Today I joined one of Moffat Walking Weekend's walks: A trek on ancient paths. We met at St Andrew's Church in Moffat, all well-prepared for whatever the weather but all hoping for a dry day! Moffat is a lovely little town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Moffat used to be the centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Both of these became obvious within the first mile or so of our walk! This walk took us up Well Road to the well that enabled the village of Moffat to develop into a spa town. We visited the well, which smells strongly of sulphur, before taking the track to the right of Hind Hill.
On our way up Well Road, we had to move out of the way of a farmer on his tractor, with his dogs herding the sheep up the road. A reminder of Moffat's reputation as a sheep town.
Before we headed up Well Road, we popped into the churchyard, where John Loudon McAdam, Scottish civil engineer and road-builder, is buried.
The track at the top of Well Road, behind Hind Hill, led us towards Greygill Head. We took a very narrow path off the track to climb to the summit. There is no well-defined path up Greygill Head and we were unlucky with the weather! However, the rain didn't spoil the views from the top, from where you can see as far as the Lake District.
After spending a few minutes enjoying the views, in the rain, we descended back to Well Road, then we took a footpath off to the left. We walked through fields, across streams and through gates, with Gallow Hill to our right.
As the view of Moffat became more visible, we came across a very large stone called 'Jenny's stone' which is engraved with 'Jenny's view' in memory of a local who used to walk this route and enjoy the view. On our way back to the town, we entered a field to our left to see the Frenchland Tower. The French family built this tower house as tenants of the Bruces in the early 13th century. The current tower dates from the 16th century.
As we left the field, we were followed by a mini herd of ponies, all different colours, beautiful! We walked back through the town to be met at the church with tea and cake. 7.6 miles in total and 1,323 feet elevation gain.
Frenchland Tower.