argue with soldiers of the garrison.
- The song and dance routine “Knights of the Round Table” at “Camelot” was filmed in the Great Hall.
- The servery and kitchen appear as “Castle Anthrax”, where Sir Galahad the Chaste (Michael Palin) is chased by seductive girls.
- The wedding disrupted by Sir Lancelot (John Cleese) was filmed in the courtyard and Great Hall.
- The Duchess’ hall was used for filming the Swamp Castle scene where the prince is being held in a tower by very dumb guards.
- The Trojan Rabbit scene was filmed in the entryway and into the courtyard.
As well as also having served in other films and television shows, including Game of Thrones and Outlander.
Recognize any of these shots from the castle?
Sir Galahad almost slept here.
“You must spank her well, and after you are done with her, you may deal with her as you like… and then… spank me.”
We’re knights of the Round Table, we dance whene’er we’re able. We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impec-cable.
In his own particular idiom.
And some other pics:
From Doune we headed northwest through Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis. Driving through the beautiful Trossachs was wonderful, and reminded me very much of the area around Snowdon in Wales or parts of the American West in the Northern Rockies.
We had a very substantial lunch at a nice pub along the way, so weren’t very hungry that evening. We popped into a grocery store and got some snacks and cold cuts to make a light dinner. I was amused by the selection of decent scotches (at absurdly low prices) there in the little store:
Mmmmmmmmm …
Jim Downey
Filed under: Harry Potter, Scotland | Tags: blogging, Clifford's Tower, Diagon Alley, Holy Trinity Church Goodramgate, jim downey, Jorvik Viking Center, photography, Scotland, The Shambles, travel, Wikipedia, York
Being a photo-heavy travelog of our 2018 trip to Scotland.
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Tuesday, May 1.
Travel day for me. Martha had gone over to Wales on April 19th, for a Welsh language ‘bootcamp’. We were to meet in Manchester. My flights were mostly uneventful. Do you really want to see photos from the inside of the plane? I didn’t think so.
Wednesday, May 2.
Martha met me at the Manchester airport, and we caught a train to York. Why York? Well, neither of us had been that far north in the UK, and it was on the way to Edinburgh, so we decided to stop and check it out.
It was a pleasant two-hour ride through the countryside, and sure beat our usual habit of jumping into a car and trying to drive on the wrong side of the road while fighting jet lag. We got to York on schedule, took a taxi from the train station to our hotel across the street from this:
Yup, that’s Clifford’s Tower.
We checked in, dropped off our bags, then went to see the Tower. Which, of course, was already closed for the day.
So we decided to wander a bit around the neighborhood, noting the nearby Jorvik Viking Center and some other places to check out the next day. Had dinner in the Blue Boar, a local pub. Good pub grub. Crashed early.
Thursday, May 3.
We had early tickets for the Jorvik Viking Center, and went through that first thing. I knew a fair amount about the Center, and had heard from friends how much they had enjoyed it. It’s certainly a worthwhile attraction, and something you should check out if you’re in York, but I admit to being a little underwhelmed with the “ride” through the recreated town. The exhibits and artifacts, however, were excellent.
After the Center, we popped back around the corner to see Clifford’s Tower:
Our hotel from the tower courtyard.
From the top looking to the Minster.
Then we went a couple blocks over to the Merchant’s Adventure Hall, a 650+ year old guild hall which is still very much in use. This was a fantastic stop, and one I heartily recommend:
Hall exterior.
Undercroft.
The Great Hall. Note the decided slope to the floor.
Other half of the hall. Again, note the way everything slopes to the center
I love the mechanism detail for this strongbox.
We had a nice lunch at The Three Tuns, an 18th century pub, then made our way over to The Shambles.
The Shambles.
More Shambles.
I had forgotten that The Shambles was the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter world, but as soon as you turn the corner you remember it:
I love this photo of Martha.
But even pushing through the forest of selfie-sticks, it’s a cool place to visit.
From The Shambles we went up to York Minster.
Which was, yes, big, glorious, and imposing … but which kinda just left me feeling overwhelmed and yet strangely underwhelmed again. I think I’ve seen too many of the great cathedrals of the world.
However, almost within the shadow of the Minster was this absolutely wonderful little 12th century Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate:
Hidden away …
… yet so much character inside.
I love the individual family boxes.
After, a stroll along the extensive York City Walls seemed to be just the thing:
Deep history.
After a brief stop at the hotel to freshen up a bit, we had a nice dinner just down the street at The Olive Tree. Then it was back to the room to crash.
Jim Downey
Tomorrow: Eddy’s Borough!
Communion Of Dreams 