Citroëns on Tour

I came across this group of French Citroën Traction Avants on a tour of Scotland at Inveraray today.

There was this amazing car. I assume it is a Citroën but I can't find any details on the web. 

 

Royal Enfields

On a recent trip to the Solway coast I met up with a party of Royal Enfield riders visiting the Mull of Galloway (Scotland's south west corner)

 700cc Constellation (I think) outfit had young kids in the sidecar - what a way to get about.

  

WW2 army 350 ohv (again I think). This was being ridden briskly by a Dutch lady who obviously doesn't go for the concours look.

Roundabout of the Week - Girvan

I can hear the collective groans but I'm doing this again. This roundabout is south of the Ayrshire seaside town of Girvan. A stone fishing boat with the couthy phrase "Whit's yer hurry?" on the side. Does this mean "what's your hurry to leave this beautiful town" or is it a general road safety message? The wording on the other side is "Home of Ailsa Craig" - a lovely local girl I'm sure.

Applecross

Tent....check, sleeping bag....check, Amazon rain forest insect repellent.....check, enough waterproof clothing to survive a biblical flood....check. Ah the pleasures of a weekend camping trip to the Scottish Highlands.

Applecross is a tiny coastal village in the remote Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Famous because access is via a spectacular climb over Bealach na Ba (the Pass of the Cattle)

This area is a very sparsely populated wilderness with many lochs, mountains, moors and great roads with very little traffic. Rare things in our crowded little island.  

Our party was myself (FJ1200), Norman & Terry (both MZ Skorpions), Mike (Triumph Sprint ST) & Gareth (Kawa KLE500)

I took lots of photographs because it is a truly epic landscape.

Loch Achtriochtan, Glencoe

 Glengarry

Rock cairns at Loch Loyne

 Eilean Donan Castle

 View from the Skye Bridge

 Bealach na Ba

 Applecross - sun over the Inner Sound and Isle of Raasay

 Applecross

The Inn where we had a pint

 Heading towards the Torridon Hills

"Palm tree" at Plockton

 Glen Docherty & Loch Maree

And the repellent & waterproofs were not needed!

Sunny Weather

To balance things up (and to assure friends in sunnier climes that Britain's weather is not always miserable) here's the FJ at Bowness-on-Solway this afternoon.

Stormy Weather

The UK has been enduring a period of bad weather with rain and floods causing many outdoor events to be cancelled. I took these pictures of dramatic skies over Ayrshire this afternoon.

Hardknott Pass

I took a run down to the Lake District (NW England) at the end of last month for a ride over Hardknott & Wrynose Passes. These are a bit of a challenge especially on a big bike like the FJ. The road is narrow & very steep in places and bumpy. The secret is to look ahead and avoid meeting other traffic because you do not want to stop. My CBF250 would have been better over the passes but a slog on the 100 miles of motorway here and back.

Before I got to the passes I rode through the village of Burgh By Sands (west of Carlisle) and took a photograph of this old church. Turns out that the church (St Michael's) has a bit of history. Located at the west end of Hardian's Wall the church was built in the late 12C from stone from the wall. The fortified tower was added in the 14C to protect the people & their livestock from the Border Reivers. King Edward I aka "Longshanks" aka "Hammer of the Scots" aka Patrick McGoohan from "Braveheart" died near the village en route to fighting the Scots in 1307 and was laid out in the church.

 I continued along the Solway Coast. I think this is a seldom visited area but I like it. 

Warning signs at Hardknott Pass

Hardknott Pass

This shows how steep the pass is

 Wrynose Pass looking back to Hardknott