South West Scotland 2021: Part Twenty

24 September 2021

 

 

I have no idea when the rain stopped, but when I woke up in the morning, it was all very quiet. Waking up gently was an absolute pleasure after last nights hugely stressful trip. I washed and dressed and stepped out, finding myself in the most beautiful surroundings. My mind was a little blown I wont lie! Of everything that could have been around me, I wasn’t expecting THIS!

I quickly jumped back in Fred, turned him around and went outside again with my phone. I wanted to grab a quick photo to send to the family (well, I didn’t really want a pic of his backside for this lovely portrait did I?!) Whilst standing in awe of the position I was parked in, a couple of fleeting bits of sunshine shone down on Fred, luckily I caught one with my mobile phone. There was no real blue in the sky, it was still very grim looking, so this felt like a little nod from above as an apology for last nights trauma.

After this, the drizzle inevitably started. Despite the miserable weather I thought this area was worth having a good look at. I had ended up in the Mennock Pass, and as I drove down the winding road, I didn’t know where to look first- it was a real struggle to keep my eyes on the road! I spotted bike randomly on one of the hills, so stopped to try and take a photo of it (see header). It was no good though, the drizzle was so heavy that I simply couldn’t keep the lens clean and every photo looked awful.

I decided this was too beautiful here to miss out however, so made plans to come back on a better weather day. Looking at my map I decided to try and find Morton Castle to check that out instead, since it was not too far from here and very near another location I was dying to see.

Morton Castle was a little tricky to find, but once there I really enjoyed my visit. The drizzle had eased off, but it was very, very breezy, and I was intermittently lucky to have a few bursts of light sweep across the location when I first arrived.

As I thoroughly looked over the site, I read that there was little known about its build. There are lots of discussions and debates, but the overall assumption seems to be that it was built in the 12th century. According to the infoboard, an agreement in 1357 stated that in return for the release of the Scottish King David III, the English expected a selection of castles on the southern border with England, to be ruined. Morton was one. Whatever date it was built, the castle went on be inherited or bought by quite a few Lairds for several centuries more, so there was still use here.

Had it been rebuilt or repaired to replace the ruined version? I couldn’t tell. Looking online, apparently archetectural evidence supports a build date of around the 1300’s. I wont lie, this leaves me as confused as all the authorities on the matter. It goes on to say that Morton was in disrepair by 1714, which is how we see it today. Oh, to be a time traveller and watch its history. It really is a lovely place, and if not a fortress, cetrtainly a wonderful area to set up home.

I wandered around the back of the castle where there is a small lake. I was hoping for a nice reflection shot here and I really think it has the potential to look nice, but today it was so windy and grey that a shot like this was definitely out of the question!

I finally left Morton when the wind made it clear I wouldn’t get anything better than what I had in the bag, and I excitedly drove to a much anticipated location… marked in big letters and underlined on my map.

Crichope Burn.

This is a little saught after destination, and although a once popular Victorian hotspot, it seems to have fallen out of favour today. Its now visited mostly by photographers and vloggers only. Has that increased its popularity I wondered, but looking at the empty car park today, I guessed not! I found the car park here fairly easily, and then hunted for the path to the burn. That was not as obvious as you would imagine, but I did find the entrance to the walk after walking past it once. The sign post was very faded, but visible when I actually bothered to look closely.

The walk was fascnating. The first bit was a nice little wooded section, the path, although overgrown and not used in a while, was still fairly clear. I followed it and found myself near a rockface with grafitti on. As I looked, I realised the grafitti was all from the 1800’s! I spent ages looking at the names and dates, surprised and oddly reassured that our need to let others know we were here, was not just a modern vandalism. It is said Robbie Burns had visited this area, althouigh I couldn’t see his name among the other young men and women who scrawled their presence here.

Why this place had fallen out of favour was a surprise to me, and I mused on the thought as I followed the track further, and up a set of stone steps. When I found the spot I’d been excitedly looking for, I was both amazed and just a little disappointed. The path led up, and then thinned around a rocky prominentry. Curving round, the path then revealed a natural arch and a short gorge beyond. As I stood in the space under the arch, I just stared at the view. My amazement came because I was looking at what appeared to be a totally prehistoric landscape, with high moss covered rocks untouched by people, and looking very ancient.

My disappointment came because the much anticipated waterfall that should be here, was nowhere to be seen.

I still took some time taking photos though, because the lush green of the gorge here, just looked amazing. Then I had a bit of an explore a little further up and behind, to try and find the watercourse that should have led to the falls. There was nothing up there so I finally called it and decided to leave. This one was a definate location to come back to, and since it was only a little off route on the way up to my daughter in Glasgow, I was absolutely sure that I would get back here easily.

Caerlaverock Castle was next, a beautiful red brick triangular castle that I was also keen to visit. The wind had eased and blue skies were appearing, so I had my fingers crossed for a pretty sunset at last, and drove to the location with a few hopes in my pocket. I parked up easily enough, but on getting to the gorgeous ruin, I found the water was covered in algae. The photos I had seen of this castle had a lovely reflection, but with this nasty green covering, no reflection was possible. I walked round the outside anyway, and found to my surprise that where the back had collapsed you could see there was a secondary brick building inside that looked pretty intact. I don’t think I had ever seen something like this taking up such a large area inside a castle before, and it looked very intreguing. I really wanted to go and have a proper look, but of course it was closed due to Covid, and the lateness of the day would have hampered a visit anyway. Such a shame! – but a good reason to come back.

On my return home, I couldn’t help but try and have an online ‘visit’ to find out about this one. To my joy, I found this site, with a link on the page that pretty much takes you in and around the castle! https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/caerlaverock-castle/overview/ Big YAY for modern technology right?!!!

As I completed my circuit, the sun set with the sky doing nothing exciting, so I could do little else but leave. Down the road, their overflow car park was allowing campers to stay for a donation. Since they had a toilet disposal point, this had been my intended stop for the night anyway, although I didn’t need this service tonight. When I arrived it was fairly full, and I struggled to find a spot where some had parked inconsiderately. Since I was just a small van though, I managed to squeeze into one last spot. There was nothing for a bigger motorhome, so I was thankful for my size! Despite the other vans here (at least 6), it was still a quiet night with everyone sticking to their own private spaces, and noone spreading out. It felt perfect here and I slept very well.

 

Dec 2021

I returned to Crickhope Burn just before my daughters graduation. It was going to be my first port of call and my impatience meant this was going to be a visit on my way up before I even got to hers! I drove up through a vicious storm the day before, and got to the car park late into the evening, deciding to stop here in the cover of the trees, for protection against the weather.

First thing in the morning, with the storm now gone, I jumped out and went straight over to see if the falls were here this time. Signs were good as I advanced, a boggy path, sizeable puddles to dodge around and the steps up to the last bit running with water almost like a small river. I climbed through the rocky arch to the precipice and was greeted with the roaring of falling water and this incredible view

This was EXACTLY what I had hoped to find, and the view took my breath away! I spent ages here taking photos. Although the space was quite restrictive, the small ledge still had a little movement to the left and right. Its pretty impossible to get any other angle, as the gorge was very slippery, and covered in damp leaves, but I did try what I could without being too silly. Taking a dunk off the edge was definitely not on the plan for today! Ohhh, what a happy bunny I was when I eventually pulled myself away.