Brampton to Talkin Tarn and back.

Todays Wednesday Walk was Tom's choice and came from last weeks Cumberland News. The start was at the Moot Hall in Brampton and it took us along an old disused railway line towards Talkin Tarn and after a circuit of the Tarn followed by a Hot Chocolate drink in the cafe we headed back by another route to Brampton. It was frosty when we started and the temperature only rose to 1C by the time we finished. This photograph is of Brampton Station as we crossed the carlisle to Newcastle railway line. 

Tom where did you get that hat?

Our route back to Brampton took us past this fine copse of trees

On the outskirts of Brampton is this fine carved seat.

This Celtic Cross commemorates six Jacobites executed at this spot on 21st October 1746. Although the cross has been there for over 100 years the plaque was erected in 2005 by the 1745 Association.

The Moot Hall in Brampton and the start and finish of our walk. 

Talkin Tarn. The light was not good and the photograph was taken from my I Phone

Welcome to our new Grandson Elliot

Its been a great week for the Graham family with the arrival of Elliot Foster Graham in San Jose, California on Monday evening UK time. Our Daughter-in-Law Leslie is doing fine and baby Elliot is just smashing. 

Fraser looking the proud Dad.

Leslie's Mum Sidne from Utah holding her new Grandson. We will be going to visit him at the end of January so Granny Gaye and I will get to hold him then. 

He is a big hit with his sister Ellie. His big brother Tommy cannot understand why he does not speak to him yet.

A Walk With the Caerlaverock Geese

This is the time of the year when a visit to Caerlaverock is a must as there are so many Geese wintering there. We were last over there a couple of years ago. The weather was perfect today, although in the distance Criffell was continually covered with low cloud. The path took us along the Solway Merse and the sea was about half a mile away, but you could see signs that high tides had brought the sea to almost where we were standing.

Just a few hundred yards from the visitor centre was a field absolutely full of Canada Geese. There must have been well over a thousand of them there. This is just a few of them just before they flew away.

Off they flew but just about 100 yards to the other side of the field

Half way on our 5.5 mile walk we had our morning coffee in this bird hide. 

We then headed to Caerlaverock Castle and first of all to the sight of the old castle build around 1220 and demolished about 50 years later. The site was so damp that the walls started to crumble. This is the moat and is now just a marsh with no clear water to be seen.

This is the elevated sight of the old castle with the moat surrounding it.

The new castle built 200 yards further north from the old one. On return to the visitor centre we had a light lunch in the Osprey Cafe which was acceptable but not that great.

A Walk Through Westerhall

As I was unable to walk yesterday because Gaye had a hospital appointment in Edinburgh, John , Tom, and myself headed up to Bentpath this morning for a short walk through Westerhall Estate. John had to ahead back to Edinburgh early afternoon so this 3 mile walk was all we had time for.

It is one of my favourite walks as there is always something of interest to see and today would be no exception.

Looking one way you see the big house at Westerhall which must be one of the finest holiday homes in the country.

And looking the other way you see the Folly at the top of the hill.

We walked along the paths running adjacent to the roads and came upon this new work of art. It has been done just recently judging by the chips of wood surrounding it. It looks to have been carved from a living tree with a chainsaw.

This is a closer view with better light. The light was not very good and these photos were taken with my phone camera as I forgot my good one.

This gives you an idea of the size of the wood sculpture.

The top half of it must have beed done from a cherry picker as it is very tall. we have no idea what it is in for or if it commemorates anybody, but I have no doubt we will find out in due course. it is a magnificent work of art. 

Just across from the tree sculpture is this work of art.

In the wood we found this cage trap containing a Red Squirrel. It was in good shape and we don't think it had been in the trap for long. The trap was probably to catch the problematic Grey Squirrels so the three of us decided we should release the Red and this we did. It may have been set to deliberately catch a Red for research purposes but we were not prepared to leave it as they are rare enough and we could not be sure the trap would be checked today.

Near the walled garden at Westerhall we saw this tree with loads of berries on but not a single leaf.

