A Walk at Back of the Hill in Annan

Today Tom and myself went to Annan to do a 4 mile walk to The Back of the Hill and the Solway shore. I had only once been to The Back of the Hill, but never walked there. We parked near the Town Hall in the centre of Annan and headed to the old Harbour. It is in the process of being improved and is all fenced off. We both thought it needed improving but you cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear. The whole area is very grotty, but certainly the improvement will help.

These old wrecks of boats need to be moved

It will take a long time before its ready to reopen.

The railway line going over the river Annan 

The Solway Firth

A cairn in tribute to Robert Burns who inspected the cargo of boats going up the river Annan

The river Annan enters the Solway Firth

A line of Hawthorn trees next to the shore along the path to Back of the Hill. The blossom was tremendous.

Lots of wild flowers on the open area past the harbour

These were the most colourful

A right marshy area

Plenty of cattle chewing the cud

The road to the shore, but hardly used by cars as it is gated

Tom looking very summery

Cochran Boilers in the background. I visited it many times during my 24 years working in the Air Cargo industry. We used to get regular shipments for boiler spares going all over the world. Many were for ships boilers and we were given a couple of days to get the spares to a port where a vessel would be due and "ships spares in transit" was the way it got through customs very quickly.

Near the harbour we met this guy with his granddaughter Georgia on his back. Tom had a chat with him about local history but I chatted to Georgia and she was a star. Plenty to say, but I had a hard job understanding her. She gave me a high five on departing. 

Growing near the harbour

Next to the railway station the old Central Hotel which has been closed for many years and is now a real eyesore.

Annan Station

The Solway Firth with the Lake District hills in the background

A better view of Cochran Boilers

The Hawthorn blossom path

A most enjoyable 4 mile walk in excellent weather. We came back to Langholm for lunch at The Buccleuch Centre on a very busy day for them and the service was excellent.