So I decided to spend my train and bus journey home messing around with InShot and making a video of the Scotland part of my recent trip to share with my lovely group of visitors from Germany.
Not perfect, but I'm gradually learning!!
A few thank yous:
- to driver Michael, a true profi, who negotiated all the narrow roads so competently and was a pleasure to work with.
- to my colleague Laura Rhodes, for all your helpful advice on all things Scottish, from suggesting a tour route through Edinburgh to advising on the best coach-accessible photostop for the Forth Bridges.
- to the bagpiper at Gretna Green, who made a member of my group very happy by playing 'The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond' for him ☺️.
#TourManagerTess
#ScotlandTour
#CTSInfoReise
#BröskampTouristik
I thought 92134 looked familiar, with her "elephant ear" smoke deflectors ....
She was transformed into a German locomotive hauling 12 specially-painted North Yorkshire Moors Railway carriages for her role in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" released last summer, and filmed in part in the beautiful North York Moors.
She's called a Standard 9F, was built in Crewe in May 1957, and was one of the most powerful locomotives to run in Britain, having been designed to haul fast, heavy freight trains.
But it was just five years ago this month that fresh life was breathed into her, when a fire was lit in her firebox for the first time for 53 years! She's now a regular on the NYMR, and my Swiss guests last week really enjoyed their journey from Grosmont to Pickering hauled by this trusty old workhorse.
#AgeOfSteam #ElephantEars #SmokeDeflectors #SmokeGetsInMyEyes #Train
#92134 #Standard9F #SteamTrain
#NorthYorkshireMoorsRailway
#NorthYorkMoors
#IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny
#DeutscheLok
#FilmingLocation
#YorkshireScenery
@northyorkshiremoorsrailway
@northyorkmoors
@yorkshiresbestguides
@britainsbestguides
This is certainly a summer where we have to make the most of every opportunity to spend time in the sunshine!!
We have had so much rain recently that water levels are very high and the River Lune is flowing very fast - no chance of spotting the otters this weekend....
I'm so lucky to live where I do and have all this beautiful nature close at hand.
#ILoveWhereILive
#RiverLune
#GrabTheSun
#MakingTheMostOfTheSummer
#river #nature #serenity #tranquility
@britainsbestguides
#CentenaryJubilation
On this day one hundred years ago, the main part of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral was consecrated in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary
👑 🤴 👑 George V: grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II
Twenty years and one day earlier, the mighty Foundation Stone had been laid by his father, King Edward VII
👑 🤴 👑 Edward VII: eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He had succeeded to the throne on 22nd January in 1901 upon the death of his mother
🔔 Today, there was a wonderful air of celebration, with the bells ringing out joyfully. There are 17 bells surrounding the 2.9m diameter "Great George" - which weighs 15 tonnes, making it bigger than Big Ben, but not quite as heavy as "Great Paul" in St Paul's Cathedral in London!
🔔 If you listen to my video, you'll hear the highest and heaviest peal of bells in the world!
You could barely hear the bells inside, but I was lucky enough to see the team of flower arrangers decorating the Cathedral in preparation for the celebratory service on Sunday.
#LiverpoolCathedral
#DidYouKnow
#OnThisDay
#CathedralBells
#GreatPaul #GreatGeorge #BigBen
#CathedralFlowers
#LiverpoolCathedralCentenary
@livcathedral
@britainsbestguides
@visitliverpool_
Yesterday's Austrian guests were keen to discover the inspiration for William Wordsworth's poetry, and they came to the right place!
Imagine leaving behind the activity of a busy household, where guests were always welcome ...
... and wandering down through the gardens towards Rydal Water ...
... but then deciding instead to climb the stone steps and seek the tranquillity of the #summerhouse: a 19th century #ManCave ?!
That's just what I like to imagine Wordsworth doing around 200 years ago, and today, the beautiful gardens still retain the same allure.
After Rydal Mount, we continued our Wordsworth pilgrimage by visiting:
- iconic Dove Cottage, where the celebrated Poet Laureate penned so many of his most famous works
- Grasmere Church and the Wordsworth graves
And of course, we couldn't leave Grasmere without popping into the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop!
Then there was just enough time for the guests to try the local #SwanBlonde at the café at the Waterhead jetty before cruising back down Windermere on Swan to busy, bustling Bowness.
#RydalMount
#InspiringGardens #CumbrianSpring
#CoachTour #GermanSpeakingGuide
#LakeDistrictTour
#WilliamWordsworth
#WordsworthTour
#LetNatureBeYourTeacher
#LiteraryLakeland
#PerfectDay #PerfectVisitors
@wordsworthrydal
@wordsworthgrasmere
@windermerelakecruises
@britainsbestguides
@cumbria_tourist_guides
@lakedistrictcumbria
#SunnyAfternoon by the North Sea, playing around with making films with #InShot again! Am I the only person who doesn't like the sound of my own voice??!
I've come across to Tynemouth to meet guests from German cruise liner #MeinSchiff at the crack of dawn, so thought I'd make the most of the sunny weather by trying out Tynemouth's new Telephone Box Café and Riley's Fish Shack.
