Armstrong Border Reivers Tour, Scotland 

Today, we achieved all our objectives and perhaps a little more. Weather was sunny and benign, which helped considerably.

We set out from our lodgings in Hawick and travelled along minor country roads down to Eskdalemuir and then Lockerbie. Lots of photo stops en-route for sheep, pheasants and general scenic shots of the magnificent Borders countryside. Lockerbie was "OK" but is best known for the tragic 1988 air crash.

After Lockerbie we drove across to Dumfries which has a lot to offer the tourist, not least of which is the Robert Burns connection at the Globe Inn. At the latter we saw Burns chair and bedroom.

After Dumfries we drove back to the Reivers Trail area to visit Gilnockie Tower and the Armstrong Museum.

At Gilnlockie we benefited from a private tour escorted by a curator who clearly had considerable knowledge of the Tower and passion for the Armstrong Clan. The extensive and detailed tour took about 2 hours (see image below).

Next, we dashed up to Langhome to visit the Clan Armstrong Museum before closing time. We were looked after by a very helpful lady.

Finally, we departed Langhome about 5.30pm to drive down to Carlisle to our next lodgings in readiness for tomorrow's tour of Hadrian's Wall. Incredibly, I discovered that our hotel in Carlisle is actually built on the site of a fort on Hadrian's Wall which was built over in Victorian times.

So, overall, a very productive day leaving is well set for tomorrow's dip into Britain's Roman past.

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