A Walk at Irving House Before it Changes for Ever

Todays Thursday walk took Mike, Charlie, and myself to Irving House just 4 miles south of Langholm. We decided we wanted to have a last good look at it before Buccleuch Estates starts building 142 Chalets there for a holiday complex. It is up for planning permission at the moment so if passed work will probably commence next year and it will change for ever. It should be successful as it is a lovely place and it will help Langholm to prosper. This is the river Esk passing by the front of the old house.

The fishing at Irving House is probably one of the best stretches on the Esk.

Irving House has stood empty for over 15 years so it is good that it will be occupied again in the future. The House will be the head office of the complex and also a restaurant.

This used to be where a line was attached to a boat that was used for fishers

The path running between the river and the house and gardens is beautiful so hopefully the public will still be able to use it in the future.

Lovely stone steps leading from the lawn which used to be a tennis court down to the river

The river Tarras joins the Esk at this place.

Charlie on the steps from where the Tennis Court used to be.

Mike discovered this Fungi called Clavaria amethystina which grows in old lawns and parks between July and November. It is quite rare and very unusual.

The old house which despite being empty for so long is still in a fairly good condition.

Two old Ewe trees forming an arch on the path near the house.

The path was covered in  Acorns from the many Oak trees

One of the huge Oak trees in the field where 71 chalets will be built so we hope they don't get rid of this lovely tree which must be many hundreds of years old.

 

River Esk Walk from Canonbie to Langholm

My favourite walk is along the river Esk from Canonbie to Langholm. I tried about 4 or 5 years ago to get this walk as one of The Langholm Walks network but Buccleuch Estates refused permission. Since then I have taken as many people as possible on this walk as a way of sticking two fingers up to Buccleuch Estates for their lack of support. My latest party of walkers were Kate and Don Lacey who have recently moved to Skippers Cottage to be near their son Daniel who is one of the worlds leading furniture makers. In my opinion this is the nicest walk in the area and should be in our network. I even had the funding to get it all in order as all it needed was signposts and maybe a couple of new stiles but it was not to be. I think I will have another go soon to get it as a way marked walk for the benefit of visitors. It is even more important now as the Gilnockie Tower Visitor Centre is open and attracting visitors. When this opens fully next summer a way marked walk going past it could be a great asset to it.  

This is the entrance to the mill stream at Hollows Mill which now runs an Archimedes Screw to power the mill. The working Mill is another place of interest on this walk.

This is one of the rooms in the newly refurbished Gilnockie Tower. We were kindly shown round by Beverley Hyslop and when it is finished it will be beautiful and a great asset to the area. Go to www.gilnockietower.com for more information. 

Beverley with Kath and Don

Gilnockie Tower and the Clan Armstrong Centre 

The river Tarras joins the Esk at Irving House. It looks such an insignificant river here but further up the valley it is one of the loveliest rivers in Scotland with loads of wild life to be seen.

Irving House which has been empty for a good number of years and now has Moles on the front lawn which used to be a Tennis Court many years ago. It would make a lovely high class hotel 

Just below Irving House on the nicest part of the river walk we saw this Salmon. It looks to be diseased and probably wont survive very long. I am not sure if it will have spawned further up river and now be on its way back to the sea.