UK Road Trip Week 6 - The Clyde to the Emerald Isle
- Ash Collins
- Nov 2, 2022
- 7 min read
Having survived the treacherous, water logged drive into Glasgow, it was time to stretch the legs for a couple of days, schlepping amongst Glasgow's opulent buildings, street markets and murals to explore some alternative areas of this once great industrial city.
Glasgow grew into prominence as a result of its convenient location alongside Scotland's second largest river, The Clyde. Ship building became the heart and soul of the city with its shipyards that began churning out paddle steamers, cruise liners and war ships that lined the banks of The Clyde.
Seeking a somewhat alternative experience, we elected to take the artistic route in Glasgow. Nav and I are at best amateur art enthusiasts seeking a cultural experience beyond the traditional gallery settings of the city. Fortunately, Glasgow's extensive street art showcases the talents of the city's intriguing urban artists. Using a free app as a guide, our excursion took us through alleys, beneath bridges and along Glasgow's streets as we discovered a vast array of public murals and hidden artistic gems.
Our 18,000+ steps navigating the streets of Glasgow provided a glimpse into life in this city both past and present. However behind the glitz and glamour of downtown lies a level of poverty and deprivation that does not go unnoticed. Recently published statistics (2021) indicate that ~30% of the city's children live in relative poverty. Almost half (44%) of Glasgow’s residents reside in the 20% of the most deprived areas in Scotland. Despite these saddening statistics, the Glaswegians remain incredibly hospitable carrying a perpetual smile and sense of humour that makes visitors feel very welcome.
After 2.5 weeks travelling through some of the most incredible scenery in the world, it was time for Nav, the DD and The 3 to traipse across the Anglo-Scottish 'borderlands' towards Windermere in the heart of The Lakes District. Leaving Scotland behind us, we headed South down the A74(M) towards the ancient border city of Carlisle en route to the Roman remnants of Hadrians Wall. After a brief visit to the 12th century Carlisle Castle, we set off for Hadrian's Wall and the Birdoswald Roman Fort. Established around AD 122, this is the longest surviving stretch of Hadrian’s Wall complimented by the extensive excavations and remains of this Roman Fort. When you enter through the visitors centre, passing through onto these ancient grounds, you cannot begin to grasp the significance of this site. Take a deep breath and ponder as you stand on the same ground that Roman soldiers once patrolled and guarded as part of their empire. You cannot help be in awe of this incredible feat of Roman engineering that has dominated the landscape since AD 122.
Having filled our Roman sandals with Northern England's ancient past, Nav plotted directions for our overnight stay location, Windermere. In keeping with our objective of getting off the beaten track, Nav laid out our course through The Lake District via Cockermouth, the birthplace of the great English poet Wordsworth, the hamlet of Buttermere, Grasmere, Keswick and finally Windermere.
The 70 mile stretch of B-roads that carry cars, bikers, hikers and miscellaneous farm animals makes for one of the most stupendous natural scenery routes in all of England. You can completely understand how Wordsworth drew his inspiration from the natural surrounding beauty as we passed by scattered slate-roofed farms, tranquil lakes, skipping streams and the shaggy Herdwick sheep standing and sleeping alongside the narrow roads.
After a hearty breakfast in the resort town that shares its name with England's largest lake, it was time to hit the white cement surface of the M6 on the 85 mile journey South to the famous Merseyside city of Liverpool. Liverpool plays host to two of the three great loves of my life...The Beatles and my love to hate relationship with the city's football club. And in no particular order, I'll let the readers guess as to who might be the 3rd. I couldn't wait to return and show the absolute love of my life around the birthplace of The Beatles and all things Fab Four....well and some miscellaneous, less important stuff 🤪
With The 3 and our possessions safely squared away at the Liverpool Hilton, we strolled across the road to the Albert Dock area for a 'butchers'. As well as being the number one tourist attraction in Liverpool, the Albert Dock is also the most visited multi-use attraction in the United Kingdom outside London, with in excess of four million visitors per year. Amongst its many attractions are the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Beatles Story and the Tate Liverpool. In addition the site is home to hotels along with a multitude of bars and restaurants.
With only a day in the city, the most time-economical option for seeing Liverpool was to board the Hop On / Hop Off bus for a guided tour complete with our very entertaining 'scouse' docent. The two hour tour in and around the city provided the perfect opportunity for Nav to acquaint herself with Liverpool and its major attractions at a glance.
With the bus tour complete, we doubled back to re-visit a small list of strategically, well chosen locations on foot...BRP locations that is! Thank God Nav has a wonderful sense of (humour) occasion.
