Happy birthday to me.
On Friday 25th I celebrated 42 years on this planet, subsequently becoming the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
How to celebrate reaching an age I’d never thought I’d make? Well, off to Scotland of course!
This time we stayed in the historic and bonny town of Moffat, not far over the border from England. From Moffat you’re in a good place to start exploring a good chunk of the Southern Uplands, one of the quieter uplands areas of Scotland.
Thankfully our two-day break coincided with beautiful sunshine and very favourable light conditions.
A good way to celebrate 42-years.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Sony 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS zoom lens. RAWs developed in Lightroom, merged together in Photomatix, then edited and finalised in Photoshop.
As soon as we arrived in the evening we continued north past Moffat on the A701. In researching where to go and explore in the Southern Uplands we chanced upon one of the best geographical landmark names I’ve ever encountered: the Devil’s Beeftub . And this is the tub in question. It’s deep and steep 490 ft hollow in the hills north of Moffat, formed by four hills: Great Hill, Peat Knowe, Annanhead Hill and Ericstane Hill. We had quick peek at the area around sunset, the hills behind us casting shadows deep into the “beeftub”. Lisabet ventured as close to the edge as she dared, allowing this composition for me.
The following morning we woke up nice and early to return to the Devil’s Beef Tub. From the layby you can take the Annandale Way up onto Annanhead Hill and continue on as far as you want across the peaks of the Southern Uplands. Part way up Annandale Hill we steered off the path to get close to the edge of the tub, presenting this sheer drop down and view towards the steep western face of Great Hill.
From the summit of Annanhead Hill I zoomed all the way down to the flat valley bottom, dotted with small streams and sheepfolds and interspersed with bog and bracken. The racing clouds above caused shifting and shadow across the landscape, and so I waited until I got the story of light that I wanted.
Already way ahead of me, Lisabet heads to the next hill—Peat Knowe—whilst I nab this composition showing the vast expanse and scale of the Southern Uplands.
I couldn’t resist zooming in on the impressively steep and scarred western face of Great Hill, as the light gently scanned across its features. Summitting Great Hill was our next goal but even in dry conditions the path up to its peak was a veritable quagmire so we backed off and head back. Maybe another time.
East from Moffat into Moffatdale the hills rise higher and higher as the valley closes in. Soon enough you’ll arrive at Grey Mare’s Tail Nature Reserve, which takes its name from the famous waterfall here, Grey Mare’s Tail. The last time we hiked up the trail towards this waterfall was November 2015, nearly a decade ago. The light conditions this time were favourable, sculpting the deep gorge created by the UK’s 5th highest waterfall, which drops 200 ft down.