Gretna GIG trip to Wallington Hall Thursday 16th July 2015

After a pleasant ride on the minibus we arrived at Wallington Hall at 10.30am. The weather had gradually improved on the way and was looking good. Margaret had brought facilities to make tea/coffee on arrival and a delicious home made cake to refresh everyone after our  journey. A good start to the day! Even better - some members of the National Trust had vouchers for guest entries - so we had no entry fees to pay for anyone! One member of the group was even offered free access to a motorised scooter, meaning she wouldn't have to walk everywhere! Even before we got inside the grounds the day was a success.

  

After arranging our departure time, we were free to wander. Entry was through a very stately clock tower, opening out onto a huge grassy courtyard. Visitors are allowed to wander across the grass and explore the lakes, woods and grounds of the house. We decided to head for the Walled Garden, but others headed for the River walk, the wildlife hide, the plant stall, the shop or the café. There are many things for the whole family to do at Wallington.

 

 

 

We walked through the wood and past the lake.

 

Neptune overlooks the gate (and holds the key!) to the Walled Garden.



Inside is a real treat - a pool at the top with a staircase leading down through the garden. The borders are full of flowers looking, and smelling, beautiful. An Edwardian conservatory lies against one wall and is open for visitors to wander through. Everywhere looks well cared for, a real credit to the gardeners and volunteers.

 

Walled Garden

 

 

Conservatory

 

Among the plants are many statues and features. 

 

Here are some of the individual flowers, of which there were a great variety - far too many to record here. There was much repetition of "oh, look at that", "I'd like one of those" and "smell that!"

 

 

 

We could have spent more time in the tranquil garden but there was so much else to see! After a delicious lunch in the Clocktower café we moved on to explore Wallington house. It was gifted to the National Trust by Sir Charles Trevelyan, a Socialist MP. His family was rather unconventional and loved being outdoors and close to nature, hence the informal grounds. However the house is full of beautiful furniture, amazing collections and curiosities in every room. The National Trust have taken a new approach to visitors in the house in that they have removed many of the ropes that keep people away from the exhibits. You can now wander around each room and get close to the treasures within. Informative volunteers acting as guides were all over the house to answer questions and give information about individual items.

There was so much to see in the house that we used up the rest of our time inside.

Friezes in some of the rooms

 

Beautiful painted walls

 

There are lots of toy soldiers and dolls houses in the house

 



We didn't see many of our group after going our separate ways but here are just a few snapshots we managed to take during the day!

 

 

 

A quick visit to the shop and the plant stall concluded our visit - but there was just one more photo to take before we set off home....... 

 

 

 

A brilliant day- but there was so much we didn't see that another visit is  definitely needed!

Gretna GIG trip to Eddie Stobart Depot, Carlisle. Wed 24th June 2015.

A short drive from Gretna brought us to Kingstown Industrial Estate in Carlisle. Keith was our driver again and the weather wasn't looking too bad. On reporting to the office we were given the Health and Safety rules for a busy, working site with huge lorries moving around all the time. High-viz jackets were the order of the day too - everyone looked so fetching in them!

Our guide then gave us a short history of the company- Eddie Stobart started an agricultural business in the 1940's. With the help of his son, also called Eddie, this expanded into a haulage business. Eddie Jnr and his brother William finally took over the running of the business in the 1970's. It became more and more successful and became a public company known as the Stobart Group in 2007.

 The company has a distinctive livery for its lorries and their drivers and the expectation is that they will both look presentable at all times. For the lorries there is a lorry wash on site.

Eddie Stobart is a multi-modal logistics company in the transport, storage and handling sector across the UK, Ireland and Europe. With over 2000 units, over 3000 trailers and huge areas of warehousing Eddie Stobart meets the distribution and warehousing needs of many customers. It has a growing inland ports operation, a long running rail freight service and the car transportation division carries vehicles on behalf of many leading manufacturers.

We were shown around the site and watched lorries refuelling as they returned. Eddie Stobart lorries use thousands of litres of fuel, and have a delivery every day.

We were then taken to the warehouse used exclusively for the storage of Homebase products, which Eddie Stobart delivers all over Scotland. Another local firm were busy delivering pallets that will later be filled with Homebase stock. A second warehouse was full of thousands of empty cans used in the drinks industry. Pictures were not allowed as the cans belonged to customers, but the sight of so many cans was awe inspiring. Pallet after pallet full of different coloured cans were stacked almost to the ceiling. It was like looking at vertical rainbow. Eddie Stobart is at present building a new warehouse at Carlisle Airport and will transfer there in September. It will be several times bigger than the one we saw!

