Fiona and Leo Celebrate 4 + 0 Party

Fiona and Mario held this party in the Rising Sun Country Park in Newcastle and their friends turned out in force to celebrate Fiona's 40th Birthday and Leo's 4th Birthday.

The kids along with Mums and Dads took part in a Treasure Hunt which had been set by Mario. This took us on a walk through the lovely Country Park with various clues to keep us on our toes. 

Plenty of food for hungry kids after the Treasure Hunt.

Birthday Girl Fiona with Captain Raggiebeard the Children's entertainer. He did a great job and kept the kids amused for almost 2 hours.

Hannah tries not to smile while being tickled with a feather by Captain Raggiebeard. She was eventually forced to smile.

Gaye with Fiona's University friend Helen from Edinburgh. 

The Birthday boy with the Birthday Girl.

The Birthday Cake.

The Sunken (and Muddy) Lanes of Cumbria

Having spent some time researching new walks in Cumbria I found what looked to be a hidden gem in a booklet called Solway Coast Rambles. I was unable to get the information I required from the internet so contacted Solway Coast ( area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) office in Silloth and they very kindly sent me the booklet containing 5 walks. The walk planned today was no 5 starting in Burgh by Sands and called the Solway Villages Trail. A lot of the walk was along the Sunken Lanes with high hedges or "Kests". These old lanes are a snap shot in time and are living examples of what highways looked like in Medieval times. We made the fatal mistake of doing this walk in the early part of winter when we should have done it during a dry summer. It was horrendous but it was a mile before we really hit the bad bits and by then it was too late to turn back. It took us almost 2 hours to do 3 miles and at times we thought it was impassable but Peter lead us with great bravery and we managed to make it to the village of Thurstonfield and then made the decision to return to Burgh by Sands along the B roads.

The Statue of Edward 1st in Burgh by Sands (Longshanks). 

John and Peter smiling at the start but they were not smiling for long and my name was mud for most of the walk just like the conditions under foot. 

In the Sunken Lane.

This was the driest part of the Sunken Lane but it was very difficult walking. We were sheltered from any wind but we saw very little of the surrounding countryside due to the very high hedges.

It's getting wetter and muddier. 

This was the worst part with the lane flooded to a depth of about 2 feet and the only way past it was to creep along the newly cut hedgerow with Peter bravely leading the way.

John is not a lover of water especially when it is as muddy as this.

This is Thurstonfield Lough which once upon a time provided water to several corn mills.

From here we decided to return to Burgh by Sands along the easy B road and miss out the final Sunken Lane. This was a good decision and enabled us to have a nice bar lunch in the Drovers Inn. If we had continued along the Sunken Lanes it would probably have taken another 2 hours to do the last 2 miles.

I should add that Tom had decided not to accompany us today as he was unwell but maybe this was an excuse as he knew what we were heading into. Looking back on it after completion it was an adventure but this booklet will remain in a drawer until next summer when we may attempt the other 4 walks in dry conditions, although I doubt if it will ever be that easy.

These photographs were taken on my I phone and uploaded to the blog from my I Pad so the quality is probably not as good as if they had been taken on my camera but I hope they give people the feeling of how hard the walk was.

A Lochmaben Walk

Today's Wednesday walk took us to Lochmaben for a walk round Castle Loch via Marlake. There was 3 of us this week as John was down from Edinburgh so with good weather forecast we headed off at 9.30 am.

John and Tom overlooking Lochmaben Golf Club where Tom has played many times. He was keen to show us the 15th hole which is a par 5 and is going to be dramatically restructured at a huge cost next year. Both John and Tom were very critical of the existing hole but I as a non golfer could see nothing wrong with it. I am sure the restructuring of it will still make it a difficult hole and if you play it well it will be a good hole but if you play it badly it will be a poor hole. That is the nature of golfers. They are rarely happy.

Burnswark in the distance from the Golf course.

Our next point of interest was the ruins of Lochmaben Castle by the shores of Castle Loch. 

From here the route took us through some very marshy ground but fortunately there were loads of boardwalks in place to help us through the wetland area. 

The board walks provided good access through the marshland area to the bird hide by the shore of the Loch.

Castle Loch from the bird hide.

A swan seen from pathway near the bird hide.

The section of the walk at the south end of Castle Loch was very wet and in some places almost impossible to get through without water going over the top of your boots. In the spring it must be a superb habitat for wild birds but today it was just a boggy marshland.

On the way home Tom insisted we stopped at Crowdieknowe where Langholm poet Hugh MacDiarmid  used to visit an uncle many times and it is mentioned in one of his poems. 

The old cemetery and the new one below.

A lovely walk spoiled only by the very wet marshy area but ending with a lovely plate of soup in the Bakery Cafe in Lochmaben.

