A day out with the boys!

Today I went walking with this group of reprobates, this fine bunch of men. We needed to check a proposed route for the Spring Walking Festival.

As I left home the sun was rising behind me and as I drove home it was setting behind me. The days are very short at the moment.

Most of the walk was through forestry land but not on boring tracks. Oh no, we struggled to make our way through the fire breaks, battling with clumps of molinia grass, deep holes, ice and icy water beneath. The view at times were stunning.

Here we have stopped to look at Burn Divot. This is the ruin of an old hostelry on a drover's route. The date on the lintel is 1736.

To quote Frank Graham in his book on the area: "Northwards is a solitary house called Burn Divot which was once the resort of smugglers and sheep stealers. Lights. as the shepherds believe, are still to be seen at night flickering about the windows, the spirits of those who have been murdered in the house."

So now you know.

A great day out. The walk will not be in our next festival. It requires some modification before we inflict it on the public.