7.52 miles 3h 52m ascent 155m
Lockerbie-Hoddom
The second part of the AW’s Lockerbie route was the longer of the two, but had much less road walking which was better for the dogs. Most of the walk was on farm tracks or woodland paths and included the riverside Salmon Trail. We walked through garlic scented woodland, paddled in two rivers (well, the dogs did), found unexpected ruins, had ice-cream at a castle … and still had change from half a crown.
It was a warm day and I decided to switch from long sleeved to T-shirt, getting an unexpected “We’re not watching!” shouted by a guy in the car park. We started beside the Lockerbie Memorial Gardens, where we had ended the last leg, and luckily the main road was quiet enough for us to cross over easily. A forestry track runs through the woodlands of Turnmuir Plantation but there was a barrier to keep vehicles out.
As is traditional in our walks there was a profusion of benches, four in the first fifteen minutes then no more until near the end.
We were to leave the vehicle track for a footpath and found the turn off relatively easily. The Annandale Way looks to have renovated or replaced its signs, some look brand new, while you still see the old faded ones dotted about, but this junction was unmarked.
I thought at first the path had been closed but it was just a fallen tree. Enough people had walked around the tree to make a desire track. Mabel is looking that way in the photograph. The footpath beyond climbed gently into Craw Wood. Unfortunately there wasn’t a wall. I had been hoping to take a photo I could caption “fourth craw”. There were a couple of substantial stone gateposts leading nowhere but giving a view across the roofs of Lockerbie.
After Craw Wood we had a short dog-leg along a minor road and turned up to Pillmuir. That’s how it was spelt on the farm sign, though the OS map gives it just one “l”. Once past the agricultural supplier’s depot we were on a farm track and then a footpath where we came across some stands of Star-of-Bethlehem and our first views across the valley to Almagill Hill with the pyramidal shape of Joe Graham’s monument clearly visible.
We crossed a very minor road and after a short walk through Hallmuir Woods came to a gate into an open field. There were sheep in the distance so the dogs were on their leads. A well made track lead across to a footbridge where we found an official AW sign and a faded home-made sign that from a distance I misread and found unusual. Closer I could see it said “WALKERS”.
The Annandale Way leaves the track before crossing the bridge, following a culvert then climbing Hungryhill to follow the edge of a narrow wood. I wondered if the trail had once gone through the wood since there were gates but it looked as though some effort had gone into making these impassable. But the edge of the wood at least gave us some shade. There were great views across to Almagill Hill and the the shade it would have been a great place to stop for coffee, but the air was still and filled with tiny insects.
A gate left us near a junction of four single track roads. I couldn’t really call it a crossroads, there were no right angles. We headed down the road signposted “Kettleholm ¾”. Fate smiled on us. There was a large tree trunk in the woods so we had somewhere comfortable to sit while drinking our coffee. Mabel had a good roll in the leaf litter and Christy chewed a stick.
We both looked at our map/GPS and wondered if we had taken the correct road. Both our GPS devices suggested otherwise. So once we were back on our feet we walked back to the junction (only a few paces). Yes, we were on the correct road. There was even an Annandale Way sign to confirm it. I don’t know what happened to the GPS in the woods.
We didn’t walk as far as Kettleholm, leaving the road at Glenholm. We could see the church in Kettleholm and a castle (Castlemilk) about a mile away. The next section was along a dirt track in the woods above the Water of Milk. It would have been nice to have a riverside walk but we only had glimpses of the river.
As we walked we noticed a tower ahead of us. My first thought was something industrial but then I noticed it was topped with a balustrade. It is not marked on the OS. It was once a grand house but now there are trees growing within it and signs warning of falling stones. This is what remains of Milkbank House, once the residence of William Ogle, whose business interests included presidency of the Bank of Bengal. There had been a Georgian house on the site but he found it too small and had the larger sandstone house built in 1895. The original house was incorporated into the new building as kitchens.
The house and grounds were requisitioned for military use during World War II and when they were returned in 1949 the family decided it was too expensive to maintain. Perhaps if the original Georgian hose had been kept, the military would never have taken it and the family might have been able to maintain it.
The track brought us out near a small bridge and even though that wasn’t our route we walked onto the bridge to get some views of the Water of Milk. The river certainly does not appear milky. The origin of the name is a bit of a mystery. There are suggestions that it refers to a milky appearance of the river due to sediment or the perhaps the production of milk nearby. I find neither particularly convincing. One author points out that in 1124 the area was recorded as Abermelc and the melc could be Cumbric for honey. The Castlemilk in Glasgow is named after the Dumfries Castlemilk.
We then walked along a track through fields towards Broom. There we turned away from the Water of Milk to walk along a tree-lined avenue into Square Wood. And there was even a section pf banking at just the right height for us to sit down for lunch.
In Sorrysike Moor the Lochmaben and Lockerbie branches of the Annandale Way join and we completed the Way, after nine years.
But we were still a couple of miles from Hoddom. A farm track took us by fields with sheep , cows and even a white horse with her foal. Repentence Tower, an actual watchtower rather than a folly was visible ahead of us.
We crossed the Water of Milk again and then walked along the Salmon Trail. This riverside woodland path runs beside the Water of Milk and then the River Annan. Both were low enough for the dogs to have a paddle
The salmon train has several installations representing different stages of the fish’s life. There is a wall representing salmon roe in the river’s rocks, larger rocks with carvings of parr, a carving representing an eagle and otter chasing fish, a seat reprinting an angler and a carved totem pole that is said to show how high salmon have been known to jump.
A sign warned us to take care crossing the weak bridge. I was more worried getting across the field on the far side. There was a bull at the far end. A path through the trees brought us to Hoddom Castle.
We celebrated finishing the Annandale Way with a Magnum (ice cream, not champagne).
