Thanks for the comments guys.
A few selective replies:
bka0721: Yep, more cloudy, wet and cold it definitely is. When Sally says "I'd like to do a couple of weeks in Scotland" I keep reminder her of my Friend Toby's valid point "Why drive to Scotland when you could drive to the South of France in the same distance? - the weather is much nicer down there".
Supercharged: Glad you enjoyed your trip to our country. OK, you weren't camping, but that can be a challenge in the UK because all the beautiful parts are challenging for RVs unless you are pretty used to coping with the parking and camping restriction, narrow roads, driving on the left, etc.
cewillis: Yes, the dogs were extremely skilled, but then the farmer was very skilled at controlling them and was probably the one who trained them in the first place. It was a masterful display.
joerg68: You were very lucky there with the waste trap. I have found something that looks similar for sale in the UK fairly cheaply, so I've ordered it and will give it a go.
jefe 4x4: I kind of liked the snow :). Plus bad weather means you get the mountain to yourself. I'd seen a documentary on Helvellyn where they pointed out that you never have the summit to yourself. In our case we did - there was heavy rain most of the night - the sort of rain you get in Britain that once it starts you expect it to continue all day. So I suspect everyone else waited until they realised the rain was reducing - but we were already an hour ahead of them by then.
Crosscheck: We aren't really city people. As much as things like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben are great, we'd much rather be climbing up some crag in the Lake District or Scotland. That scramble up Striding Edge would have been great in dry weather in lighter footwear. The really narrow bits on the knife-edge at the top of the scramble weren't safe in the rain and side-winds wearing heavy hiking boots. So during the most extreme bits we had to drop down slightly so we had a hand-hold or at least weren't balancing on a ridge. However, if we had been in good weather then there would have been loads of people making the climb which itself would have spoiled the tranquillity of the place.
Silversand: Yes, that carved map in the bench was exceptional. A sign post indicated that it and other refurbishments to the canal it was above (the bench was on a trail that went over the canal tunnel) were paid for by an EU fund of some sort. And people think we only pay money INTO the EU. Re. the hiking gear. The Brasher boots were great, I've been wearing those Darn Tough socks (actually military ones rather than specific hiking ones) under other hiking socks. The Karrimor Event membrane mountain jacket - I've had mixed results with. It is clearly breathable and well ventilated, but during the climb up Helvellyn in the rain I got quite wet. But I think I did have the zipped pockets open which was probably my mistake. I'll see how I do over the winter. It was only £85 in the sale; but I would have been pretty upset if I paid the full £240 price. A big success this time was I realised I didn't have a decent day pack. So I recently bought a 25 litre Lowe Alpine Airzone pack - and its great. I sweat a lot when hiking, but this sits off my back and makes a huge difference, plus has a lot of premium features.
Steve.
