Lower Tarras Valley Nature Reserve Walk with Mario and Leo

 

This morning I took son in law Mario and grandson Leo to the area above The Ponds at the Lower Tarras area of the Nature Reserve. It was a lovely morning and they enjoyed the challenge of the walk. This is Tom Stothart's seat placed there a few months ago. There was another group of 4 walkers visited it about 20 minutes before us so it is getting quite popular these days.

The forest area was felled 3 years ago and the two ponds created in November 2024. The progress of the ponds has been dramatic and lots of life has moved into them.

The amount of Heather starting to grow where there was once thousands of trees is spectacular. That Heather must have remained dormant all that time and as soon as there is light it re generates.

Lovely fresh Heather

Because of the dry summer the path created round the felled area is quite dry just now

Left to its own devices the felled area will eventually all green over and the old tree stumps will rot away

Mario and Leo enjoying the view and watching 4 Buzzards that were making a lot of noise

Heather everywhere

At this point we had climbed the steepest part and were just about a hundred yards away from the plateau at the top, where we got wonderful views over the Esk Valley

Five New Seats on Tarras Valley Nature Reserve

Langholm Walks Group have been working with Tarras valley Nature Reserve to provide 5 new Recycled Plastic Seats on the lower part of Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. This is the first one just above the new ponds and it overlooks the furthermost pond from high up above it.

The view from the seat

Charlie and Mike who placed the brass plaques on the seats today. We walked about 4 miles to do this job on a glorious sunny day and it was a most enjoyable morning.

This is the highest up seat on the new path from Hallpath to Broomholmshiels. It has a wonderful view of the Esk valley

Mike and myself this morning. The easiest way to do this walk is from the ponds to Hallpath as the climb up the hill is much more gradual.

Langholm from the seat

Lower down the hill toward Hallpath is the second seat on this path and it has probably the best view of Langholm in the distance 

Charlie and me enjoying the wonderful view of Langholm

Looking across the valley from the seat

This seat is on the lower path from The Round House to Broomholm and it is just before you turn down to Jenny Nobles Gill

This was 2 hours after we started doing this job this morning so Charlie and Mike are glad to have a rest

The view from this seat and there is a special request on the brass plaque so please follow the instructions

The final seat to be completed today is overlooking an ancient Oak a bit further along the path.

A spot supremely blessed

The view of the ancient Oak from the seat. Langholm Walks Group would like to say a special thank you to Kevan Hotson and his son for putting the seats together and to Simon Richardson's team for placing these seats in difficult places. We would also like to say a special THANK YOU to Jenny at Tarras Valley Nature Reserve for all her work in putting this project together. It's been a great team effort and we are all sure many people will enjoy sitting on these seats for many years to come. There should be a full article in the E & L Advertiser about this project soon.

Lower Tarras Valley and the end of a Coal Story

Today's Wednesday Walk was 3 of us for the first time in a while as Niall was able to join Tom and myself. We headed to The Laverock Bird Hide on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve and parked the car there for a 4 mile walk down the road to the Tarras Distillery and then along the Tarras River up to Rachiel Bridge and then back up the road to the Bird Hide. It had been a wet morning and the ground was very wet and boggy in places. This is one of the many Hawthorn bushes we encountered on the walk and they are looking at their best now with loads of blossom. 

An avenue of Hawthorn

The first of 2 wooden bridges we had to negotiate and this one is not in very great condition so it was one person at a time.

The suspension bridge further up the Tarras and this one is in excellent condition but tends to swing a bit if there is more than 1 person on it. The Tarras is running quite high after a few days of heavy rain. 

The River Tarras with a few trees still to come into full greenery

This is the marshy area next to Rachel Bridge and its an area I and others would like to see made into a pond as a feature in  the new Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. 

I walked this path on Sunday but now it is a burn.

Tom on the Suspension Bridge

The view looking up river from the Suspension Bridge

One of the several places we used to think there was a coal seam came out next to the river but Geologist Niall soon put us right and it is in fact just Shale.

Crossing another burn that has become a raging torrent. We all managed to cross without mishap but it was quite difficult and I did get wet feet. 

The best example of a seam od Shale in the banking.

Niall crosses the rickety bridge. Despite the very wet and boggy ground it was an enjoyable 4 mile walk. 

 

Last of the Summer Wine Walkers Back Together Again

On a bitterly cold day for May this was the first time The Last of the Summer Wine Walkers had been together for almost a year and we selected a walk round the lower part of The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve since we had all contributed to its purchase. The Cumbrian Fells in the distance give an idea of how cold it was.

 The group all together next to the Tarras river and if you look carefully you will see the coal seam in the banking of the river. 

Elizabeth and Sandria leading the way across this rickety old bridge

John on this famous Tarras bridge recently repaired by John Murray of Claygate and an excellent job he has made of it as well.

Tom proceeding with great care

Me next to the Coal Seams on the Tarras. These are the same coal seams that are also in West Cumbria

Crossing a stream now.

John and David crossing the bridge. We walked 4 miles and then completed our get together with an excellent lunch at Whitshiels. The girl who served us was excellent and a real character so was well tipped for her efforts. As she was masked up I probably won't recognise her if I met her in the street but she just made an excellent ending to a good day. 

A Walk in Lower Tarras

My morning walk today was from The Maverick Bird Hide to Perterburn and back in Lower Tarras Valley a distance of 4 miles.

After much discussion on Facebook we have decided this is a Kestrel photographed at Perterburn.

This is Middlemoss in the distance

Looking up The Tarras and Little Tarras Valley

These 2 fields enclosed by Dry Stane dykes at the back of Whita have been called The Bible Fields as far as I can remember. 

The Rashiel Cottage and one of the nicest places to live in the area. I have been there during the Walking Festival when we were allowed to see a Barn Owl nest and I have a couple of times seen a Barn Owl hunting in the field in front of the house.

Plenty of water in the Tarras but not running brown like the Esk was this morning

Tarras Bridge

This is a very marshy area near Tarras bridge. At one time during the Moorland Education Project we had plans to turn this area into a pond but it needed planning permission and we did not have sufficient funds. Perhaps that will happen when the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve is set up.