Tarras Picnic

We had a wonderful time over in the upper Tarras valley this afternoon with Hannah and Leo having a great time in the river.

A dragonfly was on the bank just next to where I was sitting

Common Riding Day

God was indeed a Langholm man as despite a poor forecast it has been a glorious day for Langholm Common Riding. I will let the photos tell their own tale.

Moorland Bird Feeding Station

My Grandchildren Hannah and Leo had great help from Rory and Gregor to top up the Moorland Bird Feeders this morning.

The reward for helping me was a Pelosi Ice Cream

The midges were causing everybody problems and we only stayed for a few minutes

Filling the Feeders with the very best seed and also peanuts. Gregor won the award for the first person to spot the Woodpecker which arrived as soon as we sat in the car to avoid the midges.

Annual Bowling Match

Today was the annual Common Riding Bowling Match between Niall and myself against Niall's Sons in Law Bruce and Ian. To decide what start we should give them we played a 5 end game and we won by 10 shots so the actual match over 10 ends gave them a 10 shots start. We soon caught up with them but then the youngsters had a good spell and won an end and came close to winning a second but after the alloted 10 ends we managed to win by 5 shots. They are planning to take this annual match seriously in the future and even thinking of joining a Bowling Club so as we get older and they get more experience we will find this match gets much tougher.

Some of the hundreds of spectators for the match. Niall's Grandchildren Lochan, Gregor, Isla, and Rory with Niall's daughter Lorna. The rest of the spectators were too shy to have their photograph taken.

Balcary Bay and Rough Island Walks

Another Wednesday and after our superb week in the Cotswolds we are back to our regular Wednesday walk. Only Peter, Tom, and myself available today but we headed off to one of my favourite walks namely Balcary Bay and the coastal walk to Rascarrel Bay. The plan was to do this 5 mile walk, then have lunch at the Balcary Hotel followed by another short walk at Kippford. Due to taking a wrong turning on the return half of the Balcary walk we extended the distance by about another mile and a half so it was nearly 1.00pm when we had our lovely lunch in the Hotel. We sat in the conservatory overlooking Balcary Bay and were served an extremely nice lunch.

Balcary Bay

The Galloway Hills in the distance

We met these guys plus about another 6 of their friends on the clifftop.

This is Loch Mackie

Robins Rigg Wind Farm in the Solway and we counted over 60 Turbines. This is a much better place to locate these wind turbines than on land.

Balcary Bay from the Hotel



After lunch we headed out to Kippford and walked accross the causeway to Rough Island which sits in the Urr Estuary overlooking both Kippford and Rockliffe.

The highest point on Rough Island giving lovely views over to Kippford and Rockcliffe

Rockcliffe

Looking up the Urr Estuary towards Kippford

Sundry Cotswolds Photos

Dinner in the Falcon Inn on the first night of our holiday. We ate out on 5 of the 7 evenings. The only place we were in twice was the Falcon Inn Steakhouse which provided very good food at reasonable prices.

Gaye enjoying her time in the Summer House

The Tyndale Monument

Afternoon Tea after a walk.

Day 4 King's Stanley to Dursley

This would be the last of our days walking the actual Cotswold Way and it was the most difficult day but certainly the most varied. It started with a section of canal followed by a steep climb to an escarpment followed by a drop down the valley again and finished with another climb to an escarpent. The canal is the disused Stroudwater Canal, but work has started to bring it back into use and this was one of the locks being opened to enable the canal workers boat to be moved along to the section of the canal they are working on.

The route took us through this open field which had an old stile in the middle. We all walked round it but Tom had to climb over it.

The town of Stroud in the valley

After the canal section we faced a long climb and this is the town of Stroud with in the foreground All Saints Church.

The highest point in the week of walking at only just short of 800ft. The 6 Last of the Summers Wine Walkers have enjoyed a superb week and some great discussions and arguements all in good humour and friendly banter.

This 5000 year old Tomb is called Long Barrow and John is not quite as old.

The last climb and the sting in the tail but the views from the top were superb. Notice that I as the photographer was up at the top first but only to get the benefit of a longer rest. There was still a long way to climb after this photo was taken.

And the stunning view over the Severn from the top.

Day 3 Tormarton to Hawkesbury

Day 3 and the only rain of the holiday and it lasted for no more than an hour and was fairly light. This walk of about 8 miles took us through rolling parkland including a corner of Badminton where the famous Horse Trials are held. We had the least amounts of climbing on this section but the coutryside was stunning.

Old Sodbury Church

On the edge of the Badminton Estate this pile of stone appeared. It is of course the famous Cotswold stone which most of the houses are built from.

To be turned into this beautiful wall. Great to see a real country craftsman at work.

From the distance this looks like a folly but it was built for the Millenium and is a very high class home for barn Owls and Swallows

This photograph and the one below are of Sodbury Camp which is probably the finest Iron Age Hill Forts to be met on the Cotswold Way. It encloses an area of over 10 acres.

A Day in Bath

Lady in Red in Bath. We have visited many cities in the UK but both Gaye and I think Bath is the nicest city in the country. Maybe it was because it was such a beautiful day but it is such a small city and everything interesting is within easy walking distance that we feel makes it so special. Monday was decided to be a rest day from walking so everybody did their own thing.

Taken from the top of the tour bus we took round the city but I forget the name of the street.

The Pulteney Bridge, Bath's version of the Ponte Vecchio of Florence and the end of the Cotswold Way.



The Weir below Pulteney Bridge. There is no through way for boats to get above the weir so you either have your boat in the river above the bridge or below it.

The Pulteney Bridge as seen from the road. We crossed this in the bus from the Park and Ride car park and did not realise we were crossing the River Avon.

Bath Abbey where Gaye and I spent a very enjoyable hour sitting in this square listening to this and another busker playing on their guitars. We actually saw this man on the local TV News the following evening as he had been filmed giving loads of abuse to a non registered busker who he decided was such a bad singer he was spoiling the atmosphere in the street where he was singing. It is required for buskers in Bath to be auditioned before they are allowed to sing in the city streets.