Leaving Betty was sad. She is 95 and fed up with old age . She rants against a medical system that is set on keeping people alive when they have to be dependent on others for so much. However she enjoyed having us to stay and sharing memories.

Drove most of the way north to Glasgow until we joined another motorway east to Edinburgh.

Pat and I went to Hadrians wall for a day out. We stopped to see a craft exhibition in a village church and I wondered how many people came to such a well hidden place. There were signs to a priory so we turned off the road again, this time to an English Heritage Trust historic building. It dated back to the 7th century! And . The arched ceilingssurvived until Henry V111 declared himself the Head of the church

. They were masters of stonework, awesome to think it has lasted so long, the arched ceilings are intact. I felt the atmosphere of peace and meditation in these ruins.

Hadrians wall is mostly a lot shorter than when it was built. Farmers over the years took the bricks and made their own walls. They are enormous chunks of stone , those soldiers were very fit. And engineered perfectly over the hills and valleys. Kind of like the Great Wall of China but on a smaller scale. Makes you wonder if our modern buildings will lastAs long, I suspect not.

Spent Monday morning in bed eating breakfast and watching the Queen’s funeral, feeling quite English and nostalgic.

Then drove to Edinburgh area to visit my aunt and uncle. Our booking was in a fairly grim street in Buckhaven but the room and ensuite were fine.

Got a bit disoriented again, the gps didn’t recognise their address, along several narrow country lanes.

Shelagh is also struggling with arthritis but we had a great chat. Freddie has dementia now and had gone to bed for a nap. My cousin Nick lives with them which enables them to stay there. Forgot to take photos.

Tuesday Awful noise outside just after 7, roadworks setting up.Left quickly, forgot to tell Shelagh and she rang when we were nearly at the Forth road bridge. GPS took us halfway back to Glasgow before we realised. We had punched in York. We had a long enjoyable drive through the Dales, James Herriot country . York was busy with tourists.

The cathedral, called a Minster, towers over the old streets, some from Shakespeares’s time. We spent hours in there and wandered along streets lined with black and white buildings, their upstairs leaning over the street like awnings, nearly touching the other side.

Reached York after roundabout journey over the dales.