A juicy pear

We had a lovely walk in Dumfriesshire today of about 12 km in the countryside around Drumlanrig Castle. We were in the area to checkpoint a D of E Gold Group and we planned our own walk so that we could meet them during the day and then later at the camp site. 

First we went to Thornhill to buy some meths (for the camp stoves), and we noticed that there was a film crew in the main street and I wondered if there might be some film stars about! However I was disappointed to learn (when we asked a lady in the hardware shop) that it was just an advertisement for Spar that was being filmed! It was very amusing though; the shop had displays of gorgeous shiny fruit outside it, the likes of which I have never seen either inside or outside our local Spar. Also standing outside the shop were an enthusiastic crowd of extras who were much younger, more attractive and more multi-cultural than the real residents of any Scottish town! 

We parked the car at Drumlanrig and noticed that there were lots of people there including police, various yellow-jacketed officials and some classy and healthy food stalls (for example home made soup, steak baguettes, hog roasts etc). We found out that the Tour of Britain cycle race will be coming through there tomorrow and that today there was an amateur cycling event.

We had a very pleasant walk through woods and rolling countryside. There were LOTS of pheasants running around in the fields; they ran away when they saw us but foolishly ran in the same direction as us instead of veering away! This meant that they got more and more agitated until they would launch themselves upwards, noisily and awkwardly with a great fluttering. We also saw lots of sheep, some donkeys and some Belted Galloway cows. The weather was beautiful and after our walk James and I had an idyllic coffee sitting on the grass outside Drumlanrig Castle looking at the views across the parkland with its ancient sycamore trees to the Lowther Hills beyond. I also ate a delicious and very juicy pear which I purchased from one of the healthy food stalls. The pupils did really well; it was a long walk for them of about 24 km but they were very good natured about it. We left them with their tents all set up at their campsite in Penpont and headed back to Glasgow for a curry.