Week 11 and Getting out of Langholm (But not very far)

Another week and as my knee improves so does the miles walked. I started this week with a walk round Jenny Nobles Gill and was able to see the damage done to many beech hedges by the frost of a couple of weeks ago. This one is not as bad as many others around Langholm 

All the trees in the Parish Kirk grounds have been felled and when I went past this on Monday I thought it might be going to be made into a wood sculpture but it has since been cut right down to the stump.

On Tuesday I was back up in the Tarras valley and a most enjoyable walk from this bridge up to Lodgegill  

This is a lovely spot for swimming just next to the holiday cottage at Tarras Lodge

The upper reaches of the Tarras near Lodgegill

My route on Thursday took me to Castle O'er near Eskdalemuir and an early morning walk through the forest. This is just near the spot where the Black and White Esk meet and shows how much has been felled recently. 

The second half of this walk is along the B road to Eskdailmuir and it is very quiet and has lots of interesting places to see.

A natural amphitheatre at Over Rig that was used up to 2000 years ago for gatherings.

After my walk I had my Coffee break at a stone circle on the Prehistoric Trail

My Saturday walk was a 5 mile circuit at Canonbie to take in The Meeting of the Waters where the Esk and Liddel rivers meet.  

There was plenty of wildlife to be seen but only the Heron stays still for long enough to get a photo

During the walk I met the local farmers father and had a most enjoyable chat with him. He was not like most farmers and did not have any moans, except perhaps maybe a little more rain but he was having a good season as you can see by this crop of spring sown Barley. 

The river Liddel on the second half of my walk and perhaps my favourite stretch of both rivers. 

The Liddel railway viaduct in the distance

The Meeting of the Waters and a lovely place to sit for a while

I always sit in the seat put there by Langholm Rotary Club in memory of my good friend Alastair Davies who died far too early and would have gone right to the top in World Rotary. 

Canonbie Kirk

My week finished on Sunday morning with a walk along Lower Tarras. This area is much different from Upper Tarras and is quite marshy in places. It is much more enclosed and therefore there are many more different types of birds present.  

This marshy area near Lower Tarras bridge was earmarked a good number of years ago by Dr. Cat Barlow of the Making the most of the Moorland Project to be made into a pond. There were too many issues regarding planning permission but if the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve comes to fruition if and when we buy The Langholm Moor then this may be resurrected. Its a fabulous project and hopefully we will secure the funding. 

This is a fabulous reed bed and an interesting habitat for Reed Warblers and similar birds.

A fabulous old wooden suspension bridge and an old man

The river Tarras running crystal clear