Rambling Russells

Sanquhar is famous for its tiny post office (established in 1712) which claims to be the oldest working post office in the world.     Coal has also been mined in the Sanquhar area for many years and the open cast mines have left some rather ugly scars on the landscape. However the Duke of Buccleuch has funded a major project in the area that combines both land restoration and art. He asked the famous landscape artist Charles Jencks to design and create the Crawick Multiverse. It has turned what was an eyesore into an outdoor space to be enjoyed by everyone. The Multiverse has areas of grassland, mountain, desert and a gorge and takes you on a journey past galaxies, comets, universes etc. It covers an area of approx. 55 acres and everything on site has been created from materials that were left behind after the mining stopped, including approx. 2000 boulders. Approaching the site there doesn't appear to be anything to...

Watchtree Farm was originally named in memory of a tree from which local people used to watch for reivers heading towards the area from Scotland. In 1941 the land was requisitioned “under wartime emergency powers” for Great Orton Airfield. Work began in August 1942 on three concrete runways, a perimeter track, four  hangars, a control tower ...     What is left of the Control Tower   – as well as various communication, technical and accommodation blocks. It was officially opened in June 1943, but did not become operational until October and later it became an air ammunition park for the storage of munitions.It closed in August 1952 but the airfield was not sold until June 1964, and after that it was used mainly as agricultural land until 2001. Parts of the runways can still be seen today. As it was an airfield, the land is flat so no hills or slopes to worry about!     P...

Our mystery trip began at Castle Douglas, at Irving's Factory shop. Having successfully stocked up on their yummy biscuits we set off to take the scenic route back home. See if you can fathom out where we went...     Seen outside a house being renovated! It didn't take long to feel as if we were right out in the countryside - we saw buzzards overhead and lots of little birds flitting in and out of the hedgerows. Then there suddenly was a red Kite just in front of the car - hovering in the breeze.No matter when we come to the area around Castle Douglas we are always lucky enough to see at least one Red Kite. They are such beautiful birds, especially in flight with their forked tails twisting as they change direction.     It may still be winter but there was plenty to see as we drove along.     The fields near houses and farms look quite green but as we gained height the countryside was still very brown.   ...

Have decided to keep a record of the floral highlights of our garden from month to month as this year progresses. Here are the recollections for February. Well January may have been very mild, wet and miserable but winter has got it's own back this month! We have had several severe frosts, albeit with subsequent sunny days, but it has been very cold. We even had a sprinkling of snow too. Do you remember mornings when the inside of the window was frosted? Well we had frost on the windows - but only on the outside!     Some of the flowers that were budding/flowering have been halted in their growth. Nothing, however, seems to stop the snowdrops. What strong little flowers they are to push through the ground and look so beautiful.     The Christmas roses are another value for money plant at this time of year. There are just more and more flower buds appearing. I have tried to support ...

Danevale Park was a first for us in the Snowdrop Festival but it was not a first for Danevale Park. It first opened for snowdrops in 1951, and has opened every year since! In 2013 Mrs Gillespie was awarded The Diana Macnab Award for outstanding services to Scotland's Gardens.       Danevale Park is on the A713 two miles from Castle Douglas and one mile short of Crossmichael. The garden offers disabled access and visitors are welcome to bring their dogs.     Scotlands Gardens says of Danevale - The mature grounds have a wonderful display of snowdrops as well as aconites and many other wild flowers. Walks through the woods and alongside the River Dee, followed by an old fashioned afternoon tea in the house can make this a memorable day!  Well they were correct! We parked, in what looked like the old stable yard, with it's cobbled floor.     We began by walking around the ba...