InvictaMoto's Devall Boys!

In 1969 the family moved to Weybridge, Surrey. With Paul & I having flown the nest, Dad gone his own way too, mum left in 1984, to join  my wife Debbie and I in Kent. We all carried/carry many happy memories of our time at Berkeley Court. An idyllic location, the house has a lake, yes a huge lake, stretching away at the bottom of the garden. On the 25th May 2013, I found that my planned weekend activities would take me right past the end of the road I spent my teens growing up in. What a great opportunity then, to kick off the Ashes Tour, with a mini excursion to the place where mum had spent a good number of years bringing up her two sons and caring for her husband. So, I duly popped her in the car and Cath and I took her back 'home' to Weybridge. Ma, myself and our former residence, 59 Berkeley Court.

The subject of the tour, namely, our ma, has rejoined the family today. I'd been in touch with the undertakers and asked when we could collect her. Matthew, the funeral director, only lives a few minutes drive from me, so agreed to drop her off. I took possession at approximately 18:40 BST 12th April, 2 months and 1 day since the curtains closed on her. 23 years ago, when our dad died, his ashes were presented in a plastic container, not unlike a sunny delight bottle. Times have changed though and for the better. Inside a nice 'gift' bag is a tasteful tube, akin to those a bottle of champers would come in, only slightly taller and wider in diameter.  Very nice indeed and a fitting, temporary resting place for ma. Just one concern, will she fit in the panniers/topbox for the ride up to Scotland? 

As this is a joint blog between me and my brother Neill, I have invited him to become an author here on the Ashes Tour.    

Good news today. I had emailed the Rothiemurchus Estate a while back and chased them up this week, and today they have replied. The Ashes can be scattered near the Loch with a couple of provisos that it is done privately and not into the Loch's feeder stream. I have replied and thanked them. One thing more to tick off the list.

The route we have planned to take from Kent to the Loch aka The Drop Zone.

Many years ago my Mother brought up in conversation, in jest I expect, that when she was dead and cremated that her ashes should be taken back to the spiritual home of her family in Scotland. Her maiden name was Shaw.  Clan Shaw has a long and interesting history that goes back many centuries to the Wolf of Badenoch in the Highlands of Scotland. The ancestral home is the castle at Loch an Eilein near Aviemore in the Cairngorms. And so the Ashes Tour was born in late January 2013 with a tour date of August 2013. Brothers Paul and Neill on the road to do the deed. More on the places we'll visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_an_Eilein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattan_Confederation

We were up about the same time I get up for work and out of the house about 0820 and by 0840 I had secured my first coffee of the day. Before the off! As usual the shuttle was late leaving by about 10 minutes. First stop Auchun to fill the tank. Diesel is much cheaper in France at €1.348 a litre rather that £1.45. At the current exchange rate that makes it about £1.15!!! A considerable saving. An £80 tank was about £60 instead. The first problem was TomTom failed. No map of Germany. With no paper map we had to follow our noses. Having been this way before I knew the route and occasionally used the Skrobbler app on my phone to check when we were nearby. We had a coffee break about 1.30pm and arrived at about 4.15pm at the hotel. Arena Hotel The room is small but clean and cheap! Once checked in we set off for the Stadium to see where to go in daylight. The bratwurst and beer stands had barely opened and so we ended up in Burger King by ...