UK TRAVEL Dumfries
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DEPARTING FROM EDINBURGH & STIRLING
LUXURY VINTAGE RAIL TOUR
SATURDAY 15TH JULY 2023
JOIN US ABOARD THE NORTHERN BELLE
S
FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE DAY TRIP TO itting in the cockpit
DUMFRIES HOUSE of a fighter jet is
pretty cool. But
The Northern Belle is regarded realising I have
inadvertently
as Great Britain’s finest luxury
chosen an aviator-style jacket
vintage train. Evoking the EXCLUSIVE
for the occasion is even better.
PRICE OF
opulence and glamour of
485
I look like a pro!
the Golden Age of Travel, the
I’m spending the afternoon
Northern Belle is a celebration at Dumfries & Galloway
Aviation Museum and whilst I
of British heritage and the lavish
ordinarily have no interest in
“Belle” trains of the 1930s. old aircraft, it’s surprising how
Individually designed carriages, named and quickly I get caught up in the
inspired by British castles and stately homes, feature atmosphere.
handpainted exteriors and rich veneered marquetry Getting to sit in one of the
planes is the icing on the cake.
interiors, adorned with handmade fabrics, murals Based in the former control
and mosaics. tower of RAF Dumfries, this
This day trip to the excellent Dumfries house independently-owned museum
showcases a fantastic collection
entrails one of the most unique and refined rail of aircraft, from a Battle of
culinary and journey experiences available in the Britain Spitfire to the twinjet
UK. Be endlessly pleased in this bygone era of Lightning, designed to shoot
luxurious travel. down Soviet bombers.
The planes are mesmerising
and the memorabilia, from
soldiers’ uniforms to parachute
WHAT YOU’LL LOVE: packs, are fascinating.
• Round-trip travel on the Northern Belle We must have picked the
rainiest weekend of the year to
• Welcome cocktail & champagne reception visit and, after a dry spell, the
• Delicious three-course brunch heavens open again, signalling
• Transfer and admission into Dumfries House the perfect time to check into
& Gardens our hotel.
Our base for a few days is
• Sumptuous five-course dinner and a bottle of
wine per couple the Cairndale Hotel just a few
miles down the road.The red
• Tea, coffee and petit fours sandstone mansion sits in the
heart of the town, and, family
owned, seems the best place to
ONLY 15% DEPOSIT REQUIRED TO BOOK SEATS park up for a few nights.
Our family room is spacious,
with a big bed for us and a
single and pull-out sofa bed for
TO MAKE A RESERVATION CALL the kids.
Their excitement builds as
01270 899303 quoting DCT10 they spot a tray laden with
milk and cookies, then it’s our
Spa days and
for exclusive discount
turn to light up when we spot
a chilled bottle of fizz and a
OR BOOK ONLINE AT whirlpool bath with built-in TV.
www.dcttravel.co.uk/luxury After a quick change, we
pop downstairs for dinner. The
Spitfires: Flying
hotel reception, next to an art
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
deco staircase, is undergoing
renovation during our stay, and
NORTHER N BELLE from the colours going on to
LUXURY TR AIN the wall, it’ll look lovely when
break has it all
finished.
G R E A T B R I T A I N
Dinner is a delight.The steak
Operated by Northern Belle Ltd. Offer subject to availability. *‘Price is including a discount of £10 and is based on a shared table and slowly braised beef cheek
for four people; bookings of one or two attract a surcharge of £90 for a private table for two. If booking up to 8 weeks prior go down a treat and the little
to departure, a non-refundable 15% deposit is required to secure your seats. Payment is required in full if you are booking ones demolish their pastas
within 8 weeks of travel. Every passenger travelling on board the Northern Belle luxury train does so by accepting the standard
terms and conditions of carriage of Northern Belle Ltd. These can be viewed 1n full on the website - www.northernbelle.co.uk/
terms-conditions Call Centre opening times: Mon-Fri 10am - 4 pm.
30
W O R D S before we all squeeze in some
T R A C E Y B R Y C E superb sticky toffee pudding
and ice cream.
By the time we arrive back
at the room, the sofa bed
has been turned down all
set for its first road test
from little Ollie who sleeps
soundly.
After a hearty breakfast –
and unfortunately another
morning of rain on the horizon
– we decide to venture
downstairs to the hotel pool
for a splash around.
