Walking in Leadhills & Wanlockhead

Another Wednesday so another walk and this week the four of us headed to Leadhills and Wanlockhead which are the highest villages in Scotland with Wanlockhead claiming it is the highest in Great Britain at 1531ft. As usual Bowman the dog lead the way and having just been clipped for the summer he was in great form and loved every minute of his 5 mile walk. I forgot to take my camera last Wednesday but we had an excellent 11 mile walk at Kielder. 

The village of Wanlockhead which has a population of 158. There is a superb Museum of Lead Mining called Hidden Treasures in the village and also linked to the museum is the Miners Library formed in 1756 and it is the second oldest Subscription Library in Europe with the oldest being in the adjoining village of Leadhills. For further information please look at the website http://www.leadminingmuseum.co.uk/library.shtml

The return walk from Wanlockhead was much easier than the outward walk where at one point we reached almost 2000ft. We headed back along the old railway line which for part of the way is now a narrow guage railway and at 1498ft above sea level is the highest adhesion railway in Britain. The railway is open at weekend during the summer and is a very pleasant journey for about a mile along the valley between the two villages.

The only reason for showing these daffodils is to illustrate the difference in climate in Leadhills as these Daffodils are just coming into bloom while most of them in Langholm and elswhere are now finished or just about at the end of their bloom.

A Trip to Winterhope

We headed up to see Jean and Wattie at Winterhope this afternoon when Wattie took the opportunity to show us a Wagtail's nest in his Propane Gas Tank. The tank was recently re filled and the tanker driver managed to fill the tank without causing the bird any distress and within a minute of finishing the mother bird was back on the nest.

Old Irving & Glencorf Burn Walk

Having seen in Tootlepedals Blog that there was a new road on the Old Irving Walk from Ker to Old Irving we decided to see what it was like for today's Wednesday Walk so John, Tom, and myself headed out despite the poor weather forecast.
Tom & John are photographed at the gate leading to the old drove road that crosses the mooor. It looks as if all this are will be planted with trees which is the reason they have improved the road. I must admit I prefered it as it was despite it being soft in places, but this may be an improvement for vehicles but not for walkers.

The only other walkers we met all day were these 3 on the Crab Apple Lane near Becks as they walked towards us with the smallest one setting the pace.

Loads of Tadpoles

The old drove road which is now a bit hard on the feet. By the time we were half way along this 2 mile stretch of road the weather had really taken a turn for the worse and we were soon drenched.

An Imp of Mischief and a Cheeky Monkey

Hannah is in Langholm for a few days so when they arrived today en route to Newcastle from Dundee we headed to the park for a go on the swings and shute. Leo is full of energy and is fearless and will climb anything whilst Hannah shows her Grandad how much she likes her photograph taken. When the rain came on we headed back home after a quick game of Phoo Sticks from the Park Bridge which was won by Leo.

A London Visit

After we left Reeth we headed to London for a couple of days. We were very fortunate because if we had stayed in Yorkshire any longer we would have been snowed in. Our trip to London included a visit to the Palace of Westminster organised by our Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell for which we are extremely grateful as this was absolutely superb. The photograph above is of course Big Ben. Our tour of the Palace of Westmister was lead by an ex Scots Guardsman from Ayr called Eddie and he was very knowledgeable and also extremely funny. The Palace is just stunning and the House of Lords and House of Commons Chambers are much smaller than I had anticipated but very beautiful. The rest of the rooms in the Palace are just as beautiful and full of history which suited our American guests as they of course have very little history on the other side of the Atlantic.

We took a short Thames River Trip from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge and this photograph shows the Tower of London from the River Thames.

While the rest of the country was experiencing snow, wind, and rain London managed to have a lovely day and sunny skies, although a wee bit on the cold side. Tower Bridge in the background after our boat trip.

Westminster Abbey which we looked round on Thursday morning before we headed to Euston and the return train journey home. The tour round the Abbey was not nearly as good as Westminster palace as the building was mobbed with visitors in London for the Easter holiday. It was however very interesting and Carlo advised us it was a very posh graveyard.

Coffee at Jean's

On return from Reeth we were invited for coffee to Jean Weatherstone's house.

A Visit to Reeth

We were no sooner back from a couple of days in York when we were off again the following morning to stay in a lovely cottage in Reeth, Swaledale. We visited my cousin Hilary and her husband John who live in The White House about 1000ft up on the side of Fremmington Edge. Carlo & Sidne thought the house and the views were brilliant and they thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there. The photograph above is in their garden with the hillside in the background and John showing them around.

The view from the White House Garden looking down the Swale Valley.

Fiona and Mario joined us for the weekend and are sitting in the lovely playground in Reeth. Leo and Hannah had a great time in this playground.

Mother & Daughter

On Sunday we had a lovely walk beside the River Swale before we headed back to the village for lunch with Hilary, John, Meg, Joe, Trevor, and Sam & Tom. 

After the lunch we headed to the Aysgarth Falls. The photograph is a bit too light as we were looking into the sun. We had a lovely weekend and it was great to meet up with family. We are now back in Langholm and will head off to London for a couple of days before Sidne & Carlo head back to Salt Lake City on Friday morning. The weather has been just wonderful and we could never have imagined it would be so good in March.