Walking the Hawick Flood Protection Scheme

 

Today Tom and I went up to Hawick to walk the recently opened Hawick Flood Protection Scheme. This was an almost 4 mile walk and took us from Mansfield Park, the home of Hawick Rugby Club to where the river Slitrig joins the river Teviot. This is one of the remaining knitwear companies on the route Johnstones of Elgin and now probably the biggest remaining mill and the most successful one. 

We also passed the Borders Distillery and I confess I have yet to taste its Whisky

The Slitrig joins the Teviot as I watch from a statue of James Thompson the Founder of Hawick Burns Club.

Tom examines the statue commemorating James Thompson.

The meeting of the two rivers

A key footbridge on the Protection Scheme

The Teviot with one of the many green bridges on the route

A closer look at one of the bridges

There are several of these strengthened glass panels in the barrier and if you look closely you can see a map of the Teviot and its tributaries etched on the glass. Unfortunately two of these glass barriers have already been vandalised.

A famous quote by Bill McLaren the BBC Rugby commentator who lived all his life in Hawick. "as slippery as a baggie in a border burn"

One of the main bridges over the Teviot for traffic.

One of the many mills I used to visit on my days in the Air Freight industry in the late 80s and early 90s. In the partnership of Atlasair with USA Company United parcel Service (UPS) we got huge business from Hawick's knitwear industry. We closed down our main competitor in Hawick who actually had an office in the town as we were providing next day delivery to New York and 2 days delivery to many other USA cities at a fraction of the price they charged. Some days we had several vans in Hawick collecting hundreds of export shipments.

Tom examining the bridge near Johnstones of Elgin

A section of the barrier with two strengthened glass panels in it

This is Glebe Mill which was occupied by Pringle of Scotland and is now derelict as is many of the mill buildings in Hawick. When I started visiting Hawick to sell our UPS Service in 1986 there was 35 working mills and there is now less than a third of them left.

The sad sight of Glebe Mills. Pringle had another mill called Victoria Mill at the other end of Hawick and it no longer exists.

This is where we started our walk and the bridge at Mansfield park the home of Hawick RFC

Mansfield Park which was flooded several times prior to the new Flood Protection Scheme

Mansfield Park Bridge

A Canonbie Autumnal Walk

After our holiday in Rockcliffe it was back to my Thursday walk with Mike and Charlie. Just a 4 mile walk at Canonbie, but an excellent autumnal day and the hedgerows were full of berries.

One of my favourite views of the river Esk at Hollows

This is Pendulous Sedge according to Mike who gives us a lesson in wild flowers every walk. 

There was a lot of these berries on our walk. They are Gelder Rose and look splendid and bountiful this year. 

Another red berry but this is Honeysuckle and not as bountiful

More Gelder Rose

This seat was placed a few years ago at the bridge over the old railway overlooking what used to be the Rowanburn Coal Mine. I think it was made and placed their by Tony Mattinson so we are very grateful as it is indeed the Best Seat and View Around. 

Hawthorn berries in profusion

More Hawthorn

These are Slows and we have never seen them as plentiful as this year. Gin lovers will be delighted.

A lovely walk and even better conversation today so it was a real treat to be out in such lovely countryside. We finished our walk with our usual coffee's at The Buccleuch Centre and were served by Jessica as soon as we walked in the door without even having to tell her what we wanted.

 

Meeting Old Friends and a Visit to a Deer Park

 

In 2 days time we will have been married 53 years so it was appropriate we met up with our Bridesmaid Sheila Glencross (now McVinnie) at the home of Gaye's cousin Dora. Sheila was only 16 at our wedding and is now retired. 

Gaye and her cousin Dora. Both of them are the same age. 

 

Sheila and Gaye

Dora, Sheila, Gaye and myself.

After meeting up with our friends we went for lunch to a Deer Park near Sandyhills. The deal is you can have lunch and it costs you nothing to look at the Deer. You can go on a guided trail or in a Landrover but that costs extra. The lunch was excellent and served quickly with a smile and very good value for money. 

We bought some special food for the Deer at a cost of £4.50

No dogs are allowed near the Deer Park. There are several different varieties of Deer in the park.

After this we returned to Rockcliffe and the tide was fully in but now beginning to go back out. 

The temperature was 23C and it was very busy with the Ice Cream van doing a roaring trade.

We will go back to the shore for an evening walk after our Dinner.

My Favourite Walk from Rockcliffe to Kippford

 

Our cottage in Rockcliffe from the public path going past it

A nice stream I have to cross on the way back to the cottage

A private pier and the causeway to Rough Island 

The Tree of the Year as voted by The Woodland Trust in 2021. It is about 65 years old

Myself at The Tree of the Year

Another view of the Tree of the Year with the beach in front of it made up entirely of shells

This Robin followed me all the way along the coastal path

The only people I met on my walk were these Little People

It was low tide but I will do the same walk later this week at high tide

Eaglets feeding in the Urr estuary

There were loads of Crab Apples on the upper path to Kippford.

Our First Full Day in Rockcliffe

We arrived in Rockcliffe on Friday afternoon and this was my first walk along the shore with the Island of Heston in the distance.

Our small holiday cottage and very comfortable it is.

Saturday morning walk with a fast tide coming in.

This was at about 11.00am and in another 90 minutes it was high tide

Last nights evening walk along the lane from our cottage. This is the nicest house with a wonderful garden and hedge.

Hillside House, garden, and hedge.

I wouldn't like the job of cutting this hedge

The tide coming in on this mornings walk

We spent the morning visiting Colvend and Dalbeattie Cemetery's to pay our respects to Gaye's cousin Evelyn and then her Aunt & Uncle David & Florence McGinn. After that a coffee in Dalbeattie and we headed back to Rockcliffe to sit by the shore for an hour. Gaye enjoyed her Mr. Whippy.

 

Graham Family in Montana

Our American family are on a short holiday in Montana and are visiting Glacier National Park. They like adventure so first day is a Pony Trekking expedition in the mountains of the National Park. Our granddaughter Eleanor provided these photographs. 

The scenery is magnificent. Montana is about 1.5 times the size of the UK with a population of just over 1 million so there is plenty of space.

The rivers flow off the glaciers

Leslie, without a safety hat but looking very comfortable on a horse.

Thomas is 14 and is now almost 6ft tall. He loves the outdoor life and adventure.

Never thought I would see Fraser on a horse but he enjoys the outdoor life and despite a heavy workload manages to spend a lot of time on weekend adventures with the family.

Fraser, Leslie, Thomas, Elliot and Eleanor. A great way to see the National Park from the back of a horse.