12th April 25. New Abbey and Carlisle.

This is how to take this job to your advantage.

Stayed at parents house in Carlisle last night after our drive to Glasgow. Today is a new day. Sunshine again. So I asked my mother who rarely gets out these days. If she wanted a quick trip to Dumfries and a drive round the coast and a stop at New Abbey on the coast route from Dumfries to Dalbeattie. One of my favourite roads back when I was a younger and definitely more risk taking driver

I had a car to collect in Dumfries for delivery Monday in Grantham. So we took a train from Carlisle to Dumfries. The Dealership was directly opposite the station so I went to collect the car from James Haugh Vauxhall. A very old established dealer, that I remember being here when I lived in the area over 50 years ago.

I collected the Peugeot Partner van based MPV and felt like the pensioner I nearly am. I should add, disabled pensioner. This was a Motability car bought by the dealership in Grantham it was going to on Monday.

Having collected the vehicle. I'm not calling it a car.

We all jumped in and made our way to New Abbey for a coffee. Obviously this delighted my mom and she really enjoyed her journey out. Which made the extra driving worthwhile.

Sweetheart Abbey

After New Abbey. We continued on the coast road . It was again a clear sunny day and the road follows the southern facing Solway Coast around past Kirkbean, Birth place of John Paul Jones in 1747 who is called the father of the US Navy. Died in Paris in 1792 only 45. But buried in 1913 in the Naval Academy Maryland USA.

Not sure where he was in between. But hopefully not sat in his chair in Paris somewhere.

The road carries on past Southerness a caravan holiday destination and golf course.

When I was younger you could actually drive your car down onto the beach, tide out obviously. Continue along the sand and over a rocky path to an amazing sandy beach totally cut off from everything. Huge clean sand dunes up from the water edge and hiding you from everything. You could take your car and sit there for hours and never see a soul. In those days it was in my 1975 Lancia Fulvia coupe. A car that took me along that coast road at ridiculous speeds. Handling the twisty undulating roads effortlessly. Occasionally racing a mark one Escort or similar. Always holding its own and never overtaken.

It's dog leg gearbox and 1.3 V4 twin choke double carburetors giving me enough power and handling to treat this road like my personal racetrack. Today, this road seems too small and cars today are just too big and too many speed limits now. It's not possible.

I have many, many stories about this road and my antics on it. Most unprintable.

The road then heads round towards Colvend, then branches off to Rockliffe. Another haunt and drinking point in my days. But today we go onwards past Kippford, a small yachting coastal village. Lived here briefly.

And on past Dalbeattie. My school days town and back to Dumfries on the A711.

This road used to be about 12 miles town to town and between both towns speed restrictions. Where the 30 mph finished and started. I used to be able to do it in 10 minutes flat. Seriously. That's an average of over 70mph.

Nowhere near possible today with the traffic and speed restrictions. Not there in the 70s. And not to forget the speed cameras. It takes about 30 minutes today if you are lucky.

I wouldn't want to go back as I enjoy what today gives us. But those were good times.