10/11/07 I have been travelling to Selkirk once a week for a short while, I thought at first it would be a chore, but on the contrary it has become a weekly delight. The road from Moffat to Selkirk must be one of the best motoring roads in Britain, stunning scenery, winding smooth road and best of all - no traffic. I am part of an initiative to work with businesses in Moffat to increase motorcycle visitors and with roads like this I can really understand what is driving this initiative. I wish them great success and I look forward to next few visits to Selkirk. |
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5/11/07 Once again the firework display at Kippford is the wildest firework display I have ever seen. |
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25/6/07 Martin and Avril were married today at Sweetheart Abbey. You will know them if you visit our 'pre-organised breaks' page as they are responsible for their company 'Motorparty' where they rent out vintage motor cars for day hire. I had the privilege of playing the bagpipes at their wedding and my son Fionnlagh played his fiddle. Sweetheart Abbey has such a romantic history, built by the Baliols and is a lovely place to visit when you stay at the Old Exchange. |
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5/6/07 My middle son Fionnlagh has been working in a new ceilidh band based in Auchencairn, just 5 miles from The Old Exchange. Lesley, myself and my children had a great afternoon dancing dances like 'the dashing white sergeant' if you come to stay at the Old Exchange - look out for one of the local Ceilidh's and go - you will have more fun than you can imagine and the locals will welcome you with open arms (literally) |
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20/5/07 We have lived here now for 15 years and yet we still get a thrill taking the small boat off to Threave Castle for a pic-nic. There is a lovely grassy lawn at the front where you can have a relaxing afternoon with good food and wine. The kids can run around and adventure in the ruins. |
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2/5/07 My business took me to Thornhill today. I normally rush around from one appointment to the next and then back to the office, always missing morning coffee and usually missing lunch. However today I visited the Thornhill Inn, Peter Gronberg and his father made me very welcome and showed me around their accommodations. The Thornhill Inn is undergoing refurbishment and Peter is doing a lot of the work himself and it looks lovely. But afer my visit I decided to sit outside a cafe and just enjoy the sunshine, what a lovely place Thornhill is, and if you decide to stay at the Old Exchange you will find directions to find one of the most amazing walks in Britain. |
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30/4/07 Somtimes Lesley and myself just get up early and head off on a walk. There are so many fantastic places to go within 5 miles of the Old Exchange. Today we went on the walk to Threave Castle which passes the front door of The Old Exchange. The mist was lying and it was so quiet all we could hear was the enchanting song of the Curlew and the chirping of the new lambs. 'It feels like paradise' Lesley said. |
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21/4/07 We have a guset from New York staying with us this week, his name is Jake and he has come as an exchange student with our son Leod. Jake has only been here for a couple of hours and is already in a kilt and ready to get the full Scottish experience. What a fantastic oportunity for our youngsters to trot around the globe experiencing different cultures. I hope he enjoys our stay with us as many Americans do when they come to our region. |
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6/4/07 I came across the following review of this website from RAMPANT SCOTLAND which is a very useful resource for Scotland. I'm glad they liked it ! Best of the Additions
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3/3/07 Lesley went to Gowanbrae nursery just outside southerness by Dumfries. Robert Lyle has a wonderful display of plants. Robert is an excellent plantsman and very willing to help you choose good plants for specific locations. An unexpected feature was the large flock of Geese in the field next to the nursery - the sky was almost black as they took to flight. An interesting sight not to be missed. They will soon be heading back to their breeding grounds in the artic. |
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3/3/07 At the weekend we took a family ticket for the Sailing Centre on Loch Ken (about 6 miles away) and went for the 'multi-activity' option where we tried our hand at: rock climbing, sailing, canooeing, archery and relaxing in the sun eating cakes. (I'm not sure the last item was an 'activity' but fun nonetheless). We had a great day out and we can't reccommend it enough for visitors to The Old Exchange. It is just Fantastic - (you will be getting the idea that everything we do in this area is 'fantastic' and you would just be about right. The spring fling is coming up soon so there will be plenty more to come in the blog. click here to see whats in the fling this year
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 Roan Lesley and Fionn at sail  Is that the sherrif of Nottingham- no its just Fionn |
| 4/2/07 Last night Lesley and myself attended the 'Candlemass Ball' at Kirkcudbright School, this tradition is a long one dating back to the foundation of the school. Here is a picture from 1968, it is a ball for the elder children of the school but us parents have to get in on the act and we have one as well as the children. Traditionally on the 2nd of february (or the closest Saturday) it now acts as a great fundraiser for the school funds, where fine works of art are auctioned off to the most enthusiastic (and often inebriated) and traditional scots dancing is held through the evening. Great fun!! |
 Candlemass Ball 1968 |
30/1/07 I went with my family for a walk from Rockcliffe to Kipford which is only about 1.5 miles but is one of my favourite walks. mainly because it is fairly short, but it also encapsulates just about everything this area has to offer, the fantastic coastal scenery, the wonderful fresh air, messing about in rock pools looking trying to find interesting sea creatures. There are remains of The Mott of Mark which is an ancient fort and just about the best thing is arriving in Kippford ( the heart of the local sailing community) and have a fantasic pub lunch overlooking the sailing boats in the harbour. It really doesn't get much better than this !!!! I found another blog entry this week - Louisa Parry - follow this link where she describes her visit here. |
 sunset at Rockcliffe |
Dec
2007 |
 The Easterbrook Hall  |
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6/12/06 We had a very wet period and this is what it looked like outside my office in Dumfries where the Whitesands flooded |
28/11/06 |
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12/11/06 Morning Flights at Caerlaverock, Sundays 22
October (7am),
19 November (6.45am) & 17
December (7.15am) |
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| 6/11/06 Last night we went to the firework display at Kippford. Kippford is a small sailing based village about 6 miles from the Old Exchange. We have been to many displays throughout the region over the years, but this was just magic. The display is sposored by the Anchor pub (at Kippford) the fireworks are lit from the beach and fired over the bay. At about 7.30 the firwork display began and it ran for about 3/4 of an hour, soup was freely served by the Anchor and the evening was absolutely fantastic. Probably about 1,000 people came to see the display (and about 999 people thought it was the best display they had ever seen) apparently this is now going to be held here every year, I am already looking forward to it. |
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| 3/10/06 I went with my son Fionnlagh (who plays the fiddle) to a concert in the Town Hall yesterday. It was a concert of the Young Traditional Musicians (TRAD) and had a fantastic evening in the company of some incredible and inspirational young musicians. Two fiddlers ( Shona Mooney and Kirsty Cotter) , an incredible young button box player (Christopher Keatinge), two pipers , one played some fantastic Jigs (Stuart Cassells) and Reels. He mentioned as his inspiration a piper I knew a few years ago called Gordon Duncan. Gordon had been down to Kirkcudbright and District pipe band (for which I played the part of 'the incredibly tall piper' as I am 6'6") Gordon tragically commited suicide last year, an act which caused great sadness in the world of bagpipes. It was really good to hear a young piper paying tribute to the great man. We also heard the soft voice of Darren Maclean who showed us how to feel the wind of Skye blowing through our hair, despite the fact we were in the town hall. Fantastic. |
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14/9/06 |
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