A trip to Scotland is one Steve and I always enjoy, and look forward to. We took a booking from Michelle for an embroidery machine service in Edinburgh. She has about seven or eight of the Brother PR multi needle embroidery machines. And Michelle is now firmly established as a regular customer.
On our long trips across the country we usually make an early start. So I drove round to Steves for a 5:30am briefing over coffee and teacakes. This time there was no evidence of singeing on the cakes – Steve’s improving.
Tebay Services
Anyway, heading up to Scotland means generally less traffic. Once we pass the turn off for Blackpool (M55) the cars and trucks begin to thin out. And of course the other feature of a Scotland trip is – Tebay Services. Any regular and weary motorway traveller has many tales to tell about service stations. Usually bad! Tebay however is the exception. Clean, airy and welcoming. They also do a tasty ‘Full English’ or, for those on a strict diet, a lovely Sausage Barm which can be improved by a dash of HP sauce.
Refreshed, we continued our journey north. The day was clear, warm and sunny and as I mentioned, the traffic grew light. Motoring up the M6 through Cumbria on a day like this was a beautiful experience.
Lovely Scenery
The scenery is fabulous and knocks you for six. Especially when you consider that most of our ‘PR Trips’ are down south. The M6 south corridor mainly offers views of motorway embankments, large industrial warehouses and traffic jams. The landscape of Cumbria and Scotland, on the other hand… Also, the sheep dotted half a mile up the hills are always a pleasant sight.
The traffic thinned further still, and the sunshine glint from a shiny silver tanker caught my eye. We were on the incline and the driver was making steady progress in a climb gear. I gave him a wave a we sailed by. The hills grew taller and greener and sky bigger and bluer, and Stevie and I fell into quiet reflection. We share the driving, measuring out the route during our morning briefings and then split it into equal shares.
Penrith
Our first call was to Sian, in Penrith, so we could collect her Brother PR680W for it’s first service. As Sian had bought her embroidery machine from us, we’d brought a free loan PR model with us to minimise her ‘down time’.
We stood, we chatted, we laughed. Sian told us how brisk her embroidery business had become. There were even plans afoot to move into a commercial unit, and expand further. Saying our goodbyes, and a promise to return next week, we headed on to Scotland.
Edinburgh
Two calls await us in the beautiful and historic city of Edinburgh.
Elaine on one side of the city and Michelle on the other. Takes about 30-40 minutes to drive between the two. Elaine has two machines to collect, including the ten needle Brother PR1050X. And Michelle has three. Both run busy embroidery businesses, but cater for different customers. So with the one PR680W we collected from Sian in Penrith, we now have six PR’s in the van. A good days work. Time to head back home – with a few stops on the way…
Robert Boa in Biggar
Our trips to Edinburgh would not be complete without a stop in Biggar. And when in Biggar a trip to Robert Boa, the Hardware shop, is practically essential. This time round we stocked up on the long Phillips screwdrivers we use on all our Brother PR service and repair work. They are the perfect length to get right inside the various mechanisms. Screwdrivers bought, we continue on our journey home.
Heading Home
Travelling up, down and around the highways and byways we see various sites. From beautiful scenery to all sorts of cars – the exotic and the quirky. We saw this kit car on the first return leg.
If you’d like to watch our YouTube video of this trip, please CLICK HERE...
