Saturday Morning in Lower Tarras Valley

 

For the last 15 years I spent every Saturday morning visiting the Laverock Bird Hide just near here to top up the bird feeders and view the many birds that frequented them. This stopped in July this year on advice from RSPB due to the possible infections passed on to the birds. I didn't realise how much I missed these Saturday mornings until I went up there again today. It was a beautiful frosty morning and I once again did what had been my regular Saturday morning walk from Cronksbank to Perterburn and back. 

The road to Perterburn

Looking over to the other side of the Tarras valley you can see what we locals call The Bible Fields

This is Rashiel Cottage owned by Tarras Valley Nature Reserve

This is Cronksbank Cottage and it is in the process of being renovated and should be let out to a local family this autumn. It will be a splendid cottage and a lovely place to live if you like isolation and wildlife. Other properties on the nature reserve should get the same treatment in the future.

I would have liked to get closer to the Highland Coos, but it meant climbing over a fence and those days are now beyond me. 

There are a couple of calves in this photograph.

This is Middlemoss in the distance and on the other side of the Tarras river

These trees were planted in June 2022 by myself and my grandchildren Hannah and Leo who were over for a few days from Newcastle.

They are mostly Rowan and have produced lots of berries this year

Leo and Hannah planting them 4 years ago

We spent several hours on a Friday morning planting about 30 trees. It was hard work, but very rewarding. Hannah is now at a University in The Netherlands studying Biology so I am sure she will return to Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in the future to see how her trees are progressing. Leo will hopefully go to University in a couple of years time.

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.