Up the Dam valley
Up the Dam valley 5 th August 2017 This week up and down Damhead valley running south from the Border hamlet of Traquair, set in the heart of the Tweed valley. A day of sunshine and sudden heavy downpours, shot blasts of rain disappear quickly on a strong westerly. The returning sun bright and intense, seeding colour and light back onto forest and hillside. The rapid weather changes engaging us differently in the landscape. Sometimes huddled and protected under a leaden sky, suddenly released to a warm uplifting sun. The valley a thing onto itself, as all valleys are, protected places. McFarlane refers to them as sanctuaries that, ‘possess the allure of lost worlds or secret gardens’ * This particular one gathers a greater sense of isolation the further it pulls us from the village below. First a slow drag up , passing a demolished bothy and a strange sort of memorial garden to local horses. Their names listed on roof slates attached to the stone dykes, some recou...