Riccarton Junction and Will's Bothy

[cessna152towser]

Riccarton Junction was once an important railway junction where what was once a main railway line from Edinburgh towards England divided with routes going towards Newcastle or Carlisle. The area was once at the heart of sheep farming. In the years following World War II the area became depopulated as much of the pasture land in the southern uplands of Scotland was turned over to forestry. Gone is the station waiting room, gone is the footbridge which led from the village street here over the track to the station platform, and there is no longer a telephone in that red booth. At the far end of the station the only activity today is the logging lorries loading up.

Now the rails stop at either end of the station. The railway ballast beyond this point has been compacted with power station ash to provide a logging road.

The substantial stone house which the railway company built in 1860 as a home for the station master is now a ruin.

Bridge 205 was an accommodation bridge. Where once Cheviot sheep would have crossed the bridge to reach fresh pasture on the other side of the railway line, now only the parapet bases remain, the pasture land has been forested and the railway track has become a logging road.

So I would have a long wait for a train. The last passenger train left this station on 5th January 1969.

This old shepherd's cottage near the railway line was bought by the Forestry Commission with the land and lay derelict for many years. In co-operation with the Mountain Bothies Association, it has now been made weathertight and serves as a bothy for hill walkers, where you can stay for free overnight or just make a cup of tea.

A plaque on the wall of the bothy.

Making myself cosy in a guid Scottish bothy. If I was staying longer I would light a log fire.

The railway company dug a half mile long sixty foot deep cutting at Ninestanerigg and pushed all the spoil out across the deep valley of the Laidlehope Burn which they culverted. With the tools available one hundred and fifty years ago this would have been a major feat. Here we see the water flowing out of the culvert and resuming its natural course down the valley towards the Solway coast.

The Victorian earthworks are still used as part of the logging trail and here we end this series of photos with the same rig which we saw earlier at Riccarton Junction.

[Cynthia]

Oh yay! Another photo tour from you Thanks so much for sharing, these are WONDERFUL!

It looked like such a nice hike... I love the stone house and the shepherd's cottage. Very cool

[McClef]

I thought it might still have a train service from that first photo! (

So many places that had the word "junction" in them are now either close or the line that they were the junction for are.

When I was at St Andrews, the station was still called "Leuchars Junction", even though the line to St Andrews had been closed some time before but that romantic reference to yesteryear has been dropped so it's now called simply Leuchars.

[Arlen]

That's some tan you've got there!
Looks like you had a good wee trip to the Bothy. Thanks for the pics.

[McMurdo]

Wonderful shots as always Alex, looks like a nice hike.

[SFCRick]

another great photo tour!

[Bugbear]

Interesting, thanks for the descriptions.

[Jock Scot]

Thanks Alex for the super pictures.

[starbkjrus]

Alex,

Next time I"m in Scotland we're going to have to have a Kilt Walk somewhere in those lovely hills in the afternoon before P1M's pub crawl in the evening. I really don't know that I can think of a better way to spend a day.

Thanks for the tour.