Loch Ettrick

Le loch Ettrick est un plan d'eau situé près de Thornhill et Ae, dans la région de Dumfries and Galloway, dans les Southern Uplands d'Écosse.

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Crichope Linn

Crichope Linn or Crichop Linn, originally Creehope is a gorge and waterfall near Gatelawbridge in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Linn is the Scots language word for waterfall. The etymology of the names 'Cree' or 'Crich' may derive from Gaelic for 'Boundary' and 'Hope' from the Scots for 'a valley among hills,' an apt description.

Closeburn Castle

Closeburn Castle is a privately owned tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the historical county of Dumfriesshire, 2 km south-east of Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

4.9 km

Gatelawbridge

Gatelawbridge is a hamlet in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is situated two and a half miles east of Thornhill and near the gorge Crichope Linn. The origin of the name is unknown though in the past the locals called it Gateley Bridge, so perhaps it takes its name from a type of bridge over the Cample River in the centre of the settlement. The river divides the parishes, with all those east of the river being in Closeburn Parish, and those west of the river being in Morton Parish. The African explorer Joseph Thomson lived in Gatelawbridge from the age of 10 until leaving for Edinburgh. He attended the secondary school Morton Academy in Thornhill (now Wallace Hall), making the journey each day on his pony called Donald. His father was the quarry master and presumably that is where his interest in rocks began. He studied geology at the University of Edinburgh. After graduating he was engaged on several explorations in East and North Africa. He discovered the Thomson's Falls in Kenya and the Thomson's gazelle is named after him. He was known to be a kind and very fair man, who refused to beat his bearers in Africa when they did wrong, preferring to dock their wages instead. This however was quite unpopular at the time with the bearers who at one point went on strike and left him. He became ill due to infections picked up on his travels and died a young man. His friends erected a fine monument to him which stands next to the school in Thornhill. Gatelawbridge is the site of several Red Sandstone quarries opened in the 19th century that were once linked by rail to the G&SWR main line near Cample village. They are now largely disused. The sandstone derived from a huge sand dune which extended from Gatelawbridge through Locharbriggs to Annan. This sandstone is the building material of much of Dumfriesshire, and was exported to America where it was used to build the famous 'brownstones' of New York. The hamlet has seen a lot of growth recently with several new houses being constructed.

Closeburn railway station

Closeburn railway station was a railway station in Dumfries and Galloway north of Dumfries, serving a rural community with Wallace Hall and Closeburn Castle nearby. Its OS NGR is NX 8970 9234.

Closeburn, Dumfries and Galloway

Closeburn (Scottish Gaelic: Cill Osbairn) is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The village is on the A76 road 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) south of Thornhill. In the 2001 census, Closeburn had a population of 1,119. Closeburn is recorded as Killosbern in 1185. The first element of the name is Gaelic cill 'cell or church'. The second element is a saint's name, but none has definitely been identified. Between 1849 and 1961 the village had a railway station. Although Closeburn railway station is now closed, the Glasgow South Western Line still runs through the village. The nearest stations are at Sanquhar and Dumfries. The village is the former location of Wallace Hall, founded in 1723 and now based in Thornhill. The former schoolhouse, built in 1795 and incorporating the original buildings from the 1720s, is a Category A listed building. Situated two-thirds of a mile (1.1 km) east of the village is Closeburn Castle, a Category B listed tower house that was until 1783 the family seat of the Kirkpatrick family. The River Nith is on the western boundary of the parish of Closeburn. The eastern part of the parish contains several hills, including the 2,286 feet (697 m) Queensberry, at the southern end of the Lowther Hills, part of the Southern Uplands. Several streams flow through the area, and the gorge and waterfall at Crichope Linn, 3+1⁄2 miles (6 km) north-north-east of Closeburn was chosen by Walter Scott in his novel Old Mortality as the lair of John Balfour of Burley. The hamlet of Gatelawbridge, 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) east of Thornhill, is on the boundary of Closeburn and Morton parishes near Crichope Linn. The nearby Brownhill Inn was a favourite haunt of the poet Robert Burns whilst he was working at an excise man or gauger in the area and was the site of inspirational events that led to the bard writing several poems, odes, etc. John Bacon was the landlord immortalised in verse by Burns and his wife was Catherine Stewart whose parents had run the Closeburn Kirk Brig Inn. Her brother was Willie Stewart who was the factor or grieve of the Closeburn Castle estate.