L2L Day 56 Langholm to Eskdalemuir - 18.5 miles

Having both looked at possible routes for the day, I opted to be the lazy man again and let Tony take the lead with his very clever Austrian app which gave detailed (not quite OS!!!) routing.

Not having to regularly check the map is like a holiday for me.

At breakfast we were served by Moira, mother of Paralympic swimmers James and Stephen Clegg and Para Athlete sister Libby. We were told that it's quite likely that blind brothers James and Stephen are likely to be swimming against each other at the next World Championships

While walking yesterday, we'd come up with a cunning plan. Instead of walking up to Eskdalemuir and hoping to arrive in time to catch the last bus back at 16:30,  we would take the morning bus and walk back to Langholm at a more leisurely pace

So, we caught the 8:50 No. 120 bus to Eskdalemuir and got talking to Al, the driver. He was a mad keen motorbiker and owned 5 ...five...Kawasaki 750 LTDs from the 1980s. As we drove up the road he told us of how he'd bought the second bike to provide spare parts for his first bike.  We then went on to a nail biting saga of him last minute bidding on Ebay for a third to provide spares for the second etc etc. By the time he dropped us off at Samye Ling's Tibetan Centre at Eskdalemuir we were old buddies. Perhaps he'll give us the next installment when we catch the same bus tomorrow.

With Tibetan flags waving in the breeze, the approach to Samye Ling's is very inviting. 

We walked up to the stupa (walked around it clockwise) and the prayer wheels arranged in a cloister before walking around the monastery and the international peace garden. We saw one monk and the place did have a calm - if slightly eerie - atmosphere. It felt slightly like a school out of term-time.

We then started our walk proper and walked down to the Eskdalemuir Hub - a converted Primary school which now forms the community centre. 

With a cafe, library, meeting rooms and gymnasium it seems to meet a wide range of demands and while preparing a midday meal for the locals, the 4 volunteers served a good cup of coffee.

For what must be a thinly populated valley, there seem to be a significant number of graveyards - some with very large gravestones.

In choosing today's route both of us had been keen to keep away from roads wherever possible but neither of us had read the small print....... ford. There was nothing for it. We weren't walking all that way back to find an alternative. Tony the taller...went first 

and seeing how deep he'd gone, there was nothing for it but  trousers off!!!!

Safely dried off and reclad, we continued across the moor and on the way down off we met Barnabus and Gavin. 

Gavin told us he'd organised raves in Luton before deciding to move North 20 years ago. He looked a contented man and I don't suspect he'd be going back. He lost his long loved 'hound' a couple of years ago and Barnabus is the new dog on the block. He certainly took a shine to Tony. We left Gavin enjoying the view and set off to look for somewhere to stop for our sandwiches.

An ideal lunch spot - sitting on a log in the rain.

Impressive war graves at Westerkirk Bentpath.

Westerhall Park azaleas and bluebells.

Before we set off for the hills again

We met a lady farmer on her quad bike who stopped for a chat. She has 2300 sheep with over 3000 lambs.  They are looked after by her two grandsons - one who looks after the North Country Cheviot flock and the other who looks after South, Border Cheviots. She said they'd had a tough start to the lambing with cold wet weather but were looking forward to a quieter time now that lambing was mainly over.

Then just a few short miles back to Langholm and a well deserved pint.

Over supper and a few glasses of 'Muckle Toon' we decided on our route for tomorrow.