Afternoon Tea at Branxholm Castle and a Visit to Tom's Seat

We were invited this afternoon up to Branxholme Castle near Hawick by John and Sandria for afternoon tea. We were very lucky that the weather stayed quite nice and we enjoyed our tea in the summer house

Sandria, Niall, John, Elspeth, Gaye, Tom & Gavin outside their home for the week.

Outside the lovely little Summer House

Sandria and Gaye enjoying the sun

The tower adjoining the house and this part is used as a Spa. We had a lovely afternoon in good company and a very pleasant Afternoon Tea. We shall all meet up again on Thursday evening after the Flute Band perambulates the town for a drink at Ardlui and then for lunch on Common Riding Day at Birkwood.

On Wednesday John and his family came to Langholm for the day and after 9 holes of golf they joined Niall and myself for a walk to see Tom Stothart's seat at The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve ponds. Tom unfortunately couldn't make it for the walk as he was feeling very tired after doing odd jobs at the Golf Club in the morning. This is John and his partner Sandria with John's daughter and son and their spouses. The 2 little girls are his granddaughters and the great granddaughters of Archie Irving the Cornet in 1939. 

When I take visitors on this walk I always ask them to find the special stone with the heart shape on it and a little bird inside the heart. Imogen soon spotted it and this will cost me a Pelosi's ice Cream on Common Riding day.

Walking The Cross Borders Drove Road at Hawick

Mike and I headed up the A7 to Hawick for today's Thursday walk. The walk started at Wilton Park where they have an area of wild flowers planted at the entrance to the park beside the River Teviot and it is at it's very best at the moment. I always enjoy a walk round Wilton Park as there is so much to see and do in it. 

The winter wheat is ready for harvesting and further up the road we saw the Combine Harvester starting up for its day harvesting.

Once we left Wilton Park it was a steady climb up this B road towards Brieryhill where we would turn onto The Cross Borders Drove Road.

This road was fairly quiet apart from a couple of delivery vans.

This is the road back into Hawick after we had used the Cross Borders Drove Road

Plenty of fields of Barley and it looks as if it will all be harvested this week as the Combine was working in one of the fields next to this one.

It looks to be a good harvest

This is the mile long section of The Cross Borders Drove Road we walked along. It is around 52 miles long and runs between Hawick and Harperrig, near the Pentland Hills.It retraces the route drovers used for hundreds of years to walk cattle south from markets to buyers south of the border. The section we walked today had a Dry Stane Dyke on either side and was a mass of wild flowers 

This is Harebells or Scottish Bluebells identified by Mike, but I also discovered that if I looked up the photo on my phone the information section of the photo identified the flower. Mike could now be redundant but I think he is much more informative about it so we wont dispense of his knowledge just yet.

This is Lady's Bedstraw

This could be Widow Flower or Gypsy Rose, but Mike will certainly know which one is correct.

The Combine Harvester starting its work for what will be a full day.

This is Meadow Crane's Bill

Not a lot of grass on this field for the many Cattle feeding in it. 

Another view of the excellent path heading into the distance with the dry stane dykes on either side of the path. There were also several wooden seats along the pathway as well so plenty places to stop for a rest.

It really was a most enjoyable walk along this special drovers road.

This was the entrance to the Drovers road from the B road that led from Wilton Park. We completed the 3.5 mile walk in about 90 minutes and then had a coffee in the park cafe. We were back in Langholm by 1.00pm so the whole trip had only lasted for 3 hours, but the memory will linger for many years as we both enjoyed the walk immensely.

 

Walking the Tweed and Lunch in Melrose

We headed up to Tweedbank to meet up with our Edinburgh friends and also John and Sandria who were arriving from Dunbar. It all went to plan with Ken and Martin on time on the train and John and Sandria arrived just as the train drew in. The plan was to walk to the centre of Melrose for lunch via the River Tweed. It was a glorious day with not a cloud in the sky. Photo above is Tom showing off his potential new car. 

When we left the Tweed we passed by Melrose rugby ground.

The river was looking magnificent today

Jeremy Clarkson was in the Scottish Borders recently and he suggested that this area of Scotland was the most beautiful part of the UK. Who would argue against him when you look down the river Tweed.

Martin, Tom, and Niall climbing up the steepest part of the walk beside the river.

A more gentle section of the Tweed

An angler enjoying s spot of fishing and probably paying a fortune for it.

The group of 7 with Tom taking the photo

This time it was me taking the photo with Tom in it. We had a superb day with a lovely lunch in Marmions in Melrose. The food was excellent and well served by a charming lady. We walked back to Tweedbank station via the road which was not as enjoyable as the river as by this time it had got very hot.

 

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.