On A Wee Borders Raid by Cherry Allan Day 1.  By the time I arrived at the Glen Car Park in the coolness of Sunday morning, 3rd June 2018, most of those people fortunate enough to be taking part in this ‘Wee Borders Raid’ were already on board our Bay Travel coach, 10 minutes or more early. They are a well-trained lot, the DHS travellers – they know the form well by now – be on the coach by ….! Who’s going to be the last one on this time eh? Perhaps we should have given this trip the title of ‘Journey through the Mists of Time’ as on the drive down to the magnificent Floors Castle the views of our lovely Scottish border countryside proved rather illusive, due to that all-too-familiar meteorological phenomenon – Scottish mist! Now, if you’re looking for a detailed historical account of the properties and all who sailed in them over the centuries, please leave this page now – you will be sadly disappointed. There are wonderful guide books put together by scholars and folks who have studied genealogy, architecture, fine arts, applied art, antiques etc, etc, etc for years on end, so please turn your attention in that direction. This is neither the prologue of a guide book, the epilogue, nor any of the bits in between, but you are very welcome to read on! Floors Castle did not disappoint. The lemon and blueberry scone and coffee served in the Courtyard Cafe made a very welcome start, putting some fuel in the tank before setting off to notch up some mileage around this…

Trip to Dundee – April 2018 By Pamela Macleod  It was a bit “dreich” when we set off from the Glen Car Park for our short journey to Dundee.  Fortunately, by the time we reached the Verdant Works, the weather had improved.  We were given a short introductory talk and a tour of the Mill Office when we arrived and then left to explore the site for ourselves.  Having had an early start, many of us headed straight to the coffee shop for our caffeine injection, and I also had a delicious piece of Dundee cake. When we arrived in the courtyard, it did not look as if the building was very extensive.  This was a false impression. Once we began to explore, we realised just how much there was to see.  A highlight of the visit had to be seeing smaller, working versions of the original machinery, especially if you were lucky enough to have Lily as your guide! What a marvellous woman. She operated these machines from the time she left school and has been working as a guide since the opening of the museum in 1996 – she is now approaching 79 years of age.  She proudly shows you a badge she received for going on a course in communication, not that she needed any lessons in how to communicate!  What a wealth of stories and information she has at her fingertips.  When she was young, she lived with her father, mother and five siblings in a single room!  She demonstrated all the machines for us with such dexterity, explaining that all those who worked in the mills became deaf as a result…

A Trip to White Rose Country The DHS Spring trip into North Yorkshire April 2017  by Lindsey Fowell  Heading across the Pennines along Route 66, our first stop was the magnificent Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, Country Durham.  A French Chateau-style, purpose built museum containing a vast and varied collection of European fine and decorative arts completed in 1892. The story of the museum is inseparable from the story of its two founders, John and Josephine Bowes.  A Teesdale man, John Bowes traced his family roots back to the Norman invasion.  The family wealth had grown on coal mining and shipping but, as he had been born out of wedlock, this English gent was shunned by high society even after his father married his mother on his deathbed.  John inherited his father’s property but the title of 11th Earl of Strathmore passed to his uncle who became great-great grandfather to the future Queen Mother.  After many years of enjoying the bohemian decadence of Parisian life, John eventually took the plunge in 1847 when he stood down from Parliament, moved to Paris and bought the fashionable Theatre des Varietes which still stands on the Boulevard Montmartre.  One of its actresses charmed his attention and in 1852 John and Josephine Benoite Coffin-Chevalier (known by her stage name of Mademoiselle Delorme) married.  As a wedding gift he bought her the Chateau du Barry just west of Paris which had once been a gift from Louis XV to his mistress.  Eventually it was the sale of…

In “Westward Ho! – A trip to Glasgow”, Lindsey Fowell describes our summer day trip to Bothwell Castle, The Riverside Museum and the Tall Ship, with plenty of photographs to illustrate the day.