Annandale Way
The Annandale Way is a hiking trail in Scotland, which is officially designated by NatureScot as one of Scotland's Great Trails. It follows the valley of the River Annan from its source in the Moffat Hills to the sea in the Solway Firth south of the town of Annan. The route, which was established on 12 September 2009, has been designed to be traversable in four to five days as a continuous walk but it also offers several day-walks. Overnight stops can be arranged in small market towns and villages along the route such as Moffat, Johnstonebridge, Lochmaben, Lockerbie, or Annan. The route has been developed by Sulwath Connections and local communities, with the support of local estates and farmers, to help promote Annandale as a new area for walking. Its trailheads are near the Devil's Beef Tub in the Moffat Hills and on the Solway Firth just south of Annan, in Newbie.
Route description
Way with the Solway Firth and Criffel beyond; which is a hill near the mouth of the Nith estuary.The northernmost point of the walk is marked by a commemorative cairn at the head of the Tweedhope Burn in the saddle between Spout Craig and Chalk Ridge Edge. This is also on the watershed between the headwater systems of the river Annan to the south and the River Tweed to the north. This cairn is seen at the start of the route when walking it from north to south, although of course it is necessary to walk in from the nearest tarred road to get to this point. In fact this northernmost section of the Way, from Moffat up Annandale to the cairn, offers a loop such that one can get to the cairn from the east bank of the river Annan by the Tweedhope burn and then return by a circumnavigation of the Devil's Beef Tub to Annanhead and the west bank of the river. On the official website this loop out from Moffat and back is suggested as a day walk.
Heading south from Moffat the Annandale Way joins the Southern Upland Way briefly near the village of Beattock, beyond which it passes through ancient oak forests and over farmland down the valley to near Templand, where again there is a choice of alternative routes.
The choice from there is either to go by Millhousebridge and Kettleholm to Hoddom Castle with a possible loop off to Lockerbie, or to go by Lochmaben and Hightae to Hoddom Castle. The Lockerbie route takes in Lockerbie Wildlife Trust's Eskrigg Nature Reserve with its loch and wildlife while the Lochmaben route takes in Castle Loch with its ruined medieval castle.
Between Moffat and Hoddom Castle the Way does not stay close to the river Annan, although it does cross it once on each of the two alternative routes. From Hoddom Castle, however, the Way follows the river most of the time as it makes its way southward by Brydekirk, Annan and Newbie to the Solway at Barnkirk Point.
The Ordnance Survey maps required for the Annandale Way are Explorer map 322 and Explorer map 330.
Attractions along the route
The Borders Forest Trust Corehead project
When gaining access to the cairn at the northern end of the Annandale Way by approaching it along the valley floor northward from Moffat, the route starts to ascend eastward just before it arrives at Corehead. It ascends by the Tweedhope Burn from the valley to the starting cairn near Spout Craig. The route as you ascend is filled with trees planted by the Borders Forest Trust since they took over ownership of 640 hectares of land at Corehead in the summer of 2009. Their mission statement reads, "The hills and valleys of Corehead were once covered in the native woodland and wild habitats of the Ettrick Forest. Due to centuries of intensive grazing the land is now bare and only small pockets of heather moorland and native woodland remain. The Trust plans to return these lost habitats to the land of Corehead and restore a core area of the wild Ettrick Forest to the south of Scotland."Iron Age settlements in Upper Annandale
Taking some time to study Upper Annandale in the "Moffat & St Mary's Loch" map will show that this area is rich in Iron Age settlements. These Iron Age settlements are not always easy to find with the untrained eye. However, on the descent along the old coach road from the A701 heading for Moffat there is a settlement very close to the Way at OS Ref NT067104 which is reasonably easy to make out.Monument to Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding
The Annandale Way does not actually go through the town of Moffat but no great diversion is required to do so. In the park at the southern end of town there is a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding who was born in the town in 1882. He was the commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Hitler's plan to invade Britain.The vendace of Lochmaben
Along the path by Castle Loch in Lochmaben there is a sculpture trail which is worth looking out for in its own right. However, look out for the sculpted seat with the fish on the back of it and the name Vendace carved into the wood above the fish. The vendace has been under serious threat of extinction in Britain and conservation bodies have been making considerable efforts to save the species. It is thought that the once thriving population of vendace in the Lochmaben lochs is now extinct. However, there is a thriving population of vendace in Loch Skeen in the Moffat hills close-by. They were introduced there as fry from Bassenthwaite Lake in the Lake District of England in 1997 and 1999 and so far this is a success story for conservation. Unfortunately the Bassenthwaite vendace are now thought to be extinct.Mossburn Community Animal Farm
After passing through the village of Hightae the Annandale Way travels south briefly along the B7020 before it turns off at Mossburn Community Animal Farm. This establishment was originally set up in 1987 to provide help for misused, abused, unwanted and neglected horses and ponies as well as to offer help for young people with physical and mental problems. This original remit was later widened into care for all domestic animals except cats, dogs and donkeys which have their own specific charities. Their mission statement says that they provide assistance for the care and welfare of the animals, provide activities on a wide range of animal topics aimed at informing, advising, educating and enabling participants to develop their knowledge of animals, provide placements for people referred from education psychological services, social work, children's homes, and provide projects and facilities for schools to allow children to learn about and care for animals. They faced a major, but ultimately, successful battle with the authorities during the British outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 because of their resolve to save their animals from incineration.The ridge leading to Joe Graham's Monument
From the animal refuge the track begins to climb up onto the ridge above Rammerscales House . Travelling south along this ridge presents excellent views of both Annandale in general and of the distinctive flat top of Burnswark hill which dominates the low land to the east of Annandale. There was a hill fort of the ancient Britons at Burnswark until it was taken over by the Romans who built large marching camps on both the north and south sides of the hill and went on to turn the south side into a training camp where Roman soldiers would be sent to learn artillery skills.The ridge has small hills rising from it on which there are two castle forts: Range Castle Fort and the less obvious Moss Castle Fort. Just beyond these on the top of Almagill hill is a steep pyramidal monument around 6 metres high to the huntsman called Joe Graham. The inscription on this monument reads, "In Memory of Joe Graham for many years huntsman of the Dumfries Shire fox hounds who died in 1893 at the age of 80 and now he has gone far far away we shall never hear his voice in the morning". A roundel with a granite surround above this inscription contains a bronze relief showing a huntsman with his horn, his horse and his dogs. This roundel is signed J W Dods and dated 1896. Sitting beside the triangulation point on the highest point of the ridge at a height of 217 metres above sea level the monument presents quite an impressive prospect.