Dryburgh Abbey and the Tweed

Today's walk started at St Boswells and was a 5 mile circuit along the Tweed and through the village of Dryburgh. We had decided to head east as the weather forecast indicated dry weather at St Boswells up to about 2.00pm and it was spot on as it started raining just as we left St. Boswells at 2.30pm after a superb walk in good weather with the sun even shining for the last couple of miles. 

The first part of the walk followed the river Tweed and there were a considerable number of fishers out as the conditions were perfect. This fisher with a gillie rowing the boat was fishing the stretch belonging to the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel and must have paid a small fortune to fish. 

We passed this way 2.5 hours later just as they were finishing for the day and they had caught nothing.

We crossed this Suspension Btidge to take us over to the village of Dryburgh.

The next place of interest was the Temple of the Muses which was originally built in 1817 by local landowner the Earl of Buchan as a tribute to the poet James Thomson.

The Temple of the Muses

From here we headed uphill through the woods to the statue of William Wallace which was also built by the Earl of Buchan in 1814.

After this we headed to the entrance to Dryburgh Abbey but as both Tom and I had been there before we decided not to go in.

This is the view over the Eildons from the statue of William Wallace.

This gate is in memory of someone but I have forgotten who it was. It is a bit of a Folly as it leads nowhere.

The way back took us along the Tweed again and we finished the walk in St Boswells at a book shop cafe with an overpriced fairly poor lunch which was a pity as the staff were very pleasant but it was not good value for money.

Back Walking Again

After a 3 week break from walking due to this horrible virus that hit the Graham family we headed up to Eskdalemuir today for a 6 mile walk from Samye Ling round the alternative forestry transport road. This was built at a cost of £5m a few years ago so that forestry wagons could avoid the village of Eskdalemuir. In the 1.5 hours on this road there were 7 loaded wagons and 3 unloaded wagons used the road so it is getting well used.

2 old Stupas plus the Samye Ling one

An empty forestry wagon passes by

A loaded wagon heads our way

The view from the forestry road.

Tom and John about to be run over by a forestry wagon.

Eskdalemuir Kirk

The entrance to the Samye Ling retreat

The last mile of the walk along a perfect track beside the road for walkers and cyclists that takes you from the village to the Buddhist Monastery.

This was a most enjoyable walk on a perfect day but I was glad to see the finish and it is going to take me a wee while to get back to my pre virus fitness when walks of 7 miles or further we're no bother at all. It still annoys me that Gaye and I should be in California for October enjoying beautiful weather with our American grandchildren but will re book once we are fully fit again. 

Parton Heritage Trail at Loch Ken

This would be the last walk of the year for Niall before he heads back to Australia so we decided to head for Loch Ken in the hope of seeing some Red Kites. The plan was to walk the Parton Heritage Trail but it is not completed yet so we could only walk half of it and a distance of about 4 miles. We did see Red Kites and a pair of them flew right over the top of us.

This is a Nuthatch feeding at one of the RSPB Hides on the Ken-Dee Marshes near Laurieston which was the second half of our days walk. 

Underneath the Feeding Station was this wee mouse living on the bits dropped by the birds

After we completed the Parton Heritage Trail we walked along the main road for half a mile and there sitting in a lay bye was Willie Mitchell an ex Langholmite and a good friend of Tom and I. He was there on his way to pick up a patient from New Galloway so we had a short but very enjoyable crack about happy times in Langholm.

A better photo of the Nuthatch.

Loch Ken

The RSPB reserve on the marshes from the bird hide. It was too early for the winter Geese as they will arrive in mid October.

The Red Kite flying high in the sky. We did manage to see them a bit closer but by the time I had focused my camera they had moved away.

At the highest point of the Parton Heritage Trail with a lovely view over Loch Ken.

River Esk Walk

It is quite some time since I posted anything on my blog but my Laptop has been playing up and is still not working properly so these next few blogs will be from my I Pad. 

A couple of weeks ago I took Peter and Elizabeth on the River Esk walk from Canonbie to Langholm. It had been proposed that this walk would be published as a Waymarked walk in our next edition of Langholm Walks but unfortunately Buccleuch Estates have scuppered this by not allowing it to be developed. this is a great pity as it is without doubt one of the nicest walks in the whole area but needs to be signposted to help walkers find the way. There is no reason for people not to give it a try and I am willing to act as a guide to anybody wanting to explore it.

Peter and Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed the walk and agree with me that it is very beautiful.

This is taken at the Mill Stream at Hollows mill. The walk is particularly attractive at Irving House which has been empty now for a good number of years. We all agreed it would make a superb high class Hotel so maybe somebody will buy it for future development.