Cooling our Feet in the Tarras

It was so warm this afternoon that we decided to go over to the Tarras Valley and have a paddle in the river at the Ford next to Arkleton Cottage.

It was perfect but the temperature was 34C or 90F and high humidity so we soon had to get back into the Air Conditioned Car and make our way back to Langholm. This was 15F higher than it was with Fraser in Saratoga, California. The first time ever it was warmer in Langholm than Saratoga.

 

Week 11 and Getting out of Langholm (But not very far)

Another week and as my knee improves so does the miles walked. I started this week with a walk round Jenny Nobles Gill and was able to see the damage done to many beech hedges by the frost of a couple of weeks ago. This one is not as bad as many others around Langholm 

All the trees in the Parish Kirk grounds have been felled and when I went past this on Monday I thought it might be going to be made into a wood sculpture but it has since been cut right down to the stump.

On Tuesday I was back up in the Tarras valley and a most enjoyable walk from this bridge up to Lodgegill  

This is a lovely spot for swimming just next to the holiday cottage at Tarras Lodge

The upper reaches of the Tarras near Lodgegill

My route on Thursday took me to Castle O'er near Eskdalemuir and an early morning walk through the forest. This is just near the spot where the Black and White Esk meet and shows how much has been felled recently. 

The second half of this walk is along the B road to Eskdailmuir and it is very quiet and has lots of interesting places to see.

A natural amphitheatre at Over Rig that was used up to 2000 years ago for gatherings.

After my walk I had my Coffee break at a stone circle on the Prehistoric Trail

My Saturday walk was a 5 mile circuit at Canonbie to take in The Meeting of the Waters where the Esk and Liddel rivers meet.  

There was plenty of wildlife to be seen but only the Heron stays still for long enough to get a photo

During the walk I met the local farmers father and had a most enjoyable chat with him. He was not like most farmers and did not have any moans, except perhaps maybe a little more rain but he was having a good season as you can see by this crop of spring sown Barley. 

The river Liddel on the second half of my walk and perhaps my favourite stretch of both rivers. 

The Liddel railway viaduct in the distance

The Meeting of the Waters and a lovely place to sit for a while

I always sit in the seat put there by Langholm Rotary Club in memory of my good friend Alastair Davies who died far too early and would have gone right to the top in World Rotary. 

Canonbie Kirk

My week finished on Sunday morning with a walk along Lower Tarras. This area is much different from Upper Tarras and is quite marshy in places. It is much more enclosed and therefore there are many more different types of birds present.  

This marshy area near Lower Tarras bridge was earmarked a good number of years ago by Dr. Cat Barlow of the Making the most of the Moorland Project to be made into a pond. There were too many issues regarding planning permission but if the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve comes to fruition if and when we buy The Langholm Moor then this may be resurrected. Its a fabulous project and hopefully we will secure the funding. 

This is a fabulous reed bed and an interesting habitat for Reed Warblers and similar birds.

A fabulous old wooden suspension bridge and an old man

The river Tarras running crystal clear

Week 7 in Isolation

As I have had a sore knee this week I have cut down on my walking so have spent a bit of time over in the Tarras Valley and watching the Hen Harriers from Hen harrier Corner on the Copshaw road. This short video shows how peaceful it is in the Tarras Valley next to Jim Telfer's seat and just chilling out.

On my one short walk round the Lodge Walks I met Ken Johnson and his two lovely dogs. The walk was just to try out my knee but unfortunately I decided to rest it for a bit longer as it was quite sore after the walk.

I had two visits to Hen harrier Corner and on both visits was lucky to see a Male Hen Harrier hunting in Little Tarras Valley and behind me also on the skyline. They are the most beautiful birds and The Langholm Moor is the best and most accessible place in mainland UK to see them. We are very lucky and this week it was announced that The Duke of Buccleuch wants £6M for the Langholm Moor purchase by Langholm Initiative on behalf of the community. Its a lot of money with probably more than 50% coming from The Scottish Government and the rest to be raised privately. There will be a fund raising campaign starting very soon and I urge everybody to donate even a small amount. 

It was also 15 years this week since our son Fraser was married to Leslie Lemon in Red Butte Gardens, Salt Lake City, Utah. What a great day that was with all our family and many friends making the 5000 mile trip to Utah to support us. 

Our friends joined us in Red Butte Gardens the day before the wedding for the wedding rehearsal. There was a distinct Scottish theme to the occasion with the men wearing Rugby Shirts. Gaye and I were so pleased that our good friends Niall & Elspeth, John & Sandria, Jean & Wattie, Jean Weatherstone, and Tom all made the journey to Utah.