Day 14-Carlisle to Moffat and we passed in Scotland today

                          The Cricket pitch is sacred group and this was pretty, as we left Carlisle

 Well the day arrived where we passed in Scotland.

Started early has had been having problems with my breaks and everyone though they were just greasy and need decontaminating, well on removal of the pads it was revealed that the backed was metal on metal. I thought as much and it is so good to have breaks again. Andy apologised to me as the bikes were meant to have all new pads and this clearly mine did not. I had mentioned it from day  3 I think. No fault of Andy's and he was brilliant to fix. I sounded like a train engine when applying my brakes and was annoying noise let alone not having great stopping.

We passed over to Scotland and had morning tea in the first building  you come across in Scotland. This Inn has been around  for 250 years and had a yummy cake.

 A little further up the road is Gretna Green. A lovely little village. Gretna was famous for young couple eloping as Scotland had different rules for marriage to England so middle to upperclass young and older people would come up to Scotland to marry. No challenges, no need for a church and far younger to marry. Lots of stories about amorous relationships starting here. A bit like Los Vegas I suppose in the USA. It was very expensive tho' and was a good earner for the press.

  

We fixed my brakes this morning and the sun was out, coolish but sunny. It didn't stay like that weather wise and was wet for the second have of the day as we approached Lockerbie. 

Sheltering from the rain where we had lunch at a tescos in Lockerbie. this is Crawford outside the supermarket .

Lockerbie, If that name is familiar to you, its Scottish town, where an airline plane, Pam am flight 103 going from London to New York was destroyed by a bomb on 21 Dec 1988 in flight by a terror attack by Libyan intelligence officer. all were killed as well as a family on the ground when some of the wreckage fell on a house in Lockerbie and the main part of the wreckage fell just outside the town. We decided to go and look at the two memorials, one in the street where the house was destroyed and the other at the Lockerbie cemetery. A sad day and very much in our memories. The cemetery had heaps of large memorials like all cementaries to names similar to NZ of Scottish immigrant families as well as the memorial below.

This is the memorial at the main cemetery

And this is me taking a selfie as I shelter from the rain a couple of hours latter as we arrive at our hotel.

I am typing this in the morning as the weather looks better outside for the moment on the Tuesday morning.

And this a spray called Smidge-The famous mosses of Scotland hate this, Everyone has warned us so wiped out after showering yesterday and bought this at the local co-op to prepare for the battle to come. Loads of mirth at our dinners as we discuss the fight to come with the MOSSIES.