Bentpath to Langholm

Todays walk was to be a walk through memory lane for Peter from the time he used to live at Douglen and often walked around the area between Bentpath and Langholm.  This is Tom & Peter outside the lovely Westerkirk Church where Peter and Elizabeth were married over 40 years ago.

The road through Westerhall Estate which at certain times of the year must be one of the nicest walks in Scotland. Looking at this photograph you see a very rare sight that of Snowdrops and Rhododendrons in the same photograph. 

Westerhall House which must be one of the finest Holiday Houses in the country as it is rarely used but is kept beautifully both house and gardens. The views from it are outstanding and it is a real pleasure to walk through the estate. The best time to go through will be in April/May when the Azalea's are in full bloom.

At the Westerhall Farm Peter took us up a trail next to the Glenearls Syke to a spot where he and the family used to go to swim many years ago. This is the dam in the Syke and the group of trees in the centre is actually an Island. Lots of the gravel has been moved so it is not as wide and deep as when Peter used to go there.

This is the Dam which at one time provided Hydro Power to the farm a few hundred yards down the burn.

The Dam from a distance

Nearer Langholm we passed by the Feeding pens for all the Pheasants reared by Buccleuch Estates

Peter outside Douglencleuch the house he used to live in nearly 40 years ago

A string of National Hunt Racehorses from the Ewart Stables at Burnfoot

On the Sorbie Road there is this lovely Pond which started life as a flooded field many years ago and is now nurtured by the farmer as a wildlife habitat. We arrived in Langholm after almost 7.5 miles and within an hour of getting home the rain started so we had been very lucky. 

Craster Walk with a Fishy finish

Something a little bit different from the usual Wednesday walk. Ken arrived on the train from Edinburgh at Alnmouth Station but without John who had to drop out last night due to a chest infection. Peter, Tom, and I met him off the train having stayed last night in Newcastle and we headed off to Craster with the clouds clearing

Dunstanburgh Castle which can only be reached by walking almost a mile.

Closer view of the Castle

These sheep were guarding the entrance to the Castle

The next part of the walk took us along the beach where there is this fine geological example. Niall will have to provide us with information about this at a later date.

On the beach

Half way along the beach we had to cross this stream. Only Peter took his boots and socks off to cross it while the rest of us crossed at speed and managed to avoid wet feet.

Crossing at speed

Putting his socks on

Dunstanburgh Castle on the skyline

The square at Low Newton. The Ship Inn provided us with a lovely coffee break. It was too early for lunch and a pint of their own brewed beer.

Outside the Brewery

The Nature Reserve among the Sand Dunes on way back to Craster

Tom loves to see a Golf Course and this was a very nice one.

Among the Sand Dunes there are several wooden huts that were probably built between the wars before there were planning laws like today.
We ended up back in Craster for a lovely lunch in the Jolly Fisherman. The food and service was excellent and I can recommend it to anybody.

From Whitley Bay to North Shields

As a change this week we are walking in Northumberland and staying at our Fiona's in Newcastle before our big walk on Wednesday. Tom & Peter joined me in High Heaton at lunch time and we headed out to Whitley Bay and parked at the Metro Station before walking to North Shields and then returning on the Metro. This photograph is Tom and Peter before they tried an extreme sport on Tynemouth beach.

And this is them surfing.

This is the old open air swimming pool at Tynemouth. There is a plan to raise money and turn it into a heated pool using thermal energy so with a bit of luck they will succeed and it will be a great success.

Tynemouth Beach

These cannons were guarding a memorial to Admiral Collingwood at the entrance to the River Tyne

A lady stopped us and said how much she liked Peter and Toms pink hats. They are now very worried about their image.

This is the monument complete with cannons guarding the entrance to the river Tyne so the Geordies can sleep well they are well protected.

The Meeting of the Waters

With bad weather forecast to come in from about 12 noon the plan was to do a 5/6 mile walk locally and finish by 1.00pm so we headed for Canonbie and parked at the Parish Church. A group of council workers were digging a grave as we parked up and were informed it was for a Friday funeral which was just as well as they were still at it when we returned 2.5 hours later.