After an action packed day wandering The Pool, we arose early the following morning for our short drive to the Birkenhead Ferry port to catch the 10.30am service to Belfast. For both Nav and I today was very exciting as neither of us had been to Northern Ireland before...for that matter neither had the 3 who made the journey complete with the necessary paperwork and magnetic ID for his exterior.
The journey over the Irish Sea to Belfast would take 8 hours...as luck and good fortune would have it, our ferry did not have a re-occurrence of the mechanical issues that delayed its departure by 7 hours the day previous. With The 3 safely loaded into the parking bay lower deck, we headed up to level 8 to grab a comfy seat for the passage across. I must say the Stena Line ferries are very comfortable with all the creature comforts one would need for an 8 hour sail. This includes multiple bars, restaurants, a gym and a cinema...oddly enough the projectionist did not have a copy of 'Bad Boy Bubby' so we skipped the movie 🎞️ 🎬 🍿 and decided to settle into the comfortable surrounds of the Hygge Lounge.
With our Captain safely docking into Belfast bang on time, we ventured down to the car deck, fired up The 3 and drove the short 20 minute trip into downtown Belfast to our AirBNB. After the tiresome journey across the pond, we opted to have a quiet night in to prepare ourselves for a big day 1 in Northern Ireland's capital and second largest city.
As is customary each morning, our first order of the day is of course a triple shot Long Black + a Latte complimented by a muffin of some description and a toasted sarnie for moi. With the contents of the order safely deposited down the 'Gregory Peck' it was time to some exploring done. A much spoken about tour around the city n' surrounds is the Belfast Black Cab tour. It just so happens that one of the drivers was parked outside the entrance to our AirBNB; after a quick intro we had booked our tour without having to lift a finger. Pete, our driver, promptly collected Nav and I and off we went for an up close look at 'The Troubles' underpinning the murals of Belfast coupled with an apolitical dialogue about the city's history from Pete. There is no substitute for receiving a first hand insight from someone who lived and breathed life as a young man growing up in and around Belfast during 'The Troubles'. Pete's account of growing up through this period was captivating yet objective and at times emotive and challenging to listen too. To this day, the peace lines / walls gates are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that divide the predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from the predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. The Peace Line gates are closed every evening and will not open under any circumstances; contemplate that scenario in your own neighbourhoods.
If you are traveling to Northern Ireland, I cannot recommend The Black Cab experience more highly!
After spending two hours with Pete in his black cab, Nav and I needed to tone down the emotions whilst digesting the storyline and tales of living life in Belfast through 'The Troubles.' Pete simply asked where do you guys want to go next to chill out and I'll take you both there? How about the Titanic Quarter for a little light amusement? Within 10 minutes or so we were dropped off outside the Titanic Museum, thanked Pete for an absorbing 2 hours and off he went.
Belfast’s Titanic Quarter is one of Europe’s largest urban waterfront regeneration projects.
Some 20,000 people live, work, visit and stay in Titanic Quarter on Belfast’s Maritime Mile daily, attracting over 3 million visitors every year. It is home to major TV and film productions, the world’s largest Titanic visitor attraction and residential waterfront developments.
It was time to escape the hustle and bustle of the Quarter and find a traditionally Irish hostelry to experience one of Ireland's greatest exports...Guinness. And what better place to acquaint ourselves with this most important of Irish traditions than Kelly's. Established in 1720, the cellar quickly became a place for the lower classes to meet up and listen to local musicians working their trade, or a local(s) singing and dancing along to the tunes...The Craic! The bar is wall to wall full of memorabilia from decades past with the fixtures and fittings dating back to the original construction. A lay down misère decision as the location for Nav to sit back and enjoy her first pint of Guinness in Ireland.
Our 6th week would conclude with a day trip out of the city to some coastal and inland locations. The itinerary would have driving a ~100 mile loop around the Strangford Lough, the largest inlet in the British Isles. From Belfast we set the compass for nearby Bangor, then south along the Ards Peninsula to Donaghadee, down to Portaferry and Ardglass, further south to Newcastle and then north bound through Downpatrick and back into Belfast.
The coastal scenery and villages dotted around Strangford Lough and Ards Peninsula are simply stunning. The region is a haven for unique and quirky little towns and villages steeped in history with many not having changed greatly in appearance over the past two centuries or more.
Well there it is ladies and gents as our 6th week on the road concludes as we continue or stay in Dublin. Stay tuned for our adventures in week 7 as we up the ante as the road trip takes us through more of the beautiful Northern Ireland and South into the Republic.
Cheers and safe travels
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