Canonbie to Langholm along the Esk

 One of my favourite walks is from Canonbie to Langholm along the river Esk. I had hoped to turn it into one of the Langholm Walks a few years ago but we were refused permission by Buccleuch Estates. Since then I have walked it at every opportunity and taken many people for their first experience of what I think is one of the nicest walks in Scotland. We set out this morning with a poor weather forecast but we were lucky and the rain stayed away. Niall will be heading back to Australia on Saturday so this will be his last walk with us for a while.

We were followed by this herd of cattle for a while but they soon disappeared once Tom started talking about his great round of Golf yesterday. Unfortunately we had no option but to listen to him.  

Superb autumn colours at Hollows Mill and on the left you can see their new Archimedes Screw which will soon be in use to give them Hydro Power.

Gilnockie Tower which is used by one of the 2 rival Armstrong Clan Groups. If the 2 organisations could pool their resources and work together they might achieve something but at the moment it seems to be a complete wast of time and effort.  

Irving House which has been empty for many years but has I believe just been sold and may even be turned into a sporting lodge. It would be great as a very classy hotel so maybe time will tell. 

A Walk from Howtown to Glenridding on Ullswater

Todays walk was in the Lake District and we took the Ferry from Glenridding to Howtown and then walked the 7 miles back to Glenridding. The weather was glorious and the Ferry had a full load of passengers. This is Glenridding from the stern of the Ferry. 

The footpath round the lake was tough in places and you had to watch where you put your feet. This is the start of the walk just half a mile from the pier at Howtown.  

Half way round the lake we heard these rowers shouting out the timing for their row. We think they will be from the Outward Bound school on the lake and they were having a great time. 

The Ferry makes its way back along the lake heading for the furthest point at Pooley Bridge.

The final high point of the walk and Tom is in great spirits.

A Walk Through Westerhall

The forecast was for heavy rain this morning so we decided on an Umbrella walk from Bentpath to Langholm through Westerhall Estate. This is my favourite walk and at spring and autumn it is at its best. We were very fortunate because despite the forecast we had no rain.

This is such a beautiful house and the gardens are always perfect.  

Tom is always keen to go to the top of this hill to visit the Folly but we are happy just to photograph it in the distance.

Westerhall gardens in all their glory.

At Burnfoot bridge we met a string of James Ewarts racehorses.

This area at Douglen has been cleared of trees and it makes the road much lighter

An Indian Summer Week in the East Neuk

We headed of to Fife last Saturday for a week in a wee cottage in Crail. The weather was looking good as we set of for Edinburgh to have lunch with John & Sandria on our way to Fife. Little did we know that this was the start of a week long Indian Summer and we had a week of glorious weather and as you will see the predominate colour on all these photos is blue with both sky and sea looking so good. This is Anstruther Harbour which is the most tourist orientated of all the fishing villages on this coast.  

Just half a mile north of Anstruther is this harbour in Cellardyke. It is hardly used but a lovely peaceful place and we enjoyed an afternoon sitting in the sun here with nobody else about to disturb us. It is interesting to note that the locals hang their washing out at the side of the harbour. 

This is our holiday cottage called Tapsalteerie in the centre of Crail.

This is Pittenweem Harbour and the busiest fishing port on this coast. 

On Monday I took the ferry to the Isle of May. It was the last ferry of the season and according to the skipper it was the nicest day of the season for weather with the sea flat calm and the temperature over 20C. We were allowed to stay on the island for over 2 hours and it was well worth the visit with plenty to see. Unfortunately most of the sea birds and especially the 92,000 Puffins had left for the season but the seals had started breeding and we saw many of them in the water around the island. On our way back to Anstruther about 5 minutes from the harbour and the end of the trip we were suddenly surrounded by a pod of Dolphins so the skipper stopped the boat and for 5 minutes we were treated to a spectacular display by the Dolphins before they disappeared again. My camera was in the bottom of my rucksack so I had no time to get it out and take photographs and would probably have missed them anyway as many with cameras were pointing in the wrong direction each time they leaped out of the water.   

At each end of the island there is a foghorn. This is the southern one as the northern one is on the small island of Rona and out of bounds to visitors.

The old lighthouse is built from a converted abbey and is the oldest lighthouse in Scotland. 

Saint Andrews harbour which is completely spoiled by the student accommodation built next to it. 

This is Leven but I don't think this is used as a harbour these days.

Lower Largo harbour and the hotel next to it is called the Crusoe Hotel after local born Alexander Selkirk who was marooned on an island in the Pacific and his story dramatised by the novelist Daniel Defoe. 

Elie harbour 

St. Monans harbour

Our favourite cafe next to Crail Harbour

Last but by no means least is Crail harbour where we often sat in the late afternoon at high tide and Gaye did her Times crossword while I watched the fishermen getting their lobster pots ready to take out to sea. It has been a fantastic week and we will never forget this indian Summer in the East Neuk of Fife.

