Hello Hello to all Hivians, Silver Bloggers and anyone else reading this.
This week's The Silverbloggers Chronicles - Prompt 7 is ....
"Tell us about your favorites memories of your childhood summer vacations"
Where did you usually go, with whom, what did you like doing most in those days?
From North to South
Every summer we would always spend time visiting and staying with my maternal grandparents.
They lived in Elie in the Kingdom of Fife in Scotland. It was not that far a drive from Edinburgh, but when we lived in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland it was a fair old trek by ferry then car.
At winter it was a nightmare, the 2 hour crossing over the Pentland Firth is a wicked stretch of water and the boat would get tossed around and people were always throwing up!
Summer was a alot calmer.
The lead image is of Kirkwall the capital where we lived in Orkney. The big ship is one of these cruise liners that stop there now!
It is not the ferry we used to take. For that we would take an 18 mile drive to the other town on the island called Stromness!
That is a picture of the Churchill barriers that connected two islands in Orkney!
The drive!
And you thought the being sick was left behind on the ferry 🤣
The car would rumbled off the ferry at Scrabster, I would wind down the window and get a welcome fresh blast of sea air hitting my face.
Dad would checking the map, a big crinkly thing he'd folded a thousand times. I bet the kids of today, don't know what a paper map is!!!
The ferry trip from Stromness was always a bit of a blur in winter, but the drive... the drive was the real adventure no matter if winter or summer!
First, we rattled through Thurso, a little town that seemed a bit grey after the wide-open spaces of Orkney.
The laugh is it was little but for that part of Scotland it is a big town as the sheep outnumber the people!
From there it was a long drive down the A9 and other little roads. The road wasn't a nice straight dual carriageway like it is now. It was a single lane road in many places that wound and dipped, following the coastline.
You'd see the grey-blue North Sea on one side and rocky cliffs and heather on the other side.
There would be lorries every now and then that we get stuck behind for fluffing hours or that is what it seemed like!
Then there would be the rattle as we crossed over the metal grids that stopped the cattle escaping!
Occasionally we’d pass a little village, just a few stone houses huddled together. Everything was driven through, there were no by-passes like today.
The miles felt longer back then. There was no sat-nav, just mother pretending to read the map! The back seat would see me the oldest often holding our black collie Lassie whilst pushing my little brother and sister into the other half of the back seat.
We'd drive for what felt like forever, past places with funny names like Helmsdale and Brora. I’d be watching for sheep that had escaped their fields, or maybe a Highland coo with its shaggy hair.
We would play Ispy, of course I usually won!
The car would slow down for every fluffing town and village, even the small ones. We had to go right through the middle of them all, not like today where you by-pass everything.
I remember going through Inverness, a proper city, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the traffic. After Inverness, the scenery changed a bit. We were still on the A9, but it got a bit more... "civilized." The hills got smaller, and there were more trees and fields.
One of the big stops was always a lay-by for a picnic. Mum would have made egg sandwiches and we’d get out the Thermos flask. We'd sit on a blanket, the cold wind whipping around us, but it was better than eating in the car. It was a good chance to stretch my legs and run around with Lassie our dog a bit before getting back in the hot stuffy car. Sometimes the bloody dog would run off after a sheep and it would be bloody ages before we got her back!
Once we got into Fife, the roads got narrower, and the fields were edged with stone walls. We would get close to the sea again, and I’d get a wee happy buzz knowing we were almost there. Finally, we’d see the tell-tale signs of Elie – the big, sandy beach and the little harbour.
Of course grandma spoiled me!
The end of summer would always seem to come on August 17th my birthday but I would be given an ice cream!
Today was no exception!!!
What about you? Where did you usually go, with whom, what did you like doing most in those days?
Let me know in the comments! And why not join in with the fun and start your Chronicle!?
Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day!
My previous Chronicles ... are :- Prompt 1 Colour ~ my Chronicle 1
Prompt 3 Hometown ~ my Chronicle 3
Prompt 4 Wheels ~ my Chronicle 4
Prompt 6 Memory recipe ~ my Chronicle 6
Prompt 7 summer holidays ~ my this one ...
All images and ramblings are from me, the mad Scotsman TengoLoTodo unless otherwise stated..
DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND DO IT OFTEN
Haste Ye Back!
@tengolotodo August 17th 2025
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