Hoddom Farm/Golf Course Walk

Rob and I had a walk around Hoddom golf course, river and farm walk today. Similar walks can be found in the Walking In And Around Annan pdf booklet on page 20.

This is a view of Hoddom Castle, seen from the golf course. It was built in the 16th century. As you can see from the photos, it was a hazy, humid day.

Repentance Tower set on a hillside above the castle, was also built in the 16th century, and served as the watchtower for the castle.

Some fungi seen on the riverside and woodland section of the walk.

Someone out horse riding with their three dogs.

This is an easy walk, over fairly uneven ground, with interesting views of the River Annan and surrounding countryside. Meals and snacks are served at the Castle if you are hungry afterwards.

Walk Near Kirtlebridge

Rob and I went on a three mile circular walk from our house, down towards the village of Kirtlebridge, back along the B7076 towards Kirkpatrick Flemming, turning off at the Robgill Bridge turning and back up to our house. The verges were alive with birds, especially young fledgelings, and packed with flowers. We try to allow as many wild flowers as possible to grow in our garden, so it is interesting to see what grows well locally.

Here are some of the plants we saw on our walk (including chive flowers in our garden!). (Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.)

Rob took this photo of the Burnswark Hillfort that we can see from our road. It is a late Iron Age fort, later used by the Romans in the 2nd Century.

This is Robgill Tower: (it's up for sale if you have a spare £2,250,000.00!).

A view of Kirtle Water taken from Robgill Bridge, with Robgill Tower in the background.

Hoddom Farm Walk

Rob and I went on a four mile walk at Hoddom Estate, along the bank of the River Annan and on quiet roads back to the castle. The walk is described on the Visit Scotland site here. It is a flat walk, but over uneven ground, with steps in places.

This is Hoddom Bridge with a carpet of ransoms in the foreground, just in flower, along with the bluebells seen elsewhere in the woodland.

This is the Hound's Monument, erected beside the river in memory of an otter hound called 'Royal', he died in the winter of 1898 having spent too long in the water in pursuit of an otter.

Some primroses at the base of one of the many huge, old trees seen on the walk.

A new feature since our last visit: a carved tree trunk showing rocks on one side, spawning salmon on the other.

It was lovely to see the clouds of swallows feeding on insects above the river. Here are a few taking a well-earned rest after their recent journey from Africa.

 Another wood carving showing an otter, salmon and bird of prey (the bird is around the other side!).

An information board tells you about the life cycle of the salmon. The wall with the orange balls represents the fish eggs in the gravel of the stream. The Water of Milk joins the Annan just above this point.

The walk passes along small back roads after that, past an abandoned mill and a farm. You loop back round to approach the castle from a different perspective. We treated ourselves to a bag of hot, salty chips (£2.25 per portion for the hand cut chips) from the Hoddom Castle takeaway. You can also have a sit down meal in the bar.

There is a caravan/camping site with 'pods' if you want to stay at the Castle. There are several other walks to be done locally, including woodland walks at Woodcockair, a visit to Repentance Tower, or a stroll round the golf course next to the river.

Kilnford Barns Farm Shop and Restaurant

On Monday, Rob and I stopped off for lunch at the Kilnford Barns Farm Shop Cafe on the way back from our walk at Glenkiln.

The farm shop is just off the A75, and has a large car park. The shop has butchery and cheese counters, fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen, chilled and delicatessen goods. We bought some leeks, celeriac and other bits and pieces while we were there. The vegetables were very good value, and many are locally sourced. I made a big batch of vegetable and bean soup with some of them.

The cafe is bright and airy, with modern furnishing. We picked the vegetarian lunch from the grill, which was grilled halloumi and beetroot salad. We also had a cappuccino each (one large, one mug) and a tray bake each. The bill came to £20.90. The salad came with char grilled halloumi, beetroot wedges, beetroot leaves, red onion and a balsamic, blackcurrant and fig dressing. It was very tasty, especially the dressing. The only minor complaint would be that the halloumi had a rather burnt aroma, and personally, I would prefer it fried flat in a pan so that it heats up more and cooks more evenly. The coffee was good; the tray bake was fairly standard and a bit pricey.

This beautiful quilt was hanging on the wall near our table. It was made by Kate Henderson of Clarencefield, Dumfries.

We will definitely be glad to visit the restaurant and shop again. I will give the mixed salads bar a try next time: it looked very appetising!

Glenkiln Walk, Dumfriesshire

Today Rob and I went on a walk to Glenkiln in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It is Walk 5a in the following book:-

It was another frosty, clear morning as we parked up near to the Glenkiln Reservoir to start the walk. This statue of John The Baptist by Auguste Rodin is right at the start.

A short walk along a single track road brings you to the second sculpture: Standing Figure by Henry Moore.

Shortly after seeing the second sculpture, you strike off the road and up a very steep hill towards Bishop Forest Hill. The photo below is taken from Cornlee Hill and shows the misty view over Glenkiln Reservoir.

The ground is extremely rough going in places, with hidden rocks and tussocks of grass and bracken, with marshy ground in the gaps. Here is Rob struggling through one of the worst patches!

A view of a remote house, photo taken from the hillside.

This beautiful black swan was floating silently on the reservoir as we came back to the car park.

The second walk in the area takes in four more sculptures and we know that it's a bit easier going, having done it in the past. We will probably try that one again in a week or two.

Shambellie House Museum of Costume

Rob and I went to the Shambellie House Museum of Costume a few weeks back. It is near New Abbey in Dumfries & Galloway, and well worth a few hours exploration. There is a walled garden you can also visit nearby, plus Sweetheart Abbey and several other attractions in the area.

Here I am in the gardens, admiring a living willow sculpture.

As well as the permanent exhibition showing fashion through the ages in a series of dioramas, there was a special exhibition called 'Marriage In The Movies'. This shows a room full of beautiful period-style wedding dresses that have been used in films and tv series. My favourite one, above, was worn by Helena Bonham Carter in the film 'Frankenstein' from 1994.

Another beautiful dress was the one above, centre, worn by Nastassja Kinski as 'Tess' in Roman Polanski's production of that name from 1980.

This beaded hand bag is one of a number of delectable accessories, including fans, displayed in the Museum.

The wedding dresses will be on display until the end of October 2010.

After enjoying the exhibition, you can stop for tea and cakes in the Museum's tea room, and buy souvenirs in the gift shop. I managed to get another book about buttons to add to my collection ;o)

Eskdalemuir and Samye Ling

Rob, Henry and I went for a walk to Bessie's Hill Fort, near Eskdalemuir today.

We saw a group of Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) at the base of some pine trees.

The Rosebay Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium) had all gone to seed and looked white because they had a misting of dew on them.

This is a picture of Henry taken on an earlier walk at the same location. The site used to be covered with forestry pine trees, but they have all been 'harvested', so it looks a bit bleak in places, but probably gives a better idea of the original view from the Hill Fort.

Another earlier view taken from the walk in August.

Afterwards, we went for coffee and a cake, and a look round the shop at the Samye Ling Buddist Centre. They have some interesting statues, prayer wheels, gardens, arch and temple, which can all be visited.

Hedgerow Series #3

This is Indian Balsam or Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) photographed next to the River Annan at Hoddam, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Introduced to the UK in 1839, it is now a troublesome, invasive species, most commonly found along waterways and on waste ground. The photograph below shows an example of the problem along this river. The RHS suggest ways to erradicate it here.