Adam Riley spent "all the years that shape you" on the Isle Of Man, where he trained as a chef, before moving to the northeast and creating the shack out of two rusty containers 12 years ago. Today - by booking well in advance - I was at last able to see why it's so very popular. The menu's based on what's been caught that day and is cooked in the kitchen area of the shack, while the guests either sit at tables, perch on stools, or sit on deckchairs round firepits on the beach.
And it was perfect weather for a quick splash too - 14 degrees in the water, with lots of big waves!
#NorthSea
#DipInTheSea
#TynemouthBeach
#KingEdwardsBay
#DeliciousAffogato @tynemouthtelephonebox
#FantasticFish @rileysfishshack
@visittynemouth
@britainsbestguides
A treasured moment from this week - watching the North Sea at the Longsands at Tynemouth one evening and thinking about L. S. Lowry's words:
"It is the battle of life - the turbulence of the sea ... I have been fond of the sea all my life, how wonderful it is, yet how terrible it is. But I often think ... What if it suddenly changed its mind and didn't turn the tide? And came straight on? If it didn't stay and came on and on and on and on and on ... That would be the end of it all."
Lowry has been particularly in my mind lately, as my colleague Laura and I have been training volunteer guides to lead tours of the forthcoming "Lowry and the Sea" exhibition at the Granary Gallery in Berwick. Friday was the final training day, and everyone's looking forward to the exhibition opening on Saturday next week.
#DidYouKnow
The North Sea used to be known at The German Ocean
#GuideTraining
#LowryAndTheSea #GranaryGallery
#LowryExhibition
#LowryTrail
#LSLowry
#LSLowryQuote
#NorthSea #GermanOcean
#TynemouthLongsands
#TreasuredMoments
#QuietContemplation
@maltingsberwick
@britainsbestguides
@northeastenglandtouristguides
Last weekend, the Ghana International Nurses Welfare Association held their AGM in Blackpool, and on Sunday, Gregory and I had the pleasure of guiding them to Lytham - what a fun morning we all had ...
And what superb driving from Sam and Carl - watch through to the end to see why Archway Travel is such an appropriate name!
Thank you to the whole team for making the day out such a special one for the nurses and their families, and to Lytham Hall for giving us your warm welcome.
#DreamTeam #ILoveMyJob
#BestJobInTheWorld
#GhanaNurses #GINWA
#PostAGMTour
#Teamwork
#TeamworkDreamwork
#LythamWindmill
#LythamHall
#BlackpoolTower
@lancasterguide
@britainsbestguides
@archwaytravelltd
@britainsbestguides
@LythamHall
@visitfyldecoast
@visitengland
A host of golden daffodils ... fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Happy birthday William Wordsworth, born this day - 7th April 1770 - in Cockermouth in Cumbria, about two hours' drive to the west of Alnwick Castle where I was today, admiring this host of golden daffodils far above the River Aln.
About the same distance to the southeast of here is the village of Brompton-by-Sawdon near Scarborough. It was here, on 4th October 1802, that the illustrious poet married Mary Hutchinson in her local church.
#OnThisDay
#WilliamWordsworth
#Daffodils
#DancingDaffodils
@alnwickcastleofficial
@britainsbestguides
A host of golden daffodils ... fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Happy birthday William Wordsworth, born this day - 7th April 1770 - in Cockermouth in Cumbria, about two hours' drive to the west of Alnwick Castle where I was today, admiring this host of golden daffodils far above the River Aln.
About the same distance to the southeast of here is the village of Brompton-by-Sawdon near Scarborough. It was here, on 4th October 1802, that the illustrious poet married Mary Hutchinson in her local church.
#OnThisDay
#WilliamWordsworth
#Daffodils
#DancingDaffodils
@alnwickcastleofficial
@britainsbestguides
Lambing time 🐑 😍 🐑
#FavouriteTimeOfYear
#LambingTime
#FarmingLife
#TexelLambs
@britainsbestguides
@cumbria_tourist_guides
@lakedistrictcumbria
This day in history ...
... the "National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck" was founded in the UK. It was renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1858.
25 years ago ...
... Bay Search and Rescue was founded. It's based in the village of Flookburgh in the part of Cumbria which, until county boundary changes in 1974, was known as "Lancashire North of the Sands" - because for many centuries, crossing the Sands of Morecambe Bay was the only way to cross into the area we now know as Cumbria and the Lake District!
This team of volunteers is totally independent and works quietly away to "resolve some of the problems faced by Rescuers when trying to safely navigate the unpredictable sands of Morecambe Bay. And then once navigated how to best extract those unfortunate men, women, children, animals and vehicles trapped by the notorious sands, before the next tide!"
To read more about this valuable team providing a unique service - and to DONATE - please visit
https://www.baysearchandrescue.org.uk/history/
#ForThoseInPerilOnTheSea
#OnThisDay #OTD
#RoyalNationalLifeboatInstitution
#RNLI
#BaySearchAndRescue
#CrossBay
#MorecambeBay
#MorecambeBaySands
@rnli
@baysarteam
@lakedistrictnpa
@lakedistrictcumbria
@britainsbestguides
@cumbria_tourist_guides
Cumbria, Yorkshire, NE England, Liverpool Blue Badge Guide 
