06/10/2019

The Colvend coast.

Today is the first day of our holiday up here at Colvend in Dumfries and Galloway..I made the big mistake of checking out the weather forcast for the week ahead and I have to say that it is not looking good, pulses of rain spreading in from the west every day, never mind its only rain...
It rained for a solid 12 hours last night..i wasn't holding out much hope for today either..But on wakening I was pleasantly surprised, the rain had ceased, even a few specks of blue up there...We decided on a walk from the cottage today to kick start the week..After a hearty breakfast and a few cups of tea we were off...we had walked no further than 50 yards and it started to rain..so what,its not going to spoil my day..The first section of the walk was to follow a quiet country road down to Sandyhills..Nice to see some early Autumn colours.

After about a mile and a half of trudging along tarmac we turned off to the right into Sandyhills bay, It was great to get away from the road, it felt like the walk was just beginning..I like Sandyhills bay..even on a dull,damp day it seems a cheery place..Miles and miles of sand stretching out before us. A few of the lake district mountains could be made out on the horizon..Thats Skiddaw on the left, panning round to the Grisedale pike group and further to the right lies Red pike and the High stile group..All firm favourites..We took time to explore a bit..i love to have a wander around on a beach.

Alf was off his lead along here, bounding around like a pup...Sometimes he forgets that he is 12 years old...Before long we had to leave the beach, following the coastal path up to Torrs hill...Great views opening out across the Solway firth. The firth forms the border between Scotland and England and was designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty in 1964...It certainly looked beautiful today..In fact I was mesmerised as I stood and looked out over mile upon mile of shimmering sands.

Soon we dropped back down to sea level to visit the little scattered village of Portling..I think most of the cottages around here are holiday lets, its a quiet little "off the beaten track" sort of place...After Portling it was steeply uphill again as we walked up the slopes of White hill,..We are walking the Coast path as far as Rockcliffe about 3 miles distant..i enjoyed every step...The hillsides were alive with Gorse..I never knew Gorse flowered at this time of year..We passed a monument below the path..i couldn't resist dropping down to take a closer look [and a photograph]..I read the inscription on the Cross, the words were sketchy but I got the jist that the monument was a memorial to Samuel Wilson whos Schooner "Elba" ran aground on the rocks below

A little bit further and I saw a fox on the beach..never seen a fox on a beach before so I was chuffed with that...Lots of Gulls about, Karen reckoned it was after their eggs...She could be right, A wily critter the Vulpes Vulpes.

We were now closing in on the small coastal village of Rockcliffe. Its a nice spot along the estuary of the River Urr..It has some lovely views out to Hestan island and Rough island which can be reached at low tide by a natural causeway across the mud/sands..We were treated to the sight and sound of a group of 20 or so horses cantering out onto the mudflats..second to dogs these are mans best friends...so nice to see them enjoying themselves....We let Alfie have one last swim here to clean him off of all of the crap he had collected to his undercarriage along the way..Its hard to keep a Springer clean, of all the breeds they seem to be the biggest muck magnets going..He was soon spotless but could we keep him clean as we ended the walk with another mile and a half of road walking back to the cottage?..I enjoyed the walk back..it was quite uneventful...although I did take 3 photographs of signs that I saw along the way..This first one made me smile.

Its been a good day.....Now where shall we walk tomorrow.