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Southern Upland Way

Footpaths in Dumfries and GallowayFootpaths in the Scottish BordersScotland's Great TrailsSouthern UplandsUse British English from January 2017
Portpatrick start of southern upland way
Portpatrick start of southern upland way

The Southern Upland Way is a 344-kilometre (214 mi) coast-to-coast long-distance footpath in southern Scotland. The route links Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east via the hills of the Southern Uplands. The Way is designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot and is the longest of the 29 Great Trails. The Southern Upland Way meets with seven of the other Great Trails: the Annandale Way, the Berwickshire Coastal Path, the Borders Abbeys Way, the Cross Borders Drove Road, the Mull of Galloway Trail, the Romans and Reivers Route and St Cuthbert's Way.The path is maintained by the local authorities of the two main council areas through which it passes: Dumfries and Galloway Council and Scottish Borders Council; a short section in the Lowther Hills lies in South Lanarkshire. It is primarily intended for walkers, but many parts are suitable for mountain bikers; some sections are also suitable for horse riders. About 80,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 1,000 complete the entire route and a completion certificate can be applied for through the Southern Upland Way official website. It is considered the most difficult of Scotland's Great Trails but also one of the most rewarding to complete passing through some of the UK's most remote land. A popular and less challenging option is to walk it in two stages: typically Portpatrick to Moffat, then Moffat to Cockburnspath at a later date.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Southern Upland Way (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Southern Upland Way
Captains Road,

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Wikipedia: Southern Upland WayContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 55.466666666667 ° E -3.2 °
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Address

Captains Road

Captains Road
TD7 5LH
Scotland, United Kingdom
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Portpatrick start of southern upland way
Portpatrick start of southern upland way
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Megget
Megget

Megget is a former chapelry or parish containing the valley of Megget Water, now forming the westernmost part of the parish of Yarrow, Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The centre of the valley is 19 miles (31 kilometres) west of Selkirk. The district is bordered on the west by the parish of Tweedsmuir, on the north-west by Drumelzier and on the north by Manor (all in Peeblesshire). On the east side it is joined to the rest of the present parish of Yarrow, but formerly the parish boundary with Yarrow ran southwards from Black Law to Deer Law to Cappercleuch burn thence to St. Mary's Loch and continued down the west shore of the loch for almost one mile (1.5 kilometres) to Mare Cleuch by the Rodono Hotel. It is bounded on the south by Ettrick in Selkirkshire and on the south-west by Moffat in Dumfriesshire. Megget Stone lies on the western parish boundary, with Tweedsmuir.It is about seven miles (eleven kilometres) long north to south and about six miles (ten kilometres) wide with an area of 14,500 acres (5,900 hectares).The population of Megget in 1861 was 53 and in 1901 was 73. At the latest census (in 2011) the population of Megget was around 50.The parish of Megget derived its name from the river Megget, which took its name from the whey colour of its waters (Gaelic or old Welsh). Until 1891 it was part of Peeblesshire and thus part of Tweeddale, however "the water of Meggit is the only water in Tweeddale, that pays no tribute to Tweed; but runs from the south-east, some five miles [8 km], and ends its course in the bosom of St Mary Loch, and from thence, with Yarrow, watereth the wοόdy banks of the Forrest" (namely Ettrick Forest – the county of Selkirkshire).

Dob's Linn
Dob's Linn

Dob's Linn is a small steep valley in Dumfries and Galloway, just north of the A708 road between Moffat and Selkirk, in Scotland. It is part of the Grey Mare's Tail Nature Reserve which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland. According to tradition, Dob's Linn is named for a covenanter, Halbert Dobson, who took refuge there from Government troops during The Killing Time in the late 17th century.Dob's Linn is important in geology as the location of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) which marks the boundary between the Ordovician and Silurian periods, and marks the base of the Llandovery epoch, on the geologic time scale. Dob's Linn was ratified as the GSSP by the International Union of Geological Sciences in 1984.The boundary is defined as the first appearance of graptolites Parakidograptus acuminatus and Akidograptus ascensu 1.6 m above the base of the Birkhill Shale Formation. The shale section also contains chitinozoa and conodonts, but neither are well preserved. Dob's Linn has been criticized for the difficulty in relating its graptolite biostratigraphic sequence with shallow water sequences elsewhere, although the stratotype also appears to correspond with a carbon-13 isotope excursion in the latest Ordovician which can be identified worldwide.The area was first studied by Charles Lapworth in the late 19th century. His work established fossil graptolites as a method of understanding stratigraphic sequences. A more recent description of the area, enumerating the zones established by Lapworth, is given in the British Regional Geology Monograph. Before Lapworth's work, it was thought that the Silurian rocks of the Southern Uplands formed a single sequence, that would have to be about 6000m in thickness. By his identification of particular graptolite species in different zones of the Dob's Linn exposure, Lapworth was able to demonstrate that the Uplands consist of a much thinner layer, consistent with Silurian deposits elsewhere, that had been repeatedly folded and faulted, with multiple repetitions of the same strata, often upside down. The understanding that sequences of sedimentary rocks could be inverted played an important part in the later resolution of the Highlands Controversy in which Lapworth was also involved.

Grey Mare's Tail, Moffat Hills
Grey Mare's Tail, Moffat Hills

Grey Mare's Tail is a 60-metre (200 ft) hanging valley waterfall near to Moffat in southern Scotland. The fall is produced by the Tail Burn flowing from Loch Skeen cascading into the Moffat Water in the lower valley below. The surrounding area forms the Grey Mare's Tail Nature Reserve, owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The footpath from the valley floor up to Loch Skeen is one of the more popular walks in the area. Parking is also provided. Grey Mare's Tail Nature Reserve is situated along the Moffat Water Valley in the heart of the Southern Uplands. This National Trust for Scotland property extends over 922 hectares and is characterised by a dramatic waterfall (the 5th highest in the UK), an upland loch Loch Skeen and White Coomb which rises to 821m and is one of the highest hills in Southern Scotland. The post-glacial landscape is an open mosaic of heather and rough grazing that includes 8 habitats of European importance and many plant species of international, national and regional significance. The reserve is botanically diverse, containing the richest assemblage of rare upland plants in Southern Scotland. Recognised as a Special Area of Conservation, Grey Mare's Tail Nature Reserve is popular with hill walkers, botanists and wildlife enthusiasts. There is also historical evidence of Iron Age settlers and the Covenanters who sought sanctuary here in the 17th century. Notable animal species: peregrine falcon, ring ouzel, raven, vendace and wild goats. Rare plants: many, including oblong woodsia, montane willows, and alpine saw-wort.