Our Silver Birch Gets Pruned

 

For many years I have had people knocking on our door offering to prune our Silver Birch tree and at many different prices.Last autumn a local tree surgeon gave me a good price and said he would do the job when it had no leaves on. This was done today and it’s had a good prune. This was just before he started.

You need to have a good head for heights to do this job.

He gets very high up and spent nearly 4 hours in the tree.

There is a lot of shredding to be done tomorrow when they come back.

The pruning finished.

The Ponds are a Great Place to Sit for a While

Normally most of my photos locally are taken in the morning when I go my daily walk. I did my walk as usual this morning but it was such a lovely day I decided to drive down to the Ponds at the lower end of The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. The light was just perfect, although it was quite cold. There are 2 lovely seats there created by local furniture maker Daniel Lacey so I sat on them for about 40 minutes and enjoyed the views. At the top pond a pair of Dippers flitted past me now and again, but never stopped anywhere for long. 

I never tire of visiting these ponds and soon they will be full of life and the banks will be a mass of wild flowers

The reflections of the trees on the farthest away pond were just magical

 

My Favourite Photos of 2025

January 2025 and our Grandson Elliot enjoying life at Bear Valley Ski Resort in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. All the American Graham family love their skiing.

22nd January and a meeting of the Last of the Summer Wine Walkers at Stow

Early February and Fraser is featured in a News Release by GM. https://news.gm.com/home.detail.html/Pages/topic/us/en/2025/feb/0210-graham.html

One of the new ponds created on The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. This area became one of my favourite places in 2025 and hardly a month went by when I didn't visit them. They should be spectacular in spring 2026.

This is a Joshua Tree in The Joshua Tree National Park visited by Fraser and family in February 2025

Gaye's friends Margaret and Sandra on our annual lunch at Moreland near Penrith

March 2025 and a walk at Westerhall with John and Sandria

Early April and the American Grahams arrive for a week on the Northumberland coast at Seahouses. This is Elliot and Eleanor at Cragside in front of Gilnockie Tower

The Graham family before a kayaking expedition at Amble

Eleanor & Elliot at Bamburgh Castle

and their late Granny Sidne on the same throne several years earlier

Dinner in Newcastle with the family. Tommy was still in USA on a school trip and Hannah was in The Netherlands at University

Another get together of the Last of the Summer Wine Walkers at Gattonside near Melrose

May and a day trip to the Nith at Glencaple

June and Fraser, Elliot and Tommy are on a raft expedition on Middle Fork American River. Some of the rapids were spectacular and on one fast part of the river only Tommy stayed in the raft.

end June and Mario, Fiona and Leo are near Whitley Bay

July and the Last of the Summer Wine Walkers have our wettest ever walk at Joppa in Edinburgh

While the next day Mike and Charlie and myself have a lovely walk in Langholm

Gaye on South Pier in Blackpool in July

Leo in middle row in the blue T shirt on a school trip to China

Most days I walk past Alison Hutton's garden and its always a pleasure to see what is in bloom. This particular July day it was as spectacular as any time I have seen it. 

Summer Fair night and the bands playing Highland Cathedral in the market place 

Hannah and Leo enjoying a walk on The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in August

Fiona and family with Mum and Dad in August

The Tree of the Year 2021 at Kippford and another Last of the Summer wine walkers get together

September and the Ponds on Lower Tarras Valley Nature Reserve are looking much better now

Another last of the summer Wine get together at Kelso

A spectacular autumnal view of a tree in Wilton Park, Hawick

October and a day out with my ex employees and friend Charlie at St. James Park Newcastle

End November and one of the TVNR Highland Coos

The TVNR Lakeland Fell Ponies in December

The final walk of 2025 with The Last of the Summer Wine Walkers at Tweedbank

 

New Years Day Run and Walk

Every 1st January we hold a New Years Day Run of about 8 miles, although these days its about 50% runners and 50% walkers. This year Tom and I only walked 3 miles but timed our arrival back in the Market Place for 11.00am and we made it with 2 minutes to spare. This has been organised by my friend Mike Tinker and his family since the days of the Langholm Doctors run and they are assisted by my other Thursday walking friend Charlie Graham. Today Mike and Charlie walked round the 5 mile Potholm walk and arrived in the square with 15 minutes to spare.

 

I don't have a photo for 1st January 2025 but this is from 1st January 2024. The dog belongs to Mikes son in law. This was the last year Tom and I did the 5 mile loop round Potholm.

From 1st January 2023 and this time David Stevenson has joined us and this was the last time he did the Potholm loop due to knee problems.

This is 1st January 2022 and Mike and I walked it with Tom who took the photo.

Its January 2021 and a lovely day for walking with blue skies.

I have no photo from 1st January 2020 but this is from 2019 and it includes John Irving and Peter and Elizabeth Bart-Smith. Sadly Peter is no longer with us. 

This is 1st January 2018 and it includes the one and only Bowman who was owned by the Stevenson family. A dog with real character who had walked with our group of friends many times over the years and made friends wherever we went. 

Once again Bowman is centre stage from this one on 1st January 2017

This time we have Australian friends with us in 2016. Niall and Elspeth who usually spend the summer in Langholm came over for Christmas and had friends with them. Bowman has just been clipped and looks very smart.

This is the first year I have a record of the New Years Day event and it is of Niall, Peter, and Tom in 2013. I think prior to this we either did not do the walk or I didn't bother to take photos and of course in those early days mobile phones didn't take good photos. I have no photos for 2014 or 2015 so cannot remember if we walked those years. It also may be that bad weather stopped us from walking, but this is 10 times we have done the walk and I think there were a few more. Long may the tradition continue although our participation in it might be less and less.