Hannah's New Bike

Hannah had a lovely surprise when Santa left her a new bike as he passed over Langholm at Christmas.

Final Day of the Border Abbey Way

Today Tom, John, Martin, and myself completed the last section of the Border Abbey Way from Dalcove Mains to Kelso a distance of 10 miles. We started this project in December last year and have completed the Border Abbeys Way in 6 walks, a total distance of 65 miles.

Jean's 80th Birthday

On Saturday we celebrated Jean's 80th birthday with a lovely lunch in the Buccleuch Centre followed by a get together with all her friends back at her house.
This photograph is of Jean and her sons Niall and Kenny.

Starlings over Gretna

Ullswater Part 2

John, Tom, and i spent the afternoon on Wednesday completing the 2nd half of the walk round the Eastern side of Lake Ulswater. We took the ferry to Howtown and then walked the 5 miles back to Pooley Bridge. The weather was lovely and the views down the lake overlooking Sharrow Bay Hotel were just magnificent.

Brampton Fellwalkers

On Wednesday Tom and i spent our first day out with the Brampton Fellwalkers. We did a 7 mile fairly difficult walk on Rosgill Moor near Shap. The highest hill on the walk was Scalebarrow Knott where from the top you had a lovely view of Haweswater which was built in the 30s as a reservoir for Manchester.

Langholm Academy Prizegiving - 1963

This photograph was in the E & L today and shows John who was Dux and myself as Rugby Captain and our team won the School Championship.

Trip to Kirkcudbright

Bill has just retired from his job at BFA so i had promised to take him to Kirkcudbright to see his sister on the first day of his retirement.
John & Tom accompanied us as the plan was to have a 5 mile walk after we had dropped Bill at his sisters. The weather was absolutely glorious and we enjoyed a lovely walk along the shore and via Buckland Glen past the Cemetary where we stopped for a short while to admire the view over the estuary and the River Dee.

Border Abbey's Way - Melrose to Kelso - Part 1

We only have one section of the walk to complete namely Melrose to Kelso which follows the River Tweed. Today we completed the first 9 miles of this 18 mile section. We will complete part two to celebrate Tom's 66th birthday on 15th December exactly a year from when we started the 65 mile walk, and the 6th day we will have walked.

Autumn in Saltwell Park

A visit on Sunday to Saltwell Park, Gateshead proved to be a lovely afternoon out and Hannah enjoyed playing among the fallen leaves.

Elaine gets some help to cross a stream

Northumbria Walking Club

Diane and Elaine walking up the Meikledale Valley
If you look closely you will see they are all wearing a Tiara

Langholm hosted a Hen Party this weekend with a load of ladies from Northumbria Walking Club spending the weekend here to celebrate Diane Smith's birthday. It certainly is unusual for Geordies to come to langholm for a Hen party. Unfortunately the weather on Saturday was awful so the walk planned for them was cancelled, but they spent the afternoon in the Eskdale and then had a superb meal in the Douglas on Saturday evening. If Saturday's weather was bad Sunday's was absolutely glorious and they all joined the Langholm Walks monthly Ranger led walk up the Meikledale valley a distance of 9 miles. The views from the ridge were superb and they could see as far as the Solway.

The Last of the Summer Wine

On my first day of retirement i was joined by my two best friends for a 5 mile walk in Canonbie.

Tom and John deliberately arrived 5 minutes late to show to me that time is no longer important to us and we have all day to do what we want to do. We plan to do many more walks in the future with Monday being our main walking day and then another walk weather permitting in the middle of the week.

Retirement

I have at long last retired after 24 years in Freight Forwarding and 21 years prior to that in Textiles. Without doubt the last 5 years have been the best and most rewarding at EMS Cargo and i am delighted that my team all came together yesterday to give me a good send off.

This photograph is off the staff and drivers who have played such a part in making the company a great success. Unfortunately Craig was missing due to ilness.

Our family

The road from Mons to Seillance

Fraser and Hannah - The red hair pair

Lunch in Fayence

The last day Fraser and Leslie are going to be with us before flying back to SLC we had lunch in Fayence and will also have a nice meal in a local Restaurant tonight.

Hannah on a slide with Uncle Fraser & Auntie Leslie

Hannah loved this slide in the small play area at the car park in Fayence.

Hannah with Auntie Leslie

Barbecue area

Wattie Bear surveys the view from the balcony

La FONT du BROC Vineyard

La FONT du BROC Vineyard

We visited this Vineyard today and it just looks as if somebody has spent loads of money on their two hobbies wine & horses. The cellar looks as if it is 200 hundred years old but has just been built under the gardens a few years ago. We descended 20 feet down a narrow staircase into the cellar to find about 30 barrels each containing 600 litres of last years vintage wine. The owners have also 13 Austrian horses bred for dressage and the arena they show them off in is just beautiful and can be laid with a special floor to seat 600 people at a wedding. The Chateu is used about 20 times a year for what must be very posh expensive weddings.

Another fountain for Hannah

The perfume train in Grasse

This was one of the nicest ways to see the old quarter of Grasse and it went in areas almost impossible to go in a car. There were 4 carriages and each one gave a commentary in a different language.
The trip lasted 45 minutes and was good value for money.

Leslie and her grape vines

Walking in St. Paul-en-Forest

Another afternoon of walking with Fraser & Leslie in a small village near Fayence called St Paul-en-Forest. We followed a 14km route in a lovely rural area with loads of vineyards.

On top of a local mountain

Fraser, Leslie, and Gavin went hiking this morning and we walked through a forest area expertly guided by Fraser and his GPS. We walked almost 4 miles and were spot on with navigation. We then went to Grasse and met up with the rest of the family and visited the Perfumery Museum and then took a journey on the Perfume Train through the narrow and winding streets of Grasse. The driver was brilliant and how he managed to drive through such narrow streets which were almost impossible for cars i will never know.

The Menger's in Fayence

Hannah loves fountains

Our Family in the South of France

We all arrived here on Saturday with Fraser & Leslie having flown from Salt Lake City to Paris on Thursday and they then spent 2 nights in Paris and arrived in Nice at the same time as the rest of us who flew in from Newcastle. Hannah was so well behaved during the journey and she sat between Granny & Grandad on the aircraft.
The Villa is absolutely beautiful and we have lots of garden with orchard and swimming pool.
Sunday was spent relaxing by the pool and on Monday Gaye & I went shopping while everybody else went to the beach near Cannes. Unfortunately Hannah was car sick but soon recovered after a short break.

John's Birthday Walk from Kelso to Jedburgh

Tom, John & Martin photographed at Kelso Abbey on part 4 of our Border Abbey's Way from Kelso to Jedburgh which is a distance of 14 miles. The weather was reasonably good with only 1 heavy shower and we managed to shelter in a Barn for half an hour. The walk took us along the River Teviot and we counted 13 Herons along the river.

Backpacker Almond

Fraser & Leslie took Almond on her first backpacking trip this weekend into the Uinta Mountains and she behaved very well covering 10 miles plus many more running about the camp site. She has her own backpack for her food.

More Holy Isle

Visit to Holy Isle

I had always wanted to stay on Holy Isle once all the tourists had left and the causeway was closed so we spent a couple of days there this week. Unfortunately the weather was awful and we also had to put up with a Power Cut lasting at least 12 hours so there was no cooked breakfast and no nice morning shower.

Hannah and Granny Gaye

The biggest Thistle in Scotland

Hannah throws stones with Tom

Brian with the Crown emblem bearers

Cornet Simon Richardson

Dinner before the wasps chased us indoors