Eden Estuary Trail

This weeks walk was the Eden Estuary Trail from a book called Solway Coast Rambles and it proved to be an excellent choice. The weather forecast shown earlier in the week was terrible and on Tuesday evening we were still not sure if we would be able to do the walk. This morning at 7.30am the BBC weather site showed the weather clearing in Burgh by Sands by 11.00am so we delayed our start and arrived there by 10.45am just as the rain stopped and the sky cleared. It remained like this for the 4 hours we were out with only one false alarm when we put our coats on and the small shower stopped immediately. Tom and Peter were unable to join us so especially with Tom absent there was nobody to argue with over the way to go. From the start point at the Greyhound Inn we turned left and walked for half a mile to discover we should have turned right. This added a mile to the 8 mile walk so after half an hour we back where we started and still with 8 miles to go. Niall and John are photographed in front of the statue to Edward the First of England or Longshanks the Hammer of the Scots.

Burgh by Sands is a lovely village with several Boulder and clay barns known locally as Clay Dabbins and these sit beside Victorian brick built houses and this beautiful Thatched Cottage

This is The Edward I Monument erected in 1685 on the spot where the King died in 1307. Edward died whilst camped on the marsh close to the Stony Wath where his army could cross to Scotland at low tide. Rather him than me as it must have been a dangerous crossing.

The lovely view of the River Eden just before it enters the Solway.

On the marshes there are several of these bridges and as you see them in the distance you think they are a bridge to nowhere but in reality they take walkers over some very deep tidal ditches.

Niall and John view one of the deep ditches.

On the other side of the river is the village Rockliffe named after the escarpment. We followed the curve of the river to the little village of Beaumont and had a short break on the village green before heading back to Burgh by Sands along the Hadrians Wall footpath. A smashing walk and even although it was fairly flat it was tough walking and we were glad of a refreshing pint in the Greyhound Inn on our return.

Quintinshill Walk

As we are coming up to the date of the 100th Anniversary of the starting of the 1st World War we decided this week to walk the 6.5 mile trail at Gretna that takes in the Quintinshill Train Disaster from 1915 where hundreds of troops were killed when their train was hit by an express train in a siding near Gretna.

This is the siding where the accident happened when human error by 2 signalmen resulted in the crash. The troop train then caught fire and it was a result of the fire that caused so many deaths.

More information about the accident

The sign warns Peter and Tom

This is the main street in the village of Springfield. It used to be the main A74 road but is now a very quiet street.

The First House in Scotland and now a cafe. We stopped here for a snack but service was very slow. 

The bridge over the River Sark and it was at this point that Tom decided to explain his theory on the English West Bank problem. a very interesting theory but much better to speak to Tom about it than try to explain it on this blog.

Our walk finished at the Gretna Green Blacksmiths Wedding Centre where of course there was a wedding. I was about to ask them to pose for a better photo when both Bride & Groom lit up a cigarette and the magic effect was gone so I just left them to smoke in peace.

Loads of Cousins

Cousin Hilary and her daughter Meg and her 2 sons Sam and Tom visited us on the Wednesday prior to the Common Riding. The weather was glorious and most of the time was spent in the garden.

The purpose of the visit was to meet up with Fraser and his family. It is almost 30 years since they had seen each other. 

I had booked a Chocolate Party for all the kids at Abbotts and they loved it but it was the warmest day of the year so the chocolate struggled to set. Tom is drawing with white chocolate on his chocolate lollipop.

Sam making a chocolate Pizza.

Ellie and Sam got on great.

We paid a quick visit to Winterhope to see Jean and Wattie.

Lunch in the garden. A great day and hopefully we will all meet up again soon.

A Birthday Picnic

We decided to combine a visit to Jean & Wattie with a special picnic to celebrate Gaye's forthcoming 70th birthday.

The weather was fantastic and Winterhope Cottage is such a great place especially for the kids.

The birthday girl with a lovely new watch given by Fiona & Fraser and their families.

A lovely shaded picnic area with our hosts Jean & Wattie

Hannah with her new friend Quackers the Duck. 

Hannah playing cards with the adults after the others had gone to bed.

A Family Common Riding

With all the family in Langholm for this years Common Riding for the first time since 2006 this was a real special occasion. In 2006 we only had one grandchild Hannah but now we have Eleanor, Leo, and Tommy as well. 

The family all together. Don't know when this will happen again. 

Ellie loved every minute of the Common Riding and had her photo taken with the Cornet and two of the emblems.

Niall's Non Birthday Walk

The walk today was a Non- Birthday Walk selected by Niall as his birthday is at the wrong time to be with us so he selected a 6.6 mile walk from the town of Coldstream which partly followed the River Tweed and finished through the Hirsel Estate that was once the home of Sir Alec Douglas Home the ex Prime Minister. We left Langholm in the rain but as we for further east it stopped and we had an almost dry walk with just a couple of showers. At the car park where we started the walk there is a lovely garden with these Saltires in the background. We decided to take the photograph with the YES voters on one side and the NO voters on the other. I will leave it to readers to decide which is which, but maybe we were not being totally truthful.

The view from the garden at the start of the river Tweed and looking into England

This area is perfect for Barley and there are many fields just like this with almost perfect crops. Looks like it will be a good year for these farmers.

There were plenty of fishermen on the river Tweed but this is the first time I have seen a dog fishing.

In the Hirsel Estate there were plenty of these old Scots Pines

A coffee break in the cafe on the Hirsel Estate

Tom & Martin have a chat with Sir Alec.
It was a superb walk with plenty to see in lovely countryside. We went for a meal after the walk and entered the Besom Pub and were given a table for 7 and menus and then 2 minutes later the manageress came over to us and said we were too late as the kitchen closed at 2.00pm (it was 2.01pm) and suggested we move to another pub up the high street. I was furious as this is a perfect example of poor business ethics and who in this day and age can afford to turn down good business like this. We therefore went further along the road to the Newcastle Inn and were provided with a nice meal pleasantly served. I shall of course be making comments on Trip Advisor so they have really lost out by not serving us.

Gaye's Sitootery

Gaye has always wanted a Summer House or as she calls it a Sitootery. Our friends Niall and Elspeth Weatherstone decided to make this wish into a reality and the whole Weatherstone family clubbed together to buy Gaye her Sitootery for her forthcoming 70th birthday. Her birthday is not until 14th August but it was decided to have it erected in time for Fraser and his family coming. Leslie and the kids arrive today and Fraser arrives in a weeks time and they all leave on 30th July. The Last of the Summer Wine crew were drafted in to help with the building of the Summer House and they arrived yesterday together with our friends Jean and Wattie Rutherford and under the guidance of Project Manager Niall the Sitootery was erected, although not without a few problems raising their heads and being solved especially with the assistance of Wattie.

The following photographs show the process of building this fine Sitooterie.