A Walk to Sandgreen from Cally Palace for Day 2 of our Walking Holiday

Day 2 of our walking week and we headed out to Gatehouse of Fleet for a walk starting in the grounds of the Cally Palace  Hotel. 

The 8.4 mile circular walk took us to Sandgreen where the tide was in and our game of Beach Volleyball had to be cancelled due to the tide. 

It was however the perfect place to stop for a picnic lunch.

The first half of the walk took us through a lovely wooded area and then we followed the coastal path.

The 3 back markers due to Ken being unable to walk and talk at the same time 

This gentleman was separated from a field of cows and looked a bit unhappy about it.

The mileage signs are much better and cleaner than the old road signs that never seem to be cleaned nowadays 

Back home after the walk Peter took Elizabeth out for a row in the boat provided by the house.

A Boat Trip and a Dalbeattie Forrest Walk via Kippford & Rockcliffe

The morning started with John, Peter, Ken and myself going out on the Loch in the houses rowing boat. Talk about 4 men in a boat but it was great fun and hard work. Peter and John used the oars and Ken and I had the paddles. All the wild life soon disappeared due to the noise we were making. 

The two paddlers

John and Peter rowing like mad but unable to keep us in a straight line

Our first walk of the holiday was through Dalbeattie Forest and then down the coast through Kippford and Dalbeattie a distance of about 7 miles although 4 of us cheated and got the bus from Rockcliffe back to Colvend to save Martin from the long up hill.

I always love seeing these little people on the coast path at Kippford 

Niall & Elspeth on the shell beach at Kippford 

Martin & Tom

The walking party

A Bridge Too Far

Our original plan for todays walk was to do a route in Hawick but the forecast for this morning was bad so we postponed it until 12.30pm and instead opted for the Bridges of Langholm. Unfortunately due to various other commitments we could only do 10 of the bridges and the bridges at Becks, Auld Stane and Skippers were not done.  

The Duchess Bridge which is the oldest cast iron bridge in Scotland

The High Mill Bridge built in 1821 

The Rugby Club bridge built by the Royal Engineers in 1985

This bridge at Whitshiels is disputed but it goes over the Whitshiels Burn so should be included as a genuine Langholm Bridge.

The Sawmill bridge recently renovated after a tree fell on it during a storm

The Jubilee bridge and somehow Tom has acquired two dogs 

The main Langholm bridge built in 1776

The Suspension bridge originally called the Boatford bridge which collapsed with the weight of people on it when it was opened in 1871

The Parish Kirk bridge and by now only Tom wants his photograph taken 

The final bridge of our walk is the Park Bridge from where we headed to Ardlui for coffee and biscuits in the garden 

Walk 1 - Becks and Gaskells Walk

These photographs are taken from Walk 1 of the Langholm & Eskdale Walks Booklet and are to be used by the E & L as part of a feature on a regular basis of the 14 waymarked walks in this booklet.   

A Day out at Ribblehead

I like when a day goes to plan. We set of from Langholm at 7.45am and even Tom was on time. The plan was to catch the 8.55am train from Carlisle to Ribblehead on the Carlisle to Settle railway line. At Carlisle station we met Ken who had travelled down from Edinburgh and at Ribblehead we were joined by Ken's partner Anne who had travelled from Blackpool. Bang on time we set of on a 5 mile walk on a route from the famous Ribblehead Viaduct. The weather was perfect and at times very warm.

Ken finds he cannot walk and talk at the same time so is always bringing up the rear

A freight train crosses the viaduct 

At a farm we came across these 4 pigs enjoying the warm summer sun

It's a good job we have a geologist in the party as Niall was able to explain this limestone outcrop to us. 

Yet another train crosses the viaduct

The meadows were full of wild flowers 

This was a huge fungi at the base of a tree trunk 

Back near the railway station this was our final view of the Ribblehead Viaduct. We had time for a pint and a light lunch in the Station Pub and then bang on time caught the 2.05pm train back to Carlisle to be back in Langholm by 4.30pm after a perfect day.

A Beautiful Walk at Silloth

It was over 2 years ago since we last walked at Silloth and that had been in the middle of winter and not a very good day. Niall had not been to Silloth since his days with the Sunday School Trip. This time the weather was perfect but only the 3 of us managed to make it.  

The tide was well out 

Criffel which is 1870 ft seems so close on the other side of the Firth

The next best thing to a Selfie looking into a mirror outside a house 

This is the Skinburness Hotel which has been derelict for many years. Tom and I remember having lunch in there many years ago. It is sad to see this once very nice hotel look so dilapidated now.