The Rig Valley

This is one of my favourite photos from The Rig Valley on Westerhall Estate.

A Visit to Aglionby

As Tom is still not fully fit for walking we were invited for lunch to Peter and Elizabeth’s house in Aglionby near Carlisle. It was great to catch up with them as it was August when we last saw them. 

Two Walks in Edinburgh

I travelled to Tweedbank and got the train to Brunstane near Musselburgh in Edinburgh to be met by John, Ken, and Martin. Unfortunately Tom was still not very well and therefore unable to join us. We really missed him and never had an argument all day. John had planned 2 walks for us. The first one on Newhailes House Estate and the second one on Carberry Tower Estate. The total distance was almost 6 miles and we ended the walk with a lovely lunch in Carberry Tower Bistro.  

This was the closest we got to the sea near Musselburgh before we turned back inland to Newhailes House

This is Newhailes House now owned by The National Trust for Scotland and at the moment closed for renovation, although some of the facilities are available in the gardens and stables. 

Martin outside the Newhailes Shell Grotto which was part of a mid 18th Century pleasure ground near Musselburgh in East Lothian. It included other features such as a Palladian Bridge and a Tea or Summerhouse. 

A good autumnal view over Edinburgh 

Our second walk was in the grounds of Carberry Tower just a 10 minute car journey from our first walk. In the grounds we saw this memorial stone where Mary Queen of Scots surrendered to The Confederate Lords on 15th June 1567.  

Martin attempting to keep his trousers clean on the muddy paths

The most spectacular part of the day was to walk down this avenue of Sequoia Trees in the grounds of Carberry Tower 

This shows just how large the trees are. They seeds were brought to Scotland by a Scotsman called John Matthew in 1853 and they seem to like Scotland as they don't like hot summers and like a lot of rain.

Carberry Tower once owned by The Church of Scotland and now a very nice hotel. I made it back to Brunstane Station in time for the 3.00pm train and was back in Langholm by 5.00pm after a very enjoyable day in excellent company.

Kippford to Rockliffe via Rough Island

The Causeway from Kippford to Rough Island. If you are going to go there its important you check the tide times as you could easily get stranded as the tide comes in so fast.

It was only Tom and myself yesterday so with a good forecast for the whole of the South of Scotland we decided to go to Kippford and with the tide times perfect to enable us to walk to Rough Island and then do the circular path to Rockliffe and back. We arrived there at 10.15am and as high tide was not until 3.00pm we had a window of about 2.5 hours to cross to Rough Island. You need a 2 hour window each side of low tide. This is Kippford at low tide. You are not allowed to visit Rough Island between 1st May and 31st July to prevent disturbance to beach nesting birds.   

The walk along the shore from the car park takes you to this area where a local resident has for many years displayed many figures like these. Its a great place to take kids to see the many interesting figures. 

The beach at Kippford composed almost entirely out of Cockle Shells 

The view from the highest point on Rough Island looking over to Heston Island 

Tom at the highest point on Rough Island with Rockcliffe in the background.

The view from Rough Island looking towards Screel

The village of Rockcliffe

Looking back towards Kippford. It was a perfect day and we finished with a lovely lunch at The Anchor Hotel and then tea and cake at Canonbie Community Cafe on the way home.