We opt for the spa package,
with robes and toiletries, and
a Champagne flute which
the staff fill with fizz to be
enjoyed in the hot tub. Little
Emily Rose loves feeling like
a pampered princess, even if
it’s only flavoured water in her
glass, and it’s lovely to see the
kids having so much fun.With
busy lives back home, it’s not
often we all get to the pool
together.
Afterwards, with the rain
fading to drizzle, we venture
into Dumfries and stumble
upon Robert Burns House,
where the great man spent his
last few years.
Scotland’s National Bard
moved to Dumfries in 1789
to take up a post as an excise
officer and died of rheumatic
Scotland
Peter Irvine’s
the best
Tombs with a view
Scotland’s past meets the present
in these notable burial sites. Just
take care to always be respectful
●● Devorgilla Bridge in Dumfries,
main, and above, from left,
Canongate Kirkyard
Tracey Bryce and son Ollie in Left of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile going down to
Holyrood Palace. Adam Smith and the tragic
aircraft cockpit, Burns House,
and Cairndale Hotel pool poet Robert Fergusson revered by Rabbie
Burns (who raised the memorial stone in
1787 over his pauper’s grave) are among the
fever seven years later, days famous names buried here.
before his wife Jean Armour
Clachan Duich
gave birth to their ninth child.
The poet’s desk and chair still A beautiful stonewalled graveyard at the
sit in the corner of the room, head of Loch Duich, 12 miles south of Kyle
of Lochalsh. A monument on a rise above a
and we examine some of his
manuscripts. ruined chapel and many, many Macraes, this
is a delightful place to wander with glorious
The children love the
views to the loch and the mountains.
dress-up room at the back,
full of hats and costumes from
the Bard’s era, and listening Chisholm Graveyard
Last resting place of the Chisholms and
to us read out one of his most
famous poems,To A Mouse. three of the largest Celtic crosses you’ll
see anywhere, in an atmospheric woodland
Just along the road is a statue
of Jean Armour, and Burns
Mausoleum in the churchyard
of St Michael’s.The poet was
buried there before his remains
were reinterred along with
those of his sons under the
floor of the mausoleum and
they were later joined by
Armour, following her death
in 1834.
It’s a fascinating pocket of
Scottish history, and lovely that
Burns is celebrated in the town
where he passed away, as well
as in his birthplace of Alloway,
in Ayrshire.
After a few hours we circle ●● Glasgow Necropolis
back to the hotel just in time
for a stunning afternoon tea in
one of the garden pods. Sipping setting. It is nine miles west of Beauly on
tea and eating home-baked the A831 to Struy after Aigas dam and three
treats outside, but protected miles after the golf course; half a mile before
Cnoc Hotel opposite Erchless Estate, and
from the driving rain, is an
absolute pleasure. through a white iron gate on right. Walk
And with full tummies, it’s 150m on mossy path. Go find!
time to pack up the car and
head for home. Campbeltown Cemetery
One of the nicest things about this end-of-
Overall, with all the nostalgia
and excitement of a fighter jet the-line town is the cemetery. At the end of
and everything in such close a row of posh houses, the original merchant
proximity that you can get and mariner owners of which are interred
in the leafy plots next door. Still in use after
round it at speed, Dumfries is a
centuries of commerce and seafaring, it has
P.S.
lovely little place to stop off for
a flying visit, even if you have to
travel by car!
crept up the terraces of a steep and lush
overhanging bank. The white cross and row of
Second World War headstones are affecting.
If you’re Glasgow Necropolis
holidaying with
little ones in Factfile
The vast burial ground at the crest of the
ridge running down to the river that was the
tow, check out
Prices at Cairndale Hotel, focus of the original settlement of Glasgow.
Dalscone Farm, start from £89.50pp including Everything began at the foot of this hill and,
a park with lots dinner, bed and breakfast ultimately, ended at the top, where many of
of animals to and use of leisure facilities. the city’s most famous (and infamous) sons
meet and plenty See cairndalehotel.co.uk. and daughters are interred within the reach of
of opportunities Dumfries Aviation Museum the long shadow of John Knox’s obelisk.
for play,
closed just after our visit for
whatever the winter but re-opens in March.
weather. dumfriesaviationmuseum. Peter Irvine is the author of the
com essential travel guide Scotland the Best
published by Collins, priced £15.99
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