Remembering early days in Rowanburn

Only Tom and I for our Wednesday walk today so we set out to walk from Canonbie church to the Meeting of the Waters and then along the old railway line to Rowanburn. I lived in Rowanburn until I was 10 and it brought back many memories.

Canonbie Church from the bank of the River Esk.

The memorial seat to our good friend Alastair Davies.

The skewed viaduct over the River Liddell. This is the only viaduct left of the 3 on the Riddings Junction to Langholm railway line.

A lovely line of Beech trees near the road to Rowanburnfoot.

This is no 50 Rowanburn and is the house we lived in for 10 years. It was the first house in Rowanburn to have a bathroom.

The rest of the houses had these toilets across the road from the house. This is a group of them on the Barrell Row which is the longest street in Rowanburn.

In 2005 when Tom was President of Langholm Rotary club for the first of his 2 spells as President we planted these 2 trees in the village.

I love a Beech Hedge and this is one of the best in the area on the lane hat runs parallel to the Rowanburn to Canonbie road.

On our return to Canonbie Kirk we headed back to Langholm Parish Kirk for a lovely afternoon tea.

Northumberland Coastal Walk

This will be the second time this year we have walked the Northumberland Coast from Craster to Low Newton. We walked it in February but because John was ill then and unable to do it we decided as it was such a good walk to do it again for his benefit. Only 4 of us present as the rest are overseas in warmer climates. Perhaps they won't be that much warmer than us as we could not have got a better day for the walk and we all had to reduce the layers of our clothing during the afternoon.

Dunstanbury Castle

This formation is called The Greymare Rock and was formed by volcanic pressure that folded the limestone.

Embleton Bay and a wonderful 3 mile walk along the beach. It was the English school holidays and therefore quite busy with walkers and even children building sand castles. 

Mid morning and time for a pint or a cup of coffee outside The Ship Inn at Low Newton

Two old pharmacists and as Ken will tell you old pharmacists don't die they just take A POWDER.

Low tide at Craster Harbour
We finished our walk with a lovely fish lunch at The Jolly Fisherman Inn. The food was excellent although a wee bit overpriced.

The Bridges of Langholm

We had planned to walk in either the Carlisle area or near Dumfries today depending on which had the better weather, but on looking at the weather forecast this morning which indicated rain coming in at all 3 places from 12 noon we decided to stay in Langholm and complete a walk from the 2012 Walking Festival namely the Langholm Bridges Walk. As 3 rivers run through Langholm we have plenty of bridges and this 7.5 mile walk crossed 13 bridges, although this includes the Suspension Bridge twice. There must be a way of bagging all these bridges and only crossing them once but I have still to find a way to do this. We were very fortunate as the rain only started just as we finished the walk at 1.00pm. The first bridge is the Duchess Bridge over the river Esk which is the oldest cast iron bridge in Scotland.

Bridge No 2 the Rugby Club Bridge over the Ewes built by The Royal Engineers Regiment a few years ago.

Bridge No 3 the High Mill Bridge at the north end of the town and crossing the river Ewes.

Bridge No 4 the Sawmill Bridge over the river Ewes

The Langholm Bridge taken from where the Ewes and the Esk meet and this was Bridge No 6 on our route.

Bridge No 5 the Jubilee Bridge over the Esk next to the new Langholm Primary School

Bridge No 7 the Suspension Bridge over the Esk, formerly called The Boatford Bridge. When the first one was built everybody crowded onto it to get their photograph taken and it collapsed into the river but luckily nobody was drowned. 

Bridge No 8 The Kirk Bridge over the river Wauchope

Bridge No 9 the Park Bridge over the Wauchope which is fairly new having replaced the old one a few years ago.

This is where Tom and I have arguments as this bridge over the Becks Burn on the Lockerbie Road should maybe not be recognised as one of the official Langholm Bridges as it only crosses a burn. It is however a bridge and the burn is quite big so in my opinion it is a Langholm Bridge and no 10 on our list.

Bridge No 11 the Auld Stane Brig over the Wauchope and probably the oldest bridge in the town. 

And finally Bridge No 12 the Skippers Bridge over the Esk at the south end of the town. This was a superb walk taking us 3 hours with plenty to see on the way and a good few stops for a blether with the many people we met on the way.