21st Apr Boxed ponies to Invegarry to start the day-having had to jump lead the lorry yet again ! Had a good rest in delightful lodge chalets at Torlundy Farm, home of Chris and Siobhan Carver at the foot of Ben Nevis, still with a lot of snow. Left in pouring rain which remained with us most of the morning. Jonathan gave Abi her first driving lesson with her Basil and William. Lesson went well and Abi pleased. Felix and Archie put on after lunch, but Felix went lame soon after so Basil was pulled out to do more with Archie - and was a total star. I nfact the dear chap did approx 30 plus miles - bless him. This made us late for our stopover at Lagnaha  Farm. We walked into the yard at 8.45pm. But the kitchen fairies did us proud with a lovely supper.  Thank you Pip and Heather. Hasty phone calls to get a farrier but pleased to say arranged one for our rest day tomorrow.  Jonathan's last evening with us as he has to get back to Halifax to pick up 3 horses and take them home to break to drive. Abi's parents popping in and out yet again and taking lots of photos . Evening sun was gorgeous so made the drive so lovely even though we had very tired ponies. Hopefully a well earned rest tomorrow will do the trick. 

20th Apr

20th Apr -  drove back to Muir of Ord and started at the distillery! Have a bottle in the post promised. Drove. The ponies had a long drive back to Drumnadrochit with a long downhill at the end. The road we were planning on using was closed due to an accident but all was fine by the time the team came back through and our journey was a success and ended up at Invergarry. We boxed the ponies back to Torlundy farm where we were given  chalets for us all and a large paddock for team chinkwell. To finish the day we all sat around the table to tuck into traditional scottish tea of 'wee little beasties' ...haggis, which went down well considering the first thoughts... 

Following on from 19th Apr

We (Trish, Abi, Lizzie and John) decided we would stay at a b&b as we didn't fancy roughing it again...cold, damp horse manure scented lorry or warm bed, with shower/bath room and breakfast made for you...I know which I'd pick! We all planned to go out for a meal but we then missed that so thought our last resort is a fish and chip shop which didn't look fab  (Lizzie and Abi laughing in anxiousness at the sight  of the place). Then we spotted a lovely quiet Indian restaurant with quite an entertaining waiter, a Bangladeshi Yorkshireman who had worked all over the highlands. Had a lovely meal and finally got into bed at way gone midnight.  But was a good day all in all done the miles and the ponies were bright as buttons.

19 Apr - Dornoch
Called in at Glen Morrangie to warm the stomach for the day ahead, very nice. Another bottle added to the auction lots.
A9 a lot busier and Scottish driving doesn't slow down for ponies even in the driving rain. Glad to turn off to Muir of Ord on quieter roads.


18 Apr- Inver
Planned early start - lorry won't start again, horse rescue called yet again. However Keith and Rhona at the b & b put all our gale damage right to lorry tailgate and rear doors and tent, so set off in good spirits and sunshine.
Undulating road and kamikaze lorry drivers made the first leg tiring on the ponies so they were rested and driven again later in the day.
Made Dornoch and stayed on a small camp site on Mill Farm owned by David and Michelle. Set up camp, refuelled on lasagne, salad and a little bit of the special local water!

Archie and felix (left to right)

DIY, good job men

17 Apr- John O'Groats
Got away late in gale force winds and rain, followed by the jeep. Then the call "the lorry won't start, have you got any jump leads." Jeep goes back.

2.5 hrs later repaired lorry, jeep and ponies reunited at Wick Tesco, cold and wet and miserable. Ponies and Jeep head off, "lorry won't start". An hour later Horse Rescue escort lorry to garage for a new battery and Wick becomes a distant memory.
Made 40 miles on the day still, and found a good b&b to dry out at Inver. Damage to trailer doors, tent and morale.
Hot shower then excellent food at The Bay Owl and a few wee drams improved the mood.  The owner Trevor has promised a bottle of his whiskey for our auction.

Leaving John o'groats in the foul weather with felix and Archie

We haven't managed to leave John o'groats...oops

Refueling on ponies

16 Apr- Amanda's
Trisha in seventh heaven, ponies everywhere.   Driving animals,sheep,pigs?
Archie jumps stable door twice! Spooked by the pigs who wanted to know who the new boys in town were.
Long haul to JOG via Dalwhinnie distillery, and bottle for the auction.foul weather strong winds and rain. Arrived in at 8.00pm and set up tents.

The driving sheep of Amanda's :o

Important stop off at dalwhinnie...the distillery

Must have sucked to be you then...

Day one

We had a hectic start to the day with many fairies running around helping to get everything packed on time...we arrived only 10 minutes late (it could have been worse ). We had a big welcome by the villagers involving tea, coffee, biscuits and photos (and lots of them) at the point of leaving we loaded the ponies and set off on our journey. We arrived at our destination of Lockerbie (and had a very warm and positive welcome by Amanda and john...chariots of fire). Well that was just fabulous we met lots and lots of ponies, 4 tame sheep that are used for her carriage demonstrations along with her 3 cows, donkey and their 2 koon koon pigs who Archie wasn't sure about so jumped out over the stable door (twice may I add)! We had an eventful journey in the lorry of trying to tune a radio (of which we failed miserably at), the radios falling out of the designated spot and taking a head dive. We had such a warm welcome by amanda and John who supplied us the stables, hay ledge, electricity, 3 beds, electricity and a full breakfast for all 7 of us! I think the deserve a big thank you and we are very grateful and so were the ponies. The 4 of us who roughed it in the lorry realised how cold it is at Scotland and experienced ice drops on the roor seeing our own breath and in general being chilly... But the spirits stayed high and we all had a good night and have set off to John o'groats this morning. Will keep you all informed throughout the journey. Trish, pip, abs, heather, Kevin, , lizzie, John, basil, Felixstowe, Archie and wills x

Shouldn't the ponies be doing that?

Loading one of the carriages

Getting the ponies ready

The lorry ready for off!

Felix, Archie, Just William and Basil wondering what all the fuss is about

The people of Oakford make sure they go!

April 13th 2012

Today we had an interview with Emma Britton on BBC Somerset radio.
Well we went into their 'Green Room', actually the kitchen and waited to record the interview. The nice man said I'll put the radio on whilst you wait. On came Emma Britton saying after the news I'll be talking to Kevin & Jane about Team Chinkwell etc........
So a live interview, not a recording to use later that we had expected. Good job we didn't have too much time to get nervous!!!
Still it's in the can and if you missed it, you will find the interview 2hrs 7 mins 30 secs into her programme on i player at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00qgp3h