We are now in Whickham, Newcastle and it is cold!! -5 degrees and a light snowfall overnight. We finished our time in Scotland with a walk around Old Aberdeen, an old cathedral (15th century) and then down to Kings Chapel where Harry and Meg where married 42 years ago! We caught the train to Newcastle where Helen & Don met us - they think we're mad to be here at this time (opposite to mad dogs and Englishmen I suppose!). So nice to see them again as it was 4 years since they were in Sydney.

We visited New Lanark in Scotland, a World Heritage site, which was really good. This is a village with impressive cotton mills besdie the Clge River which became famous under the enlightened vision of Robert Owen. Decent housing, fair wages, free health care and education including the first nursery school in the world, were provided for the village workers. The village is remarkably intact and extremley well restored. We stayed overnight in the hotel which has been established in Mill No 3, having a great 3 course dinner!!

On the way north we visited 3 Scottish abbeys which had been destroyed by the English in the Border Wars - Jedburgh, Dryburgh and Melrose - each in a different kind of setting and very interesting.

We visited Hexham yesterday which has an intact abbey dating from the 16th century (on the site of an earlier Anglo-saxon church of 700AD). and it was a contrast as it has been restored and is in regular use.

Back over the Pennines and it was very snowy looking across the moors.