A road through a farm

 I wanted to visit a tower house. I’d seen them on hilltops, looking rather rectangular and high with very few windows. After all, these were defensive homes during the violent border wars between Scotland and England in medieval times. On my first day of driving Red Lollipop, before the Sat Nav Situation, I spotted one ahead and pulled over to enter “Smailholme Tower” into it. 

Roads became narrower, and quite tortuous as I headed ever upwards - good I thought since the Tower was on a hill. At this point I should say that Smailholme Tower is a property of the National Trust of Scotland, being manned and requiring an entry fee.

All of a sudden I drove into a large farmyard, complete with resident cow. I was too polite to take a photograph where the farmer might see me!


I entered at the top of the picture. There appeared to be no road, one track went down hill (not promising), while the other track was covered in cow dung and was a tight squeeze next to a very oversized tractor-truck. In an adjacent large open-ended shed was another very large vehicle with trailer being reversed into position; I know how frustratingly tricky that can be. But I waited till the truck stopped and the driver stepped out.

A pleasant young man responded to my wave. After apologizing for driving into his farm, and explaining that my Sat Nav had led me to this spot, he laughed and said that yes, this was the road to the Tower. A self-deprecating shrug, and I was encouraged to drive there before it closed.

Hoe compliant these Scottish farmers are I thought as a very nice dirt road took me towards the tower. I twas closed, and no soon that I had read the info board and found the track leading to the tower that i saw a very big tractor truck bearing down on Red Lollipop from the other direction , the fields. Quickly I raced back down the track, moved her off the dirt road into a culvert and the farmer., maybe the young man;s father returned my cheery wave.

The tower was very imposing! 

After that I thought I had better get back to Eccles.


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