The cottage on the farm was used as a holiday home which we rented out to holidaymakers. The first to come around 1982 were Alan and Dot Grant from Liverpool who brought their daughters, cousins Julie and Elaine Carr, Dot's sister Maureen and her husband Dave and her family Mark and Sharon with their two girls.I think I taught all the girls to drive in the Land Rover going round the fields.
Cottage in the snow
Eric and June Lindley from Chester came with their family and Eric often came with his friend to shoot in the winter. Mick Stacey from Chorley used to come and stay in the cottage with his wife and family he was good at helping with the sheep and other work on the farm. A Mr and Mrs Parkinson from Preston and Tom and Doreen Waddle also came. Alex and Shippey stayed in the cottage for a while until their house at Lochbank was altered, there were many others who came and stayed in the cottage and we enjoyed meeting all the different people.
Pet Lambs sitting by old Major tractor
Dog Stories
We had Meg and Tweed our working collies that came from Woodend with us and kept two of their pups Ben and Bill. I had bought Tweed from Tom
Me with Ben
Stevenson (Ayrshire) while at Woodend. We gave Bill to Bobby Howatson who was a shepherd of Mr. Drummond at Kinharvie and we kept Ben who went on to become a very good working dog except when he went to visit the neighbours. Ben did his job with the sheep well but would run off the odd time and usually ended up over at Kinharvie at the big house kitchens where I had to go and get him. Mrs Parks who worked there always fed and kept him until I went to collect him. Ben’s mother Meg was no fancy worker so I always learned from shepherd Jimmy McIntyre (Woodend) if you wanted a good work dog to train make sure it’s mother was a good worker and never mind about it’s father. He always said the same applied to a worker, to check that the mother was a good worker before you employed him. Another story I remember from Woodend was the shepherds there said that you don’t want a dog that grips the ewe but a dog that quietly brings the ewe to you. The shepherd also told me the best time to break in a young dog was at lambing time when you could keep the dog at your feet all day long and they had an eye for new born lambs. Sadly Tweed died of old age then Meg took ill and died.
In 1986 Andy got Joe a golden Labrador pup for Betty who became a great character and Betty's best friend. Joe grew very quickly and turned into a very big dog and was loved by everybody, he loved going walks anywhere and loved swimming. Joe had probably been walks all over the area, the Auchengray Hill and fields, through forest tracks, the fisheries where he had a swim, Loch Arthur and up the Lotus Hill at Drungans where he went with me and Liz when up on holiday, this was a long walk and great view from the top.
Me with Joe when on a walk with Liz up Lotus Hill
Sometimes the holiday makers at the cottage would take him for walks with them so he was very popular. Joe loved to sit in the International digger and tractor in the driver’s seat and looked really comical sitting up there he also went everywhere in the landrover with me where he sat in the front with female collie Patch and male Ed would go in the back, Joe kept the other dogs in order.
Joe in his tractor
Me and Joe up Lotus Hill
Joe in his Land Rover
Joe always got on well with the other dogs as he was very good natured. We had aCorgi called Rusty who came to Auchengray with us from Woodendand he and Joe stayed in the house. Rusty died in 1995 at the age of 14 years old. Willie had a Dalmatian called Danny who grew up full of beans and could run like the clappers. Sometimes when up the woods a walk he would disappear for a while and no matter how much you shouted he would only return when he felt like it. Another pet we had was our cat Tibby she lived to a good old age of seventeen years old. Liz and Anne had brought her down when at Granny Boyd’s in Armadale from a nearby family when just a kitten and she grew up to be beautiful fluffy cat with a lovely nature. We had a few feral cats on the farm but she was a house cat though latterly slept in the barn.
Joe with Danny the Willie’s dog Tibby our oldest cat
Wee Ed
Willie bought a collie pup at Dumfries Market one day for £5, he was very small and we called him Ed. Betty would take Joe and him down the road every day for a walk and tie the lead from Joe to Ed then Joe would take lead and walk him up the road and teach him to sit when he was told.
They were very friendly with each other and used to sit in front of the Landrover like two old men. Ed was a very good dog with a good eye for the sheep and I started him off working quite soon, he was working with Willie and Ben the collie and was a steady worker. After Ed was about eight months old I started taking him with me on his own as I always remember shepherds at Woodend saying always take young dogs out alone when training them. I always fed the tups (male sheep) at Trostan and Ed started coming into the field and going round the tups and sit and watch them eating. I would also take him up the goat’s field and he would slowly walk round the top field and slowly bring all the sheep out. He learned very quickly and became one of the best dogs I trained. After that by lambing time I had him catching ewes in lambing field up Glensone and driving them to their lambing huts. Ed learned very quickly and I did not need to tell him what to do.
