A Walk at Back of the Hill in Annan

Today Tom and myself went to Annan to do a 4 mile walk to The Back of the Hill and the Solway shore. I had only once been to The Back of the Hill, but never walked there. We parked near the Town Hall in the centre of Annan and headed to the old Harbour. It is in the process of being improved and is all fenced off. We both thought it needed improving but you cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear. The whole area is very grotty, but certainly the improvement will help.

These old wrecks of boats need to be moved

It will take a long time before its ready to reopen.

The railway line going over the river Annan 

The Solway Firth

A cairn in tribute to Robert Burns who inspected the cargo of boats going up the river Annan

The river Annan enters the Solway Firth

A line of Hawthorn trees next to the shore along the path to Back of the Hill. The blossom was tremendous.

Lots of wild flowers on the open area past the harbour

These were the most colourful

A right marshy area

Plenty of cattle chewing the cud

The road to the shore, but hardly used by cars as it is gated

Tom looking very summery

Cochran Boilers in the background. I visited it many times during my 24 years working in the Air Cargo industry. We used to get regular shipments for boiler spares going all over the world. Many were for ships boilers and we were given a couple of days to get the spares to a port where a vessel would be due and "ships spares in transit" was the way it got through customs very quickly.

Near the harbour we met this guy with his granddaughter Georgia on his back. Tom had a chat with him about local history but I chatted to Georgia and she was a star. Plenty to say, but I had a hard job understanding her. She gave me a high five on departing. 

Growing near the harbour

Next to the railway station the old Central Hotel which has been closed for many years and is now a real eyesore.

Annan Station

The Solway Firth with the Lake District hills in the background

A better view of Cochran Boilers

The Hawthorn blossom path

A most enjoyable 4 mile walk in excellent weather. We came back to Langholm for lunch at The Buccleuch Centre on a very busy day for them and the service was excellent.

The Bluebells on the Lodge Walks

There are many places round about Langholm where the spring Bluebells are profuse but the Lodge Walks are the best I think. My annual selfie among the Bluebells

They actually look much better in real life than in a photo

A path through the wood

The best carpet of them

Another Selfie

An Azalea just to give a bit of fresh colour. Not as nice as the Azaleas at Westerhall though.

These are a couple of days later than the best ones from previous years.

 

Tom Provides a Spectacular Seat for Tarras Valley Nature Reserve

This is the new Recycled Plastic Seat sponsored by Tom Stothart for The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. It is unique as it is the only one in the area which has arms. Tom wanted it to be different and he also wanted it to be in the furthest away point in the area felled a couple of years ago. Thanks to Simon Richardson's team for placing it in this difficult place. The views from it are spectacular. It may look a bit desolate just now but there is new growth and soon there will be many more native trees (not conifers) growing there.

If you are walking to it best route is go up the steepest part of the path on the right hand side of the ponds and go anti clockwise on the path to return down the left hand side of the ponds.

It's about a mile away from the entrance to the Ponds area that was created 18 months ago after the trees were all felled. This will eventually be a superb entrance to the lower part of The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve.

Cotton Grass is starting to grow in many places after the trees were felled

This area has superb 360 degree views as it is like a plateau.

Tom's seat at the furthermost point and by the time people reach it they will be glad to sit for a while.

Eventually this area will be planted with native trees and this is the view from his seat.

It would be nice if visitors could take a selfie of themselves on this seat and post it on social media

More Cotton Grass. Soon there will also be loads of Foxgloves

Bluebells growing profusely but they never look as good in photos as they are in real life. Langholm Walks Group is very grateful to Tom Stothart for sponsoring this seat and we wish everybody who sits on it a very happy experience of this part of Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. As Tom says on his seat "Rest and Enjoy". He didn't want a date to be put on the brass plaque as he is still very much alive and when the seat was sitting outside Langholm Initiative before it was brought up here somebody contacted me to ask if Tom had died as they had seen the seat with his name on it so I was happy to tell them he was very much still alive.

The Graham Family Together

A visit to a Nature Reserve in Newcastle with his Brother in Law Mario

Fraser with Mum and Dad at Northumberlandia in Newcastle today. We met up with Fiona for lunch at the  Snowy Owl Pub next to the park.

Fraser arrived from California last Saturday and spent a few days in Langholm before being taken to Newcastle to spend a couple of days with his sister Fiona

Coffee on Monday morning with the Hutton's. This was a regular place to visit when his friend Alistair lived there before they both headed off to University.

Followed by a visit to see Wilma and George in Bentpath

Photo courtesy of Mr. Tootlepedals blog

A visit to the Lower Tarras Nature Reserve at the Ponds

After our lovely week of sunshine in Berwickshire this was a bitterly cold day and Fraser was feeling the cold having just arrived from California.

Mother and Son. Gaye has had a lovely week with Fraser. It has been great having him for a few days and he is very relaxed as he is not working for a few weeks and taking a well earned rest. He heads back to California on Saturday morning.