A Walk Round Jenny Nobles and New Seats

These photos are a week late in being posted, but I forgot to put them on my blog last week. It's the first time we have all walked together for quite a while. It was only round Jenny Nobles with Coffee at The Buccleuch Centre first and then Lunch there after our walk as well. The weather was excellent and the crack even better. 

At the Round House

It was so good to have Peter with us as he has had a difficult time recently and has now moved to Edinburgh to live so he got a lift down to Langholm with John and Sandria.

We have recently put several new Seats and Picnic tables on The Langholm Walks routes to replace damaged seats. This is at Colin's Turn on the Copshaw road. I was sitting on the seat admiring the view when Jane and Alan Kettle cycled by on their way to Newcastleton. They have been in Canonbie for about 3 years now and came as the first customers of Wild Eskdale and liked it so much they decided to move here. They have never regretted their move north from Lincolnshire.

The new Picnic Table at the Car Park on the Tarras Valley road to Cooms. This is Niall Weatherstone who sponsored the 2 Picnic Tables there and is with the new team from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, Jenny, Angela, and Kat.

Me with Jane Kettle. In a way I was responsible for them coming to the area as I helped set up Wild Eskdale which was the reason they came to see the Hen Harriers and a Black Grouse Lek.

The new seat at Elizabeth Street

Niall and myself at the other Picnic Table on the road to Cooms.

The new seat replacing the damaged one at Lands End. We placed 2 Picnic Tables and 4 Seats this week and have another 3 seats to place in the next month.

 

Lockdown January Walks

It has been a very cold January and as we are again in Lockdown I have decided not to even go far out of Langholm for my daily walks. These photographs are a collection of all my walks during the second half of January. I have only missed one day of walking since Christmas and am managing to average almost 5 miles per day.

This is on the walk that I call The Curly Snake and it runs parallel to The Lodge Walks and comes out at Pathhead near Buccleuch Estates offices.

Plenty of ice on the Tarras road between Skippers Bridge and the turnoff for Jenny Nobles Gill

The Castleholm

On the way round Jenny Nobles Gill

My most regular walk is round by The Pheasant Pens and this Robin regularly comes up to me near Holmhead. I have started to feed him some seed so he is becoming very friendly.

This is called Hair Ice and there has been a lot of it about this month.

The river Esk at Hollows Bridge on the one occasion I ventured a wee bit further for a walk

I normally walk on my own in the morning and then in the afternoon go for a shorter walk with Gaye. We certainly make sure that we are appropriately dressed for the situation.

The face mask certainly improves my looks.

The Castleholm and Langholm Lodge

Easton's Walk and the path was very slippy so Tom is hanging onto the fence to save himself from falling

Jenny Nobles Gill walk on the frostiest morning

This is well below Skippers Bridge on the Esk and Mike Tinker pointed out to me that Birds Nest Orchids grow here in the summer. 

The monument on our most snowy day. We have been very fortunate and missed most of the really bad weather but did have some very cold nights with the coldest being about -12C

 

July Arrives and Brings the Bad Weather

Last weekends weather was so bad and it continued on the Monday so the furthest I got for a walk was up to the Quarry on the Copshaw road to see how the Tadpoles and Newts were doing in the last remaining pond.

At the start of spring there were several ponds but during the very dry spring the nearly all dried up leaving this last one which seems to be thriving 

It was Wednesday before I got a decent walk and this was at Rowanburn and down the old railway line and through the wood near where there was an Italian Prisoner of War camp during the war

A good field of Barley next to the Rowanburnfoot Road 

This used to be Canonbie Station in Rowanburn

On Thursday Gaye and I went up Ewes to Arkleton Walled Garden for the first day of its summer opening. We collected a jar full of flowers and enjoyed a nice walk round the garden. Its well worth a visit.  

Gaye with our jar of cut flowers

She suits Green and of course used to be called Gaye Green

Plenty of Flowers and the more you cut the more there are come.

A nice sheltered spot

Friday was so wet that the only walk I did was 2 miles round Langholm Lodge and finished like a drookit rat.

There was a slight improvement in the weather on Saturday so I headed round Jenny Nobles Gil which seems to be my favourite walk during this Lockdown period. These Foxgloves look great with the rain on them 

A month ago the walk round Jenny Nobles was very dry but now its very wet and muddy in places with the path more like a stream at some parts of the walk

A small stream running along the track

I love the two Snails on this flower 

A gang of Ducks at the Kirk Bridge and unlike those folk on Bournemouth Beach a week ago they know how to keep a distance apart

I Love the Upper Tarras Valley so this morning I took a gamble and headed up there and despite the gale force winds the weather was not too bad. 

Some lovely wild flowers but no idea what they are.

On my way up the valley I saw some Swallows flying out of this wee shed so decided that on my way back I would have a look in. As I looked into the shed at the door I got the fright of my life as a Barn Owl flew between my head and the top of the door. I had hoped that this week we would have been able to travel a bit further out of Langholm but due to a spike in Covid-19 virus in Annan and Gretna our area of Dumfries and Galloway is still restricted to no more than five miles. Hopefully this will be lifted in time for our planned walk in Selkirk on Wednesday with The last of the Summer Wine Walkers. We can only hope that the restrictions are lifted and we can enjoy once again our weekly walks.

Week 4 in Isolation

This is the first time I have ever gone a whole month and never been out of Langholm. I can hardly believe the fact that I filled the car with petrol exactly a month ago and have only done about 50 miles. At the same time I drew £30 from the cashline and its still in my wallet as all transactions have been by Apple Pay and I have never been in a situation to pay cash. We live in strange times indeed. This is the carving of an Eagle on the Lodge Walks which I must pass 3 or 4 times a week.  

On the same walk there are loads of these Pheasant Pens for the breeding season. Last year they bred almost 100,000 Pheasants and Partridges but I think there will be a lot less this season and maybe there won't even be a shooting season. I have never been one who actively supported shooting but in a remote rural area like Langholm it has created about 8 full time jobs and from September to February it provides a lot of business to the local hotels

The road to Murtholm

A great display of daffodils beside the Wauchope river and Caroline street

On Monday I visited Langholm Cemetery to pay my respects to my mother and father. I had been thinking about them a lot recently and the effect World War 2 had on them. My mother suffered terribly in Hull during the war and lost one house to a Land Mine and was dug out of an Air Raid Shelter that took a direct hit. 

A lonely Lennie Bell at his regular seat on the Castleholm. We usually walk together on a Monday and Thursday morning but now we walk on our own and occasionally pass each other.  

The path round Jenny Noble's Walk which I have done twice this week

This is the footprint from a Mountain Lion which was discovered by Fraser and my 3 American grandchildren last weekend on their hike in the foothills near their home in Saratoga, California.  

The English Kirk round the Lodge Walks or The Scottish Episcopalian Church to give it its correct title. It has been closed as a church for many years and is now just a store room for Common Riding equipment.