{"id":56,"date":"2010-08-08T19:02:40","date_gmt":"2010-08-08T19:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/57ccd08e-ae98-43e8-9c2d-6519ab713ec2"},"modified":"2013-12-14T19:09:29","modified_gmt":"2013-12-14T19:09:29","slug":"st-anns-to-lochmaben","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.screel.co.uk\/walks\/dumfries-galloway\/st-anns-to-lochmaben\/","title":{"rendered":"St Anns to Lochmaben: AW3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>10.1 miles 167m ascent 3h 20mins
\nWeather: excellent<\/p>\n

We waited, Jo and I, at Lochthorn, then joined the convoy to Lochmaben. Then sardine style to St Anns.<\/p>\n

A veritable menagerie presented itself during this walk: caterpillars, white sheep, black sheep, goat-like sheep, cows (black and white), cows (brown), cows (that couldn\u2019t be arsed to get up), calves, hawk, donkey, horses, deer and of course dog (black).<\/p>\n

To be honest I felt a little deflated that it was not raining. I had been readying myself to brag that I had walked the entire Annandale Way in the p*&^ing rain, but you can\u2019t have everything.<\/p>\n

This \u201cflat section\u201d starts with a climb up a (wee) hill, but it\u2019s all downhill from the top. There are some excellent views from here but unfortunately I was unable to capture this in pictures for some reason.<\/p>\n

Early on, in Hazelbank plantation, the path divides without any signage but from the map it seems the routes join again after a mile or so. We took the low path which led us past a great many young grouse. Over the road at Blackburn and then onto fields without well defined paths but with enough signs to keep us right.<\/p>\n

We crossed one small burn which in wetter weather might be a minor hindrance but could be easily stepped over today. Oscar chose to jump into the deeper water and seemed to be enjoying himself. The way separated here briefly with a choice to avoid the dairy area or go through it. We chose the latter and between Greenbeck and Heathfield Moor we passed through (or around the edges of) a field of beautiful thigh-high brown grass. My rural-raised acquaintance tells me it was barley.<\/p>\n

The route then led us briefly to the River Annan and past Spedlin\u2019s Tower. Andy, Elaine and I were ensnared by some magic and continued walking towards the tower, failing to notice the Annandale Way sign indicating a different direction. Luckily Hawkeye (David) was far enough away to avoid becoming bewitched and noticed the sign.<\/p>\n

We had been walking for about two hours by now and had been on the look out for likely stopping places for half an hour or so. A wall on the Templand-Millhousebridge road met our needs. A very welcome break but I wish now that I had used mustard pickle rather than mustard on my sausage sandwich.<\/p>\n

The walk from here passed through some rough ground before joining the roads again at Kinnel Bridge. From there we were on B roads all the way to Lochmaben.<\/p>\n

A relatively easy section, but since we had all had a week or two without walks it seemed a little longer than it really was.<\/p>\n

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