Last week I was in West Linton in the borders for a couple of days, and yesterday and the day before was Dumfries. That meant two very, very long drives down to the bottom of Scotland. It’s a long way, and a part of the world I really don’t know very much. The south of Scotland is that bit that you either drive through or fly over without bothering to stop.

It’s quite nice, to be honest. The scenery is a bit dull – quite undulating and boring – but pretty nevertheless, and all the towns and villages are very well-kept. Dumfries particularly was lovely, I surprised myself to discover. The centre is very nice, with lots of nice old buildings and pokey wee alleyways with olde-worlde pubs, and the river is lovely: I’ve put a few photos in the pictures page.

Still, though… it’s a bloody long way. Without wishing to be a northern parochialist (oh, go on then) it makes you wonder why anyone lives in the south – it’s all so far from anywhere!