With snow still on the ground and for once Canonbie had more than Langholm.

This is the Deed Nook pool where a couple of hundred years ago some worshippers from the local church were drowned while crossing the river Esk in flood in a ferry boat.

The steps at the riverside need some repairs done as they are now at an angle.

Tom explains where the Memorial Seat in memory of Rotarian Alastair Davies will be placed at the Meeting of the Waters.

And the view from the seat when it will be placed there hopefully in time for the Canonbie Umbrella Walk at the end of March.

Peter advised us he had never been here before so we had to take his photo.

We completed the walk with the rain and sleet only coming along for the last half hour. A very enjoyable walk in good weather apart from the last mile.

Lonely and Wet

With 4 of our wee group of walkers sunning themselves in warmer climates John, Peter, and myself were left to walk in the rain today. David, Ken, and Tom are in the Carribean and Niall is back in Western Australia. We had originally planned a 7 mile walk in the Newcastleton area but after looking at the forecast we decided on an Umbrella Walk round Potholm instead. 

This photograph expresses our greetings to those in the group that prefer the sun to walking on a beautiful wet day in Langholm.

A Peebles Walk and it did not Rain

We decided to meet up yesterday in Peebles with the Edinburgh contingent joining us so Peter, Tom, and I left a very wet Langholm at 9.00am thinking we would get very wet. We met John, Martin, and Sandria in the car park at 10.30am just as the rain stopped and the sun peeked out for a few minutes. The sun soon disapeared but the rain stayed away and we walked almost 7 miles without a drop of rain to be seen. The walk was a circuit of the Glentress biking trails with the last part of the walk following the old railway line next to the river Tweed back into Peebles.

All set to go but it did not last long as both Tom and Martin forgot to put on some items of clothing

Into the rucksacks for gloves (Tom) and waterproof trousers (Martin)

Once we had climbed to about 1000ft we had a good view accross the Tweed valley with these clouds lingering all day.

The River Tweed at a fairly high level but not in flood.

The Peebles Hydro Hotel in among the trees

A Castle on the top of a small hill but nobody seemed to know what it was called

At the Glentress visitor centre we met the Recreation and Tourism Manager Hugh McKay and he gave us a conducted tour of the facility and explained how it had been set up by the Forestry Commission at a cost of 8 million pounds. Last year they had in excess of 300,000 visitors and it is hoped to increase the number in 2014. It is a fantastic facility and it enables almost 9 million pounds to be spent in the area so is a real bonus for the tourist industry and the Borders Council have also helped by making the cycle track along the old railway to encourage visitors to spend time in Peebles. If only Langholm could have visitor numbers like this. We have the scenery, the walks, and cycle tracks but it just needs money to be spent putting it all together in a package. The other bonus is the 9 pairs of Ospreys that nest in the Tweed Valley which adds to the visitor numbers at the viewing areas. It is well worth a visit and good value for families.
After a nice snack meal in a local cafe we headed back to Langholm and by the time we had reached Selkirk the rain had commenced and by Langholm it had once again become very wet and had rained there all day.

New Years Day Walk

We decided to take part in the Langholm New Years Day run but of course at walking pace. The idea is to be back in Langholm for 11.00am. We set off just after 9.00am to do part of the course round Potholm. Tom held us up at the start as he was late but this was to be fortunate as we arrived in the Market Place at 1 minute to 11.00am.

Good timing thanks to Tom.

David, Niall, Elspeth, and Tom with of course our good pal Bowman.

Bowman returning from a visit to see if Tom is ok and to round him up. As usual Tom had stopped for a Natural Break so Bowman left him to it after seeing he was ok and he resumed his place as the leader of our Group.

After the walk Tom and I visited David's home as he had a horse running in the 12.10 at Cheltenham. We decided to have Bucks Fizz prior to the race which was just as well as the horse came in last in a field of 6.

Just after I got home the heavens opened with more torrential rain so we had been very fortunate to walk while it was dry.