Saturday Morning in Lower Tarras Valley

 

For the last 15 years I spent every Saturday morning visiting the Laverock Bird Hide just near here to top up the bird feeders and view the many birds that frequented them. This stopped in July this year on advice from RSPB due to the possible infections passed on to the birds. I didn't realise how much I missed these Saturday mornings until I went up there again today. It was a beautiful frosty morning and I once again did what had been my regular Saturday morning walk from Cronksbank to Perterburn and back. 

The road to Perterburn

Looking over to the other side of the Tarras valley you can see what we locals call The Bible Fields

This is Rashiel Cottage owned by Tarras Valley Nature Reserve

This is Cronksbank Cottage and it is in the process of being renovated and should be let out to a local family this autumn. It will be a splendid cottage and a lovely place to live if you like isolation and wildlife. Other properties on the nature reserve should get the same treatment in the future.

I would have liked to get closer to the Highland Coos, but it meant climbing over a fence and those days are now beyond me. 

There are a couple of calves in this photograph.

This is Middlemoss in the distance and on the other side of the Tarras river

These trees were planted in June 2022 by myself and my grandchildren Hannah and Leo who were over for a few days from Newcastle.

They are mostly Rowan and have produced lots of berries this year

Leo and Hannah planting them 4 years ago

We spent several hours on a Friday morning planting about 30 trees. It was hard work, but very rewarding. Hannah is now at a University in The Netherlands studying Biology so I am sure she will return to Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in the future to see how her trees are progressing. Leo will hopefully go to University in a couple of years time.

A Walk Between Kippford and Rockcliffe

 

I manage at least one visit a year to Kippford and Rockcliffe on the Solway shore to walk the lovely path between the two villages. Today Charlie and I timed our visit to start our walk as the tide reached its peak at 10.47am. The sun was shining and there was no wind at all. The sea was like a mill pond.

Most of the yachts have been taken out of the water for the winter so there was very little activity on the water. One man in a small boat with an outboard motor was all we saw.

The only activity on the water was this boat.

A few hundred yards along the shore path is this area where there are lots of interesting little people to be seen.

These three little guys were keeping an eye on us.

Charlie and me beside the Tree voted Tree of the Year in 2021

Lots of nice gardens along the shore walk

Pampas Grass is looking good at this time of the year

This is Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the Solway Firth

This is Hestan Island in the distance. it is accessible by a causeway but only on very low tides at certain times of the year.

The Island in the middle of the photo is Rough Isle which can be reached at low tide via the causeway usually 2 hours each side of low tide. It is not open during bird nesting season in the spring.

Walking back into Kippford on the high route back from Rockcliffe

there are some beautiful houses along this road

The hill in the background is Screel (344m)

The higher path back from Rockcliffe into Kippford

On return to Kippford we decided to sit outside at The Ark Cafe and enjoyed a lovely lunch with the perfect backdrop of the Urr estuary.

A Walk Round Rowanburn

 

Today's Wednesday walk took us up to Rowanburn for a walk round the 2 Nature Reserves and the village streets. We have started many walks in Rowanburn but rarely walked round the village. We included a walk to Rowanburnhead just to increase the distance. Tom caught up with an old friend. 

David, Niall, and Tom in the Barrel Row

This caravan is the perfect spot for a holiday.

In the nature reserve next to the road to Rowanburnhead there are loads of Crab Apple trees, but nobody wants to use the fruit these days. This used to be a coal spoil bing and in my youth 70+ years ago when I lived in Rowanburn it was a great place to play on my bike. There were no trees then. It was over 25 years ago that Rowanburn Amenities Group (RAG) created the nature reserve here and in The Glen at the bottom of the village next to the burn.

The track to Rowanburnhead

Note there are no cars parked on this street as they all park at the back next to the gardens. This was a mining village built in the 1860s. My father started his first job at the age of 14 underground in the Pit in 1919, but he only lasted 6 months as he hated it. 

The start of the Barrel row

One of these houses is no 60 where my father lived before the war.

The second house from the right is no 50 where I lived for 10 years before we moved to Langholm in 1958. It was a great place to live but I was glad to move to Langholm and joined the Boys Brigade in 1958 and that really gave me a great time in my youth.

A Low Level Walk at Meikledale

It's many years since I walked up at Meikledale. Walk 14 from the Langholm Walks Booklet is normally a tough 7 or 9 Mile walk and has not been on my list of popular walks for a long time. However Charlie suggested the start and finish of the walk as a low level 3 mile walk suitable for our regular Thursday walk. It was excellent and brought back many happy memories of days when the tough part of this walk was no problem to me. 

As this area is now being harvested for forestry the contractors have placed a new bridge at Rigfoot.

This takes the heavy vehicles away from the house nearby.

The old road and the new one

The forestry road is a good surface and the scenery is magnificent

This quarry was used to create the road.

At Burngrains there is a new bridge to cross the Meikledale Burn. For those who do not like heights it's a bit formidable and should really have a handrail.

Charlie a bit apprehensive but managed to cross OK

I enjoyed crossing this bridge and if Langholm Walks had created this part of the walk it would have to have a Handrail, but this section is not part of the official walk, just part of our shortened version so not a problem. 

On the way back down the Meikledale Burn there is a Cairn half way up Stibbiegill Knowe and neither Charlie or I know why it was placed there. Maybe somebody can enlighten us.

The nice cottage at Burngrains. The cottages up this valley used to be for Shepherds and their families, but since forestry took over they are no longer required so are sold of for private use.

The Meikledale Burn

A memorial stone at Ewes Hall in memory of the Little Clan

In the field next to the Ewes hall is this stone called Grey Wether Stone. These are large sarsen stones, a type of hard sandstone found scattered across southern England and in fact the big uprights and lintels at Stonehenge. How they came to be in this part of Scotland is unknown.