Edinburgh

I'm in Edinburgh. It's early morning and cold. Dropped the luggage off at the hotel, way too early for check-in, hotel isn't far from station. Having a wander round while it's quiet out. Walked along Princes Street, shops closed so no crowds. Found somewhere to have a coffee and croissant to warm up before continuing walk. Found this view of Edinburgh Castle, thought it was a good place to have my photograph taken. Now going to walk round to the castle entrance.

Night Train to Edinburgh

I'm on my way to Edinburgh for the weekend. Taking the night train to Edinburgh (no not a lesser known Madness follow up). It's a rather nice way to travel. I've ordered breakfast. I've been in the bar carriage and had something to eat and drink. Now it's bed time. I've got the bottom bunk. time for a nice sleep as the train makes it's way north. The guard will wake me up with a tea and a bite to eat as we sit outside Edinburgh. Then it's a full day in town on the first day all refreshed after a sleep, rather than only having a few hours and somewhat tired if I travelled up later, it's quite a long way between London and Edinburgh.

Monmouth

I've travelled from Newport to Monmouth. It's a short distance between the two. Monmouth is two miles from the border with England and sits on the rivers Wye, Monnow and Trothy. It is the birthplace of Henry V.

A Roman Fort called Blestium was built in the area. The Normans built a castle here soon after the conquest of England. Monmouth Castle changed hands three times during the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell visited in 1646 and ordered the castles destruction, he did a lot of that. so there isn't much of the castle left. Behind me is the Monnow Bridge. It is the only remaining mediaeval fortified bridge in the UK.

Monmouthshire Canal

Still in Newport. I'm at a lock on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. The bit in Newport was originally the Monmouthshire Canal linking Newport to Pontnewynydd for transporting coal and iron to Newport. It was started in 1792 and opened in 1796. Later it was joined to another canal network and became the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. Over the years bits of the canal network were closed with it finally being abandoned in 1962 when it was felt nobody would ever use it again. Two years later restoration started on part of it. The section in Newport was made a conservation area in 1998. Work has started on restoring it, this included demolishing and rebuilding the Bettws Lane Bridge. This had been built after the canal had been closed so was too low to allow boats to pass. It's really quite nice to walk along, lots of tasty looking ducks and its easy to forget you're in a city and not far from the M4.