Timber!

Day 41: we’re staying another night in Sanquhar (rhymes with anchor – other rhymes are available) in a delightful cottage. It’s a small town that seems forgotten even by its own inhabitants – as we arrived, there was absolutely nothing going on. The Barclays branch had a “for sale” sign so there is no employment for a banquhar, while the petrol station won’t need another tanquhar delivery for weeks. If anyone hanquhars after night life, they need to go elsewhere. The carpet tile factory does seem alive (although not at weekends); we were intrigued by a building called the Customer Create Centre – do their people go around spilling coffee on people’s carpets in order to create a demand for the product?

Meanwhile, today's walk was delightful – after a morning’s approach along the Southern Upland Way, we had a steep ascent onto a ridge of hills culminating in Blackcraig Hill, 700m (2296’) high, with improving weather and views. In between, we had a few hundred challenging yards of forestry; the path had been bulldozed and the whole area was an absolute wasteland, but fortunately a loggers’ track took us most of the way. We encountered a lone man with a mighty machine that seemed to do everything required to convert a growing tree into logs – so we gave him a wide berth. Notwithstanding, we offer the Lumberjacks Chorus from Paul Bunyan by Benjamin Britten as our Track of the Day.