Annan & a Reunion to end our Trip, Scotland by Motorhome

All good things come to an end, and our tour of Scotland was wrapping up. After looking around the UNESCO site at New Lanark, the following morning was Saturday, or as it’s known in our house – Parkrunday.

Just a couple of miles from our overnight stop was Lanark Moor Parkrun. There’s a great group on Facebook called the Campervan Parkrunner Tourist Group who share places to stay near to Parkrun events, so we didn’t have to get up too early. We drove over in the pouring rain and parked up right by the start.

There are thousands of these free weekly five kilometre events all over the world. In most places Parkrun starts at 9am, in Scotland it’s 9.30. You can run or walk the distance, and know that you’ll have plenty of support from the great volunteers who put on the events, or you can volunteer yourself and just enjoy the positive start to the day.

Each Parkrun is different and Lanark Moor started off with a beautiful run around the loch, the bright colours of the runners reflecting in the mirror of the water. Then we headed up a hill and onto a mountain bike track. I didn’t particularly enjoy that part of the route, so just spent my time imaging I was on a BMX at the Olympics, as I scrambled up and down the steep little hills and around the muddy banked turns. All too soon I was back out around the loch again, and then a cheeky run up to the finish to a lovely cheer.

After the run we’d normally join the volunteers in a nearby cafe of a coffee and cake, but this week we headed off to drive over to our next destination, Annan in the Scottish borders. We’d a few more days left before we had to be home, but had taken the decision to make our way back a little early.

Scotland’s weather seemed to have become sun, then heavy showers, and we’d lost count of the number of times we headed out in the sun only to get soaked. Also home life reality was creeping into our trip. My Mum had taken a tumble at her care home the day before and banged her head. She’s fine, but as her Power of Attorney I had to talk to the ambulance crew to stop them taking her into hospital (she has advanced dementia). These sorts of decisions weigh heavily on my mind and have me constantly thinking about stuff at home.

We chose Annan as a stop because it had a Temporary Holiday Site run by the Camping and Caravan Club. We’ve used lots of these sites in the past, as they are great cheap stopovers. They are often just a field with access to water, and waste disposal. In Annan the C&CC had taken over part of a campsite, so we also had electric and access to showers. The temporary site was closing on Monday, so we booked in for the last two nights to decide what to do next.

As we drove into Annan Jay pointed out the Chapelcross nuclear power station which also used to make fuel for Trident submarines, but is currently being decommissioned – it seems he’d done some research on the place. We then drove past the Annandale Distillery, before arriving at the campsite situated between the football stadium and athletics track.

When we arrived I messaged our friends Cynthia and Stuart who had move to Scotland a few years ago. Stuart had got in touch on our way north at the start of this trip as we’d unknowingly driven past their village. Within a few seconds my phone pinged back to say they’d be over to see us on Sunday. It sounded like they were as excited as we were for a catch up. We met them in Nerja back in January 2020, and last saw them, waving and messaging from inside our vans, in France in March 2020 as we all raced home due to Covid.

The sun came out as we headed off for a walk into the town of Annan, but the skies on the horizon were black, so we just had a quick look around. The older buildings are made of the local red sandstone, and some still had blocked up windows to avoid the window tax from the 1700s.

As the black clouds got closer, we dived into Aldi for a few bits before a very swift walk back to the campsite. Where we holed up for the rest of the day turning up the TV so we could hear it above the sound of the rain on Zagan’s roof.

On Sunday morning there was a break in the rain, so we both headed out for a run. Jay ran down to the end of the River Annan to have a look out across the Solway Firth estuary, while I jogged along the riverside path into town, then around the sights in town.

If I’m honest I didn’t really warm to Annan. Maybe it’s a victim of circumstance, the rain, stuff going on back home and its position at the end of our trip. It felt like a town that had tried to make the most of its features some years ago, but they were now fading. Information boards were unreadable due to sun bleaching and graffiti, random traffic cones or scaffolding sat in front of the prettiest buildings.

When out exploring a place we use Organic Maps as it’s a free open-source app that can be used offline. The map of Annan showed a riverside path with sculptures, which turned out to be a strip of tarmac between the river and the gardens of houses, and the symbol for the Annan castle marked an old Motte and Bailey Castle which had since been destroyed so all I saw was an overgrown bump in the land. Then the rain started again, so I raced back to the campsite at top speed.

Jay returned equally disappointed and damp from his run. Perhaps we should have guessed there wouldn’t be much of a view, as our map didn’t show a viewpoint over looking the estuary, just a symbol for a bench. After piping hot showers on the campsite, our damp running gear was thrown in the laundry bag as we’d agreed to drive home the following day.

I know some folks only get a week away in their van, and would be shocked that we’d come home a few days early. However, I think we’d been spoiled by those two weeks of glorious sunshine and free camping on Arran. We said when we left the island that it would feel downhill from there, and it has – probably our own faults by thinking it.

Zagan was treated to a thorough clean ahead of Cynthia and Stuart’s arrival and was looking and smelling much better. We just had to make sure we didn’t open the cupboard with the laundry bag in it as that was starting to honk!

We hugged, had a brew, went out for a bite to eat – Annan redeemed itself with a couple of great looking restaurants, one of which was full on a Sunday night, the other only just squeezed us in. It felt like we’d just seen those guys five days ago, not five years, and we had a great evening catching up and reminising.

Monday morning it was time to head home. Jay rolled Zagan off the chocs and straight over to the tarmac, thanking ourselves for buying new tyres after we’d watched our neighbours both struggle to get off the wet grass. Five and a half hours later and only one minor hold up we parked Zagan in his storage space, packed up a rucksack of essentials and walked home.

It still feels odd coming home to our house, after all those years of living in ‘The Cooler’ annex out the back of the house. The Cooler is now The Kimberley Hideway, our AirBnB, and we have guests arriving later this week. So it’s time to unpack Zagan, do all that stinky laundry, sort through the post, visit parents, oh and plan our next trip.

Thanks for reading all. 😃 Jay is going to pop up a post with some hints and tips about touring Scotland. Keep an eye out for it or pop your email in here to get notified when it is published.

Ju x