Black and White . . .

It promised to be another lovely day, so we set off exploring in the Debatable Lands, where we were a few weeks ago. I was interested in finding out a bit more about the River Esk which forms one of the boundaries of the Debatable Land. So we headed up towards Eskdalemuir to see where the river begins. 

The River Esk, also known as the Border Esk, rises in the hills to the east of Moffat. Water from many little becks gathers to form two tributaries – the Black Esk and the White Esk. These take different routes, but eventually merge to form the River Esk at the southern end of Castle O’er Forest. In this picture you can see on the left the Black Esk with the Black Esk Bridge in the distance. The White Esk comes in from behind the trees and the confluence is where there are rocks. The River Esk is going on its way to the right. 

We continued on from this point through Eskdalemuir, where incidentally Gordon’s grandfather was born, and on past the Buddhist Centre, where we stopped for a cup of tea, but found the café ‘closed for lunch’ (!!!). Still a peaceful place to wander around – see extra. 

On our travels we came upon a monument to Thomas Telford and the oldest library in Scotland, found ourselves on a Prehistoric Trail taking in several hill forts and settlements, drove through some of the loneliest of landscapes and eventually arrived back in Langholm for tea and cake. 

Sunshine all day and, when we arrived home, a Song Thrush, bathed in sunlight, was singing its heart out at the top of a tree - see extra.