Tales of a Bargain Hunter!

Those of you who follow my adventures whilst on holiday may have noticed that I have not yet mentioned the purchase of second hand CD’s DVD’s and Books from Charity shops. Fear not, I have not forgotten! So what did I arrive home with this year?? Well fifty five CD’s, eleven DVD’s and thirteen books – total cost for the lot? Would around £50 sound reasonable? Well that’s about what they all cost! But let’s back track a little bit first. Whenever we go up to Arran I always take a pile of CD’s, DVD’s, LP’s, Cassettes, Books and Video Tapes, and these are donated to ARCAS – The ARran CAncer Support Shop – or ARCAS for short. The problem is I then purchase a goodly number of the CD’s DVD’s and books on offer at charity shops on Arran, Berwick upon Tweed, Melrose, Kelso and Wooler, so I usually arrive back home with nearly as much as I have donated! – Ah well there’s always next year!!! Being the organised kind of person I am (Dot would say I am paranoid!!) I usually have a “Wants list”. This year I was successful in finding some bargain second hand goods which were on my “wants list” A set of six DVD’s of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus was the prize discovery. Still in their original sealed box for just £3.99! A CD of Johnny Mathis’ Greatest Hits was another item on my “wants list”. The best bargain had to be a set of six James Last CD’s priced at 99p! I also discovered a second hand copy of “You’re Coming With Me Lad” a collection of humourous memoirs of a North Yorkshire bobby ( A sort of policemans James Herriot) which was also on my wants list! So all in all you could say I had a fruitful time searching through the second hand goods!!!!

Northumberland Holidays.......

Just in case you got the idea that we spent the whole of our second week in Bamburgh, I should explain that we also visited Berwick upon Tweed, complete with its Elizabethan walls, the Border abbey towns of Kelso and Melrose. It is at Melrose that we always call for a meal at Russell's Restaurant, which serves superb meals and features well on Trip Advisor! We also visited Newton by the Sea. A quaint little village square, with cottages on three sides and facing the sea on the fourth side. All the buildings are owned by the National Trust. It is here that you will find The Ship Inn a well know establishement for providing mouth watering meals - try their home made soup and ploughmans - ideal after a long walk on the beach! They also have a micro brewery which produces 21 (Yes you did read that correctly!) different brews. Usually three different ones each week. We visited Alnwick, and had sandwiches from the Tree House and also paid a visit to the world famous Barter Books, which is situated in the old railway Station, and advertises itself as "probably the largest second hand bookshop in the world" we also visited Wooler, which is a small market town situated at the foot of the Cheviot Hills and is a popular base for walkers. Sorry there are no photos of these places as I have taken dozens of photos previously, so didn't take any of them this year!

Bamburgh

Spending our second week at Waren Mill, just a couple of miles north of Bamburgh, we spent quite a bit of time in Bamburgh - for one reason it has a lovely sandy beach, which Ruby loves to run on as well as go in the sea, so above is a selection of photos of Bamburgh. 1. Bamburgh Castle viewed from the Wyndings (the road to the beach) 2. The Parish Church of St Aidan 3. The effigy of Grace Darling, the Victorian heroine who with her father rescued 9 shipwrecked sailors from the Farne Island during a terrific storm. 4. The tomb of Grace Darling in Bamburgh Churchyard. 5. The RNLI Museum which celebrates the life of Grace Darling (it was the 150th annniversary of the rescue) 6. The birthplace of Grace Darling (next door but two to the museum) 7. Looking down Church Street towards the Castle 8. Clarke's Greengrocers shop, where we always purchase our groceries and green groceries before we head home. It's one od those original and old fashioned establishements which doesn't have a till. All the working out is done on the back of a paper bag! 9. Dot outside "The Pantry" - where we usually purchase our sandwiches and drinks. Julie Spruce, the owner, originates from West Yorkshire, where her dad used to be a police seargent in Saltaire. 1o. The Castle Inn - one of the places we visit for an evening meal.

Arran Holiday

Well here we are safely back from our two week jaunt. The first week we spent on the Isle of Arran, and the second week two miles North of Bamburgh in Northumberland. As is usual, for this time of year, we were blessed with mainly crisp clear and bright sunny weather. On Arran we visited all our usual haunts, having meals at The Brodick Bar, Eilean Mohr (on the front at Brodick) and Coast (situated at Whiting Bay) and we were somewhat sorry to discover that Russell and Mark (the co owners of Coast) have put the business on the market.[Just £230.000 if you have the spare cash!] They are looking to expand, and have decided that the only way they can do this is to leave the island and purchase a business in Glasgow, where the pair of them previously worked. We have got to know the pair of them very well during our visits to Arran, and seen their restaurant grow in stature (if not in size) to become one of the most popular and highly thought of on the island. It's the place you find all the locals dining in, and if they support it you can gaurantee that it will serve high quality food and give excellent value for money!

Russell & Lee outside "Coast"

We paid a visit to Andrew and Rosie (George and Patricia's Uncle and Auntie), who we met at Stuart's wedding earlier this year. They have a beautiful holiday home on the shore of Loch Ranza.

Above are a few of our photos taken on Arran.