Duchess' Bridge Walk, Langholm

Rob, Brock and I decided to make the best of the sunny weather yesterday, and went for a short walk around Langholm, Scottish Borders. Directions for the walk can be found here. (As always, just click on the photos for a larger version.)

Rob and Brock crossing the Duchess' Bridge over the River Esk.

 

A view downstream from the bridge.

Brock and I say hello to a horse.

Brock enjoying some time off the lead.

The first sign that Spring is on the way: snowdrops emerging.

On the return leg of the journey, you get a view over the pheasant-rearing pens and fields to Mid Hill, beyond.

Langholm is a picturesque small town, with a riverside car park, picnic and play area; a selection of small shops, hotels and a cafe (which serves very good coffee). There is a monthly Producers' Market on the first Saturday of most months, where you can buy locally sourced meat, crafts, pies, cakes, biscuits, preserves etc.

Alnmouth Trip November 2012

Rob, Brock and I had a night staying in Alnmouth on Tuesday 6 November. We stayed at The Saddle B&B, which was dog friendly and catered for vegetarians and gluten free diets, and also has a free wi-fi connection.

Brock had his first walk of the day at Birdoswald, taking in part of Hadrian's Wall. Then it was on to Heaton, Newcastle for lunch at the Sky Apple Cafe. Interior seen below.

 It was hard to choose from the many vegetarian and vegan choices on offer, but I went for halloumi and aubergine in gluten free batter served with chips and peas. I also had a cappuccino, which was excellent. The chips and tartare sauce were very good, but I was less keen on the batter. I would happily return and try out some of the mix and match starters, such as aubergine parmigiana, mezzes and koftas. Plus there are many sandwiches, wraps, burgers and other 'mains' to try. It had a nice atmosphere and the waitress was friendly.

 We drove on to Lindisfarne (Holy Isle) and crossed the causeway. The main car park is outside the main village on the island. From there, you can walk to the castle (below) and visit the various shops, restaurants etc. Many are shut at the end of October, though. We did enjoy a green tea and tasty cake in the Post Office, which had a couple of tables to sit at, and also sold maps and guides to the area.

Up-turned boats are used as sheds next to the castle and in the port area.

At Alnmouth, that evening, we enjoyed a walk on the beach, and a meal at the Hope & Anchor hotel/pub.
There are at least three pubs/hotels that welcome dogs in the village and there were five dogs in there the night we went. The menu includes three vegetarian choices:- mushroom and red onion stroganoff with rice (I had this and it was quite tasty); vegetable and coconut curry with rice and nan bread (Rob had the curry and enjoyed it - plenty of spice!); and Quorn and vegetable cottage pie with veg. We had puddings: apple tart tatin with custard for Rob and I had pear poached in red wine with cream - lovely.

The next morning we had our breakfast at the B&B (a good choice of fruit, yoghurts, cereals and fruit juice, followed by your choice of cooked breakfasts, including porridge).

Brock had two runs on the beach - first thing in the morning and again after breakfast.

We drove on to Berwick and walked round the city walls, before having coffee in a Cafe Nero.

The artist Lowry used to stay in Berwick for his holidays and painted lots of scenes from the area. This is the house he used to stay in, which has views out over the sea and it is next to the allotment patch.

Melrose in the Scottish Borders was our next stop, for lunch. It is a pretty town with lots of independently owned shops, and a ruined abbey and the Harmony Garden (closed end of October!).

Hawick was our last stop, for a final walk, around the park before heading for home.

Dawyck Botanic Garden

Rob and I had a trip to the Scottish Borders today. We started out with a visit to Dawyck Botanic Garden. The garden has a superb tree collection, as well as many shrubs and herbaceous plants. The fir trees, and rhododendrons were spectacular and there were carpets of blue bells and some beautiful meconopsis to see.

You can see views of Dawyck House (below) from various points in the garden. There are many trails and paths to follow, so you could easily spend 1 - 2 hours wandering around.