A Quick Canonbie Walk Before the Rugby

With Scotland due to play Japan in the World Cup at 2.30pm this afternoon todays walk had to be short local one so Tom and I headed off to Canonbie to do the new walk set up for the Canonbie Day of the Region recently. It is a 5 mile walk covering parts of the Langholm Walks Canonbie Walk. The forecast was for rain at lunch time as well so we planned to be home by 1.00pm and we were. The first part of the walk along by the Dead Nook pool on the Esk shows that there has been a massive rock fall there. The 2 houses at the top may eventually be at some risk. 

There is a lot of forestry work going on along the road to Rowanburnfoot and it has certainly opened up the countryside.

On-going forestry work

By cutting dow the many trees the Viaduct over the River Liddel is shown from a new viewpoint

As we approached Rowanburn along the old railway line I pointed out this field to Tom where in 1962 when the field was not as overgrown as now there was a Cricket Match between Langholm and Rowanburn played. The Langholm team comprising of myself and John Irving plus friends from our class at the school travelled in the train to Canonbie Station and returned by train a few hours later after a very rewarding victory. That was the one and only time cricket was played in Rowanburn.

These Starlings were thinking about going over to Gretna for their regular meeting but maybe it is still too early for them. 

Canonbie Kirk and the end of our very pleasant walk just as the rain started 

Walking the Formartine and Buchan Way

Tom and I at the start of day 3 of our Railway Walk

Gaye and I were due to visit her friend Collett in Newmachar near Aberdeen so Tom and I decided we would combine this visit with a 3 day walk along this old disused railway line. This enabled Gaye and Collett to do their own thing mainly shopping and visiting some art studios during the North East's equivalent to Spring Fling. We arrived in Newmachar on Monday afternoon at 3.00pm and were soon taken by the girls to the start of our walk at Dyce Railway Station which is near Aberdeen Airport. The walk starts here and it was a 6 mile walk back to the house in Newmachar. It looked very dull but we were fortunate that the rain stayed away. The photo above is the start of the walk next to the industrial sites of Aberdeen airport. 

The first mile of the walk took us parallel to the main road which was jam packed with peak time traffic. We actually covered the first mile quicker that Collett and Gaye in the car. 

Aberdeen Airport is the busiest heliport in Europe and this is one of them heading out to the North Sea. Every few minutes a helicopter would pass overhead.

The river Don

The first stage of our route

Work going on for the new Aberdeen ring route which should open in 2017 and make life much easier for everybody.

As we headed out into the country we passed the first of many fields still waiting for the combine harvester. The harvest seems to be very late this year and I would say that only about a quarter of the fields have been harvested. 

One of the many railway cuttings

These guys came over to see if we had any food 

Newmachar Station and the end of the fist stage of our walk. We covered the 6 miles in 2 hours and arrived back just in time for dinner. 

Day 2 of our walk and we are heading for Ellon through yet another railway cutting. The weather is much brighter today but rain is forecast for about the time we are due to finish.

Another fine bridge

This is Udny Station and it is looked after by an old guy who lives next to it. We met him and he has one of the finest Doric accents I have ever heard. We had a hard job understanding him but it was lovely to hear such an amazing language.  

One of his floral displays 

We saw lots of Buzzards on our walk and this one posed for a photograph.

After many unharvested fields it was near Ellon before we saw any farm machinery but what this one was doing will remain a mystery 

This is the railway viaduct which crosses the river Ythan. By this time the light was not good and rain was not far away but our walk was nearly finished for the day

Day 3 of our Railway Walk and this time we needed 2 cars to get us to our starting point at Auchnagatt for an 8 mile walk back to Ellon.

The end of day 2 after 9 miles and the 2 bridges crossing the Ythan river taken from the car park

We had not gone far before we saw these 3 Deer in the trees next to the railway. The light was not good but it was great to see them so close. 

 Another field waiting for the Barley to be in the right condition for harvesting. We saw loads of fields like this but no combines working. 

 The line has a bridge at least every mile and the ones that carry roads over them are like this one. 

But the ones used for farm lanes are like this one. Some engineering firm 150 years ago must have had a good order to make these as there are dozens of them on this line. 

After our walk finished we headed back to Newmachar via the coast road and called in to the Trump Golf Course just north of Aberdeen. I have to say I am not a great lover of Donald Trump and god help USA if he ever becomes President but he has done a lovely job with this golf course. From what I read several years ago he was spoiling the sand dunes but to me he has enhanced the area and the course is magnificent. This is Macleod Lodge his 5 star hotel in the grounds of the golf course. 

 One of the holes on the course.

The Golf Clubhouse 

This is the clock tower at the entrance to Trump Golf Course 

Our way home took us on some of the quiet country lanes and at last we saw a Combine Harvester working. I stopped to speak to the farmer and his son and they told me the harvest is 3 weeks late and they will be pushed to get it all in unless the weather brightens up. they need sunshine and wind to get the best results.

His very friendly Border Collie and this is on the blog as Fiona was due to doggy walk a Border Collie in Newcastle today but unfortunately she was stood up at the last minute. The dogs owner was ill and could not bring the Collie round to her. That is the end of our Formartine and Buchan Railway walk and we have completed about 24 miles in the 3 days we have been in Newmachar. It has been a superb walk and we will need to come back sometime to walk the remaining 30 miles.