Carronbridge and Thornhill Trip

Rob, Brock and I went for a walk at Carronbridge yesterday. The walk can be found on pages 12 and 13 of the free booklet, "Walking in and around Thornhill".

The walk is very easy, about 2 miles long, passing along a track past farmland, and along by the River Nith before looping back to the main road through the village of Carronbridge. There are distant views of the impressive Drumlanrig Castle before you reach the river, but I didn't get a photo.

[Click on any photo to see the larger version.]

After the walk we went to Thornhill where we had hoped to have lunch at Thomas Tosh. Unfortunately, they did not allow dogs, and it was too hot to leave Brock in the car, so we settled for a cup of coffee sitting outside The Happy Potter Ceramic Cafe. It was a very nice coffee and came with a homemade biscuit. Rob also had a traybake, which he enjoyed. Sadly, there were no gluten free options for me :(

Rob's Sister, Mum and Niece enjoyed decorating plates and mugs in the cafe on a couple of holidays that they had in the area.

Durisdeer Walk

Rob and I went for a walk near the village of Durisdeer in Dumfries & Galloway on Thursday 1 March 2012. We stopped in the village and had a look around the graveyard and church.

We headed up the Well Path, through the hills, passing a Roman Fortlet.

There were lots of red grouse calling out to each other and we saw males and females. I think the males were establishing their territories and attracting females.

Rob made the last collage from his photos.

We stopped at Thornhill on the way home for lunch at Thomas Tosh to round off a very pleasant day.

The Green Tea House, Moniaive

Rob and I had a trip out to Thornhill and Moniaive today. We had coffee and cakes at Thomas Tosh and Lunch at The Green Tea House (above) at Moniaive.

Thomas Tosh is an art gallery, shop and cafe all rolled into one and is well worth a visit. The staff are very friendly and the coffee and cakes are excellent. It is a large, bright, high-ceilinged room with a lively atmosphere. There are paintings on the walls and food, toiletries, crafts and gifts on sale. We had two cappuccinos, a huge slice of coffee and walnut cake and a gluten free macaroon, for around £7.50.

The Green Tea House sells homemade food, locally sourced and organic, where possible. It is quite a small cafe with an outdoor seating area. The walls are decorated with the work of local artists and there are a few cabinets with craft work for sale. The cafe has wi-fi if you ask for the code. The staff are helpful and friendly and we have enjoyed eating here on quite a few occasions.

Today I had stuffed vine leaves with houmous and salad, plus mineral water; Rob ate lentil cottage pie with salad and a green tea. Mine was very nice, Rob's was, unusually for this place, not so good. The aubergine slices were a bit tough and it was not hot enough.

I would still recommend the cafe, as the drinks are very reasonably priced and some are fairtrade. There is a huge range of food available from soups, to sandwiches, daily specials and a good range of vegetarian (and some vegan) choices available. The cakes and puddings are also very good - although we were too full up to sample them today. Our bill came to £14.40.