A Walk Along the Shore to Partenhall

The rocky shore just in front of our cottage

Our cottage called The Old Lobster House

Our cottage from the road

Burnmouth Harbour about 90 minutes before high tide

The smaller inner harbour

The road next to the harbour

This commemorates the women and children left after the East Coast Fishing Disaster of 1881

The road to Portenhall

Portenhall cottages

The village is a collection of houses of which many will be holiday cottages. The road to it is not good and during storms it may be blocked with stones and boulders washed onto it. A very spectacular place to live.

The cottages have a very steep cliff behind them

Lots of character about these cottages and I would love to live there but the road to it is terrible

The beach with no sand so the public dont bother to come

The best section of the road

Burnmouth inner harbour

This is a lovely peaceful place to stay for our weeks holiday. The bad road down to lower Burnmouth and the lack of a sandy beach keeps many tourists away.

 

In Memory of Wattie Rutherford

Our good friend Wattie Rutherford died recently and we have been friends with him and Jean for many years. Gaye and Jean became friends through Langholm Operatic and Dramatic Society.

Wattie served for 3 years with The Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders and part of that time was spent in Cyprus under their Commander in Chief Colonel Colin Mitchell (Mad Mitch) He loved his time in the Regiment and looked very smart in his dress uniform.

On holiday with us at Rockcliffe near Dalbeattie

In 2005 Jean & Wattie were invited to our son Fraser's wedding to Leslie Lemon in Salt Lake City. They loved every minute of their time in Utah and in New York where we spent 4 days before heading on to Salt Lake City. This is the day before the wedding and we were in Red Butte Gardens for a wedding rehearsal followed by a party at Leslies parents house.

We were given a Summer House by our friends and had to put it together in our garden. It was a big struggle until Wattie came along and took command.

In the Buccleuch Centre for lunch with Fraser's In-Laws Carlo and Sidne. They loved visiting them up at Winterhope when they came to Scotland on 3 holidays.

Hosting the Last of the Summer Wine Walkers at Winterhope

Enjoying an Ice Cream in Kirkcudbright.

With daughter Alison on Common Riding Day in our Sitooterie

With his beloved Lily.

 

In Central Park New York in 2005 prior to Fraser's wedding

On a boat off Manhattan Island on the way to the Statue of Liberty

At the wedding in Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City

With Elspeth Weatherstone at Fiona and Mario's wedding in 2005. We had 2 weddings in 3 months on either side of the Atlantic

With Fiona's in-laws at Winterhope. They couldn't speak any English but got on with Wattie and Jean very well

With Arthur and Doreen Bell on a train journey to Mallaig

In southern Italy on a holiday with Gaye and myself

Gunner Rutherford in Italy

On a holiday in Mull with John Irving driving the Jag

Wattie with his beloved hens 

Wattie and Jean in our kitchen. We miss them both but have lovely memories of time together and all our family loved their trips up to Winterhope. 

The Laverock Bird Hide

The Laverock Bird hide on Tarras Valley Nature Reserve was opened on 15th March 2015 by Simon Lester of the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project. It had been built by Daniel Lacey and the idea for it being created was from Dr. Cat Barlow who was the Project Officer for The Making the Most of the Moorland Project. Prior to that this place was a Feeding Station for Birds from early 2009. I have been a volunteer for this project for 17 years since 2009. I went along every Saturday morning until the end of April this year. The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve under guidance from RSPB are planning to stop feeding the Birds but to create a better habitat for them to feed naturally. Work started this past weekend in creating a new habitat for the birds. Myself and our two grandchildren from Newcastle have enjoyed many Saturday morning visits  over the years. Our grandchildren from America have also visited.

Our daughter Fiona with our grandson Leo in July 2021.

Our grandchildren Leo and Hannah from Newcastle.

Peter Bart-Smith and Tom Stothart visiting the hide on a Wednesday walk.

Jack Irving visited it once and had a lovely hour there.

My last photo of the hide this April before the Feeders are taken away. It is hoped it will still be visited but it will take time for the area to be established as a natural feeding area for the birds. 

 

Near the hide myself and Hannah and Leo planted trees a few years ago. Hannah is now studying Biology at the University of Nijmegen in The Netherlands and I like to think her interests were helped by out visits to the Hide and TVNR.

Leo topping up the feeders about 9 years ago

In 2018 when we were hit by The Beast From the East it was difficult to get to the Hide, but Bob & Nancy McLure and myself walked there and back in deep snow to provide the birds with much needed food. 

Hannah topping up the feeders.

Cat Barlow used to do her bird ringing at the feeding station and Hannah loved going along to see the birds getting their rings put on. It is the end of an era, but the correct thing to do for the protection of the birds. I have loved every minute of my 17 years going nearly every Saturday morning and will miss the time spent in the hide after I had topped up the feeders.

The notice pinned up in the Hide telling its story.

A Wet Walk at Talkin Tarn

Despite a poor weather forecast Mike, Charlie and myself decided we would still have our walk at Talkin Tarn and just dress accordingly and take umbrellas. It did rain heavily at times, but it was also dry for 50% of our walk and the chat was excellent. This Gorse is looking good next to the Tarn.

Charlie & Mike inspect a hedge of Blackthorn

This tree was covered the whole length of its trunk by this Ivy

This is Wood Anemone and Mike explained it grows in the shade of trees. 

This pair of lambs were very pleased to see us

On a small pond next to Brampton Station we saw this pair of Swans building a nest.

If you look closely between the trees you will see a Goose on this small pond

Most of the time these pylons are not too intrusive, but this is a massive one and it seems to dominate the field it is in.

One of the three B roads we walked along near Talkin Tarn. The walk was about 4 miles and most enjoyable despite the rain. We decided to have our usual Coffee after the walk at The Buccleuch Centre and despite it being very busy with lunches prior to a film being shown we were soon found a table and served with our Coffee in no time at all.