Tom's Birthday Present

Tom has decided to splash out for his 70th Birthday and he has purchased a Helicopter so him and Bowman the dog can get to the tops of the hills a bit quicker. It actually just happened to be on the golf course as they walked past so dont know who it belongs to or what it was doing on the golf course.

Tom's 70th Birthday Dinner

Tom's 70th birthday celebrations have lasted 6 months as we all clubbed together in July to buy him a Birthday Suit made up from a Reid & Taylor suit length he has had for many years. He takes over as president of Langholm Rotary Club next July so this suit will come in very useful. The climax of his Birthday celebrations was last nights dinner in the Douglas with "The Last of the Summer Wine" walkers.

The Birthday Boy

Looking very serious.

Gaye sitting next to the Birthday boy.

David & Gavin in a serious conversation.

Tom's Birthday Walk and a Numeric Palindrome

This was Tom's Birthday Walk and of course it was held on the 12th day of the 12th month 2012. The weather was cold and dull and the drive to Glenkiln Reservoir was on a very difficult road surface for the last few miles. I managed to slide the car round a bend when I just touched the brakes and the car back end spun round but luckily no damage to the car. This is the Statue of John the Baptist by August Rodin at the edge of the Glenkiln Reservoir. It was a bit cold to be standing with no clothes on but John did not seem to mind.



The nicest of all the statues agreed by all of us was the Visitation of the Virgin Mary by Sir Jacob Ebstein and it was at exactly 12.12pm on the 12th of December 2012 that we took this photograph.



This is the Statue of the King & Queen by Henry Moore overlooking the Glenkiln Reservoir. Tom seems to be getting very friendly with the Queen.

River Annan & Solway Coast Walk

Today's weekly walk we decided to head for the Solway coast to do the river Annan and the footpath to Newbie and then along part of the Solway coast. It was a glorious day for walking but very cold. This is the Annan to Newbie footpath with the railway bridge over the river Annan in the background.

Annan Harbour and a fishing boat that you would wonder how it got there, but the tide when it comes in makes the river Annan navigable for a few hours.

Cochran Boiler Works on the River Annan. In the old days the boilers were shipped on special barges out into the Solway. I shipped Cochran Boilers spares round the world for the 24 years I worked in the Airfreight Industry and it was always a pleasure to visit my contact there Mario Motroni and I have spent many hours in the Spares Department and the Office. They are still good customers of my old company EMS Cargo Ltd. When I first went there in 1984 they had 750 employees and now there will be less than 200.

Back O' the Hill, Annan. Such an imaginative name.

The main Road Bridge over the Annan taken from the footbridge near the Harbour.

Annan Harbour which is hardly ever used these days and is definately in need of some dredging work.