The function of this mysterious little building was not mentioned on the map, but I think it might be an ice house.

 
Scrape Burn runs from top to bottom of this sloping garden and provides some refreshing movement and sound.

We ended our visit with lunch in the cafe, which was really excellent. Lots of home cooking with local ingredients. We enjoyed jacket potatoes with cheese, coleslaw and side salad, cappuccino and Early Grey tea for under £17. The salad was fresh and crunchy, the homemade coleslaw included apple and sultanas and the potatoes were perfectly baked with tasty cheese. Some of the best we've tasted (and we've eaten quite a few over the years!).

The small shop has lots of interesting seeds: Rob choose some Scottish wildflowers to attract bees and I bought some pink oyster mushroom spawn. I have tried several times to grow mushrooms, with very little success, so fingers crossed!

We went on to the picturesque town of Peebles afterwards, which was lovely - lots of small, interesting shops, including delis, clothing shops, cafes and restaurants. Also a handful of charity shops, which were ideal for me to search for buttons :) All-in-all a very nice day out!

Damascus Drum Cafe, Hawick

Whenever we are in Hawick, (Scottish Borders), Rob and I always visit the Damascus Drum Cafe. It is situated up a quiet side road and serves great food and coffee.

The interior is converted from an old boot makers shop and still retains some original features from that time, such as the wood panelling and interior windows. There is also a small range of interesting second hand books to browse through and buy, plus some wonderful handmade rugs.

There are lots of options for vegetarians on the menu, such as the mezes. You can pick three for £4.95. I chose hummus, roast tomatoes and baba ganoush with pitta bread. Other possible choices include pasta arrabiata, vegetarian burger, filled bagels and soup. The homemade cakes are irresistible and the coffee is excellent. A good lunch with coffee and cake cost us under £18. Highly recommended!

Afterwards, you can enjoy a stroll in the award winning Wilton Lodge Park, a visit to the local museum and art gallery and a rootle round the shops.

Newcastleton Craft Fair

Our trip out this week was to Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders. It is an attractive village laid out along one very long high street, with a river running parallel. There are lots of flower boxes in the street; the local people are very friendly, and there are a handful of interesting shops, cafes and pubs, plus a museum, music festival, and lots of walks locally. 

It was the 27th annual craft fair (running 27 May to 5 June, 11am - 5pm this year) in the village hall. Actually we were a bit early, but were let in anyway as it was all set up. The sale of teas, coffees, cakes etc raise money for the upkeep of the hall. It was 50p for entrance, and all the stalls are set out by the individual crafts people and artists, with a single payment point - quite a good system, speaking from experience. 

There were all sorts of crafts, including woodwork, pencil drawing, household sewn goods, plants, cakes, chocolates, cards, horn craft, furniture, jewellery, painted wooden objects, hand painted jugs and peg boards, fimo figures, decorative objects and more!

We had coffee and delicious homemade cakes in the dining area, and admired these beautiful miniature flower displays, which were on every table.

Here's what we bought:-

• Little dog bag/key charm from Jo's Little People
• 3 x cards featuring prints taken from original pencil drawings by David Mandle
• 2 x 3-D decoupage cards by Mary Johnson from Cumbria
• 6 x fused glass pendants with rubber chokers
• a vintage chunky pale green plastic three strand necklace from Isabel's Antique/Bric a Brac/card shop in the main street (this little shop is lovely; full of a mixture of vintage fabrics, jewellery, interesting objects, and lovely cards, together with locally made chutneys/jams etc)
• an Argyranthemum daisy plant from Holm Hardware.

We ended up in the Olive Tree cafe for lunch. Rob had eggs, chips and beans; I ate jacket potato with cheese savoury and salad. With a pot of tea and a bottle of mineral water, the bill came to under £12. The food was quite nice, but I would have preferred an oven-baked rather than a microwaved potato. The cafe also sells bread, rolls, pastries,cakes etc to take away. It has a nice airy interior with modern furniture and artwork on the walls.