 

 The types of trailer used by Eddie Stobart were lined up in the depot for all to see and our guide explained the codes used to identify them eg HB is a Homebase trailer, CT is a can trailer, ET is a European trailer. 

 

From the early days of the firm each lorry has been given a girls name - the first was called Twiggy. Each lorry also has a Fleet number.

 

Once people began to notice the names on the trucks they began to "spot" and record them. Eddie Stobart began to get more and more letters asking for a list of the names, so decided to start a members fan club. Members receive a magazine and Spotters handbook, which lists all the truck names. The members club has developed over the years and now has thousands of members. Two GIG members are in this spotters club and were busy collecting truck names while we were at the depot!!

 

To conclude our tour we were allowed to look inside - and sit - in a lorry! The highlight of the afternoon for some! It isn't until you sit in the lorry that the realisation of how big these vehicles are really hits home. The inside of the truck is quite spacious, a necessity if you spend many hours and even sleep in the vehicle, as some drivers do. 

 

Everyone really enjoyed their visit to Eddie Stobart having been given a brief insight into the world of the trucker! Thanks to everyone at the depot for a fantastic visit.

 

GIG Trip Part 2 - Samye-Ling

22nd April 2015

 

Samye-Ling is a monastery and international centre of Buddhist training, known for the authenticity of its teaching and tradition. It offers instruction in Buddhist philosophy and meditation and is a centre for the preservation of Tibetan religion, culture, medicine, art, architecture and handicrafts. The centre is in a peaceful valley on the banks of the River Esk, in Eskdalemuir, Scotland and was the first to be established in the West.There is a residential community of about 60 people, both monastic and lay volunteers. You are not required to be a Buddhist to live here, but residents are expected to live according to the Five Golden Rules. Courses are frequently run at the centre.

 

Prayer flags are a Tibetan tradition

Day visitors are very welcome at Samye-Ling at any time of the year. You can wander around the grounds and visit the tea room and shop.

Statue of Buddhist Master

 

 

Prayer wheels



Liberation Gate

 

Guru Rinpoche

 

 Visitors are also allowed to enter the Temple. You need to remove shoes and observe silence while inside.

The Temple

 

Inside, the Temple is beautiful but very peaceful.

 

 

Everyone really enjoyed their visit to Samye-Ling and the journey home from Eskdalemuir was a real treat with bright yellow gorse on the hills and lambs in the fields.
A big thankyou to Keith for being our driver on the day.

GIG Trip Part 1 - to Waulkmill Cider, Langholm

22nd April 2015

 

Waulkmill Cider is based at Burnfoot Farmhouse, Langholm. This is a listed building dating from the 18th Century. Chris Harrison has run Waulkmill Cider since its creation in 2010. Despite having worked for a large national brewery for many years, Chris left his job, and the country, and went to start a new life in France. However the beginning of the financial crisis brought that to an end and he came home to live with his parents and look for a new job. Finally deciding that he didn't want to work for anyone else he began to look for a business for himself. Research led him to discover that there were no cider makers in Scotland and therefore no competitors here either!

 

Chris began to look more closely into the process, deciding he wanted to make real cider, using local apples, traditional machinery and oak barrels. Because he didn't want to use additives the fermentation process took a long time and he began by selling apple juice until the cider was ready.



Despite many in the trade not believing that cider could be made in Scotland, Chris persevered, and he now make over 30 varieties. The Campaign for Real Ale recently gave Chris a Gold Award for his perry - recognition at last! As perry pears are in short supply in Scotland and Chris know of only 8 trees, he can only make about 2000 litres a year. It was so popular however that it sold out very quickly and Chris has now decided to make pear cider to fill the gap. His business has gone from 1200 litres in his first year to about 20000 litres this year. As well as cider Chris makes a variety of vinegars and a very tasty spiced punch. However as his products become more well known orders are increasing and Chris is busier than ever.

 

Chris tries hard to keep a low carbon footprint with his business, even selling his waste apple pulp to a local farmer. He still fills and caps bottles, and sticks the labels on by hand but has invested in a hydraulic press this year in order to press more apples!

A lot of his time is now spent sourcing apples from orchards in Scotland to ensure his product is the best it can be and is always looking for good suppliers. He also attends Beer Festivals to promote his brilliant Scottish products and spread the word that cider can be made in Scotland.
 



Chris gave us a complete tour of his business before providing lunch, with cider of course, in his "pub"



 

Needless to say there wasn't much left by the time we'd finished!!

 

Everyone agreed it had been a great start to our day out.

 

 

First Blog at GIG

We went to Langholm and Samye Ling