Annandale Way Day 2: Lockerbie - Lochmaben

We resumed our walk on the Annandale Way today, after waiting out "Storm Ali" at the Townhead Hotel in Lockerbie. Gusts of wind of up to 100 miles an hour caused damage, power outages and two deaths in western Scotland and Ireland yesterday. Walking was out of the question, and we even had trouble getting from our hotel in Moffat to the hotel we had booked in Lockerbie for the night by road: no buses were running, and in the end we took a taxi. In Lockerbie, the power was out in much of the town, but we had power and even internet access at the Townhead Hotel, so I spent the rest of the day working.

There are worse places to be holed up in a storm than a Scottish pub

This morning dawned bright and clear and we ventured out to continue on our way. Our original intention had been to walk the Annandale Way from Moffat to Lockerbie over two days, but as we had skipped yesterday's stage of the Way, we decided to change our plan and walked northwards up the Lockerbie branch of the Annandale Way to Corncockle Plantation, where the Way divides into two branches, and then take the Lochmaben branch south into Lochmaben and the bus back to Lockerbie from there.

Lockerbie - Lochmaben 20 km

We started by walking back to the cemetery in Lockerbie containing the memorial to the victims of the Lockerbie Air Disaster which we had visited the previous afternoon (once the storm let up).

Lockerbie cemetery

The Garden of Remembrance

The visitors' centre was open today, so we stopped a moment there before seeking the trail. At first we turned down the wrong country lane, and found ourselves clambering through fallen trees. The storm had blown over a fence, blown roof tiles down onto the street, blown over the benches in the cemetery...

Storm damage outside Lockerbie

Even after clambering through the trees, we had a little difficulty getting onto the Way, as we had to follow the directions backwards... but once we were on the route, it was clearly marked with the purple and black arrows now familiar to us. The path took us past the site of the 1593 Battle of Dryfe Sands and through Gallaberry Plantation, where we saw red squirrels and giant Sequoia trees (known here as "Wellingtonia").

We were ready for a break by the time we reached the village of Millhousebridge, but unfortunately there was no sign of a pub... so we settled for a slice of malt loaf under the trees at Corncockle Plantation  instead. 

Millhousebridge

Intersection of paths at Corncockle Plantation

Here we joined the path from Moffat. Walkers would normally complete the Moffat - Devil's Beef Tub loop on the first day of the Annandale Way, then continue from Moffat on to this point on the second day, and take either the Lockerbie or the Lochmaben branch of the trail. Many split this stage in two, as it is over 30 km long whichever way you go. This had been our original plan. The new revised plan post-Storm Ali involved walking in a big U-shape, which is not as satisfying as walking in a straight line that takes you from A to B, but took us through some very pretty countryside! 

After trekking along a rather wet and overgrown but very pretty path along the bank of Kinnel Water, we finally came to Lochmaben, home town of King Robert the Bruce, commemorated in a statue outside the town hall.

Lochmaben

A walker's reward

We reached the town around 3 pm, a little too late for a proper pub lunch, so we settled for snacks and a pint of Tennant's before taking the bus back to Lockerbie. Tomorrow we continue on southwards from there.