A Walk to the Brow Well

Our Thursday walk with Mike and Charlie took us to Clarencefield to walk along the lanes near Comlongen Castle and then on to the Brow Well. We walked for 2 hours and never men another person. I had plotted the route out on my OS App on my phone and it was great for keeping us on the correct route.

At the Brow Well, which has had a renovation not that long ago. The water in the well looks horrible and its no wonder Robert Burns died not long after he took to the waters as they look extremely dirty.

A hedgerow on the B725 near the Brow Well and its full of Honeysuckle and the smell was lovely

Looking over the Solway towards the Lake District mountains

A quarter of the walk was on this road the B725, but it was very quiet and we only saw a few cars

At the end of one of our lanes before we joined the road we saw these Alpacas

The paths were well signposted by D & G Council as part of the Core Path Network

One of the many lanes we walked along

Comlongen Castle which looks as if it is being renovated.

There were a lot of these in one of the fields but none of us knew exactly what they are.

A grand field of winter Wheat or Barley which is very close to being ready for harvesting. The last section of the walk was a narrow path through woods and next to fields that stretched for a mile and brought us back into Clarencefield. Our only complaint was that for most of the way it had a double strand barbed wire fence that could have caused a nasty accident if any of us had stumbled and put our hand out to save ourselves. We took it very easy and it was lovely section of the walk as shown below.

Stonework done a very long time ago on one of the burns we crossed

A nice wooden bridge and one of several on this section

A most enjoyable 4 mile walk and almost perfect weather. We headed back to Langholm for our usual Coffee at The Buccleuch Centre

 

A Walk to the Top of Warbla

I had been asked to inspect a seat on Warbla or Warb Law as it is shown on the OS map. The seat was broken and my anonymous sponsor had requested this as they would pay for repairs to it. It was a bit overcast this morning and the light was not good for photos.

Foxgloves are appearing everywhere and they add lovely colour to the landscape

It's an excellent road up Warbla Hill, but I hadn't been up for many years as the hills do seem to be getting much steeper these days. I was however spurned on by the efforts of The Princess of Wales who yesterday climbed the 3 peaks in 24 hours so if she could do that I can certainly climb Warbla, even if I am in my 80th year. As it turned out I was in fine fettle and managed it with no bother except for sore knees on the way down. The power of mind over matter.

I did however stop to admire the view many times on the way up

The seat in question and it is in a bad way so my anonymous sponsor will be prepared to pay for its repair and I will contact our local joiner Rab, who has already repaired a seat on Gaskells Walk and is working on another on The Lodge Walks.

I discovered this new seat on the road up to Warbla just before the gate that takes you onto the hill. I think I know who placed it and built the wall and he has made a superb job of it. There is no hiding the work of a retired master builder.

The road down from the new seat towards Buccleuch Park. It was a 2 hour walk and I enjoyed in immensely but will stick to flatter ground for a while as my knees are now quite sore from walking downhill.

Just to prove I made it to the top.

 

Bruce the Parson's Jack Russell Terrier

On our last evening of the week's holiday in Cartmel we dined in the Cavendish Hotel in the village and had an excellent meal. Almost all the hotels in Cartmel welcome dogs and Bruce was very well behaved.

Brucel likes to greet female dogs, but boy dogs get short shift.

In a hotel sitting with Gaye

Bruce enjoying a walk off the lead on the Old Causeway near Flookburgh

I could have brought him home to Langholm

In a wee shelter made from a tree trunk

Enjoying time with Gaye

At Cartmel car park next to the Racecourse

On our first morning walk with Norman. We managed to walk up to 3 miles every morning except the last one before we came away. He was a great companion and so well behaved and the dog was well behaved as well.

 

Another Promenade Walk at Grange over Sands

This was Thursday morning very early on what turned out to be the hottest ever June day. The flower displays along the Promenade are brilliant. This Goose is a superb carving from wood.

This was high tide, but they are very low high tides at the moment

Norman with Bruce the Parsons Jack Russell Terrier. He gets on well with other female dogs but growls at the male dogs. 

In a few tides time the sea will create islands at these rocks

Long stretches of sand on Morecambe Bay

Grange over Sands railway station next to the Promenade. In Victorian times this would be a very busy station bringing loads of day trippers from the industrial areas.

This marshy area can be quite dangerous

The Promenade

Loads of beautiful shrubs bordering the Promenade

A lovely display of yellow flowers

This was a most enjoyable 2.5 mile walk but the heat was building up and it was only 8.30am when this was taken. We headed back for breakfast and later in the day I brought Gaye back for a short walk but we didn't stay long as it was unbearable due to the humidity.

 

A Visit to Lakeside on Windermere

Rather than start at Haverthwaite and leave the car there we drove to Lakeside to see both Steam Trains and Steamers. We didn't want to spend in excess of £60 on tickets so enjoyed watching everybody coming and going as we sat in the shade on a nice park bench.

It was another glorious day with signs that the temperature might reach 30C in the early afternoon.

This Steamer was full of pensioners with hardly anybody under 70 years of age.

It is a 30 minute sail to Bowness on Windermere and most of the passengers have taken the steam train from Haverthwaite for an 18 minute journey to Lakeside.

A pair of Swans with only one remaining signet

The Steam Train from Haverthwaite

The Steam Train was very busy

The top end of Lake Windermere

Looking down the lake to Bowness on Windermere

Loads of smaller boats running private excursions

Departing for Bowness on Windermere. We thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hours we spent people watching seated in a nice shaded area and near a cafe providing us with Coffee and in Gaye's case Cake as well. Out of the shade it was getting very hot so we headed back to Cartmel where there was not one parking spot to be found, so we just went back to our chalet for a seat on our lovely veranda and a cup of tea.