My next dog to train was Fox one of a litter of six pups and he was the only red one, just like a fox which was how he got his name. Willie said I could have him and he kept the other five pups but they never got trained. Four went to different homes and one called Badger got kept for a pet at Auchengrey by Willie. I started taking Fox in the landrover every day and by this time I had got Patch from Mike Jacobs from Drungans. Patch was a good every day worker and came in the landrover all the time so usually I was driving around with Ed, Patch, Fox and Joe with me, Patch was the only female so she kept them in order.
My happiest days were driving round Auchengray fields in the pick up with my faithful Fox the dog latterly and all our other dogs I have mentioned
Me and Fox
Patch. Fox and Ed in Land Rover
Fox is still alive at the time of finishing my story (2011) so is 15years old but like us all when we get old losing his eyesight and has difficulty getting around now due to his stiff bones. He has been an amazing dog and there will be no other like him.
Me and Fox
Ben and Bill, Fox’s brother’s up the Pond field a walk with Liz
Chernobyl happened in1986 where the area was contaminated from the nuclear fallout from an explosion in Chernobyl, Russia and the residue was carried over in the clouds and atmosphere. There was a ban on moving stock for human consumption for a year or so in our area, this created difficulty for the farming community but was something that was out of our control.
Also in 1986 Johnny and I were at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh and it was a wet day, we were watching the sheep shearing when two girls offered to share their umbrellas with us and we got talking to them. They were from Australia and were on holiday in Britain, their names were Kerry James and Cheryl Malloy. They had travelled through Europe to London and been watching the tennis at Wimbledon and now they were visiting Scotland and had come to the Highland Show. We went round the show with them and met one of their brothers and his girlfriend who both went back to London. Both came from large stations, Cheryl from a sheep station and Kerry came from cropping and sheep station, both from Morawa, north of Perth, Australia. They decided to travel up to the north of Scotland to Loch ness to see the ‘monster’ and the Highland scenery, then they came back to visit me in a few days. They stayed to help with the sheep shearing and around the farm as they wanted to see what it was like to live on a Scottish farm and stayed in the cottage. They left for a while and got a job with Mr. Sword at Sorn looking after the family and his collection of old cars, they changed their tickets home and came back to Auchengray and talked me into going out to Australia, which I did at the end of October. (Story of my Australian trip later)
Me with Kerry and Cheryl and Rusty the corgi
Willie had his 21st birthday on 21st July 1986, we got a large marquee tent in the big field up the back of the farm with a bar and barbeque and invited many family and friends. Betty worked hard preparing all the food and did Willie proud. Andy had his 21st birthday party at the Hetland Hall Hotel on 4th March 1988, most of our family and local friends attended as well as the Liverpool friends and family and it was a very good night.
Anne worked in the Lochanhead House Hotel, Lochfoot for a few years then in 1989 she took over the lease and with the help of Betty ran it as a hotel, bar and guest house for 9 years. Betty used to love chatting to all the guests and regulars and both she and Anne did all the cooking and baking themselves. They employed quite a few local young people for waiting duties and were always busy doing meals at the weekend, Anne’s partner Gavin Murray lived there too and helped out behind the bar or in the kitchen if needed. The bar would get quite busy at the weekend with the regulars coming in to play pool or darts or just for a pint. They let out five bedrooms which were mainly taken by travelling salesmen. Quite often there would be groups coming along and one was the vintage car enthusiasts which was great to see all the old cars. Anne and Betty used to have a barbeque every summer and on their last day before leaving in July 1998 had the final one and all the regulars came along. It must have been a sad day for Anne and Betty as they had made a lot of friends over the years.
Lochanhead House Hotel
Anne and Gavin moved to Crossmichael after this during which they built their own lovely bungalow near Beeswing which was completed in the year 2000 after 2 years in the building. Graham Murray was born a yearlater on the 25th July 2001 to Anne and Gavin at CresswellMaternityHospital in Dumfries, he was a healthy baby and weighed seven and a half pounds, all the family were delighted as he was the first grandchild to us and nephew to Liz, Johnny, Willie and Andy.
Anne and Betty receiving flowers from locals when leaving
Lochanhead House Hotel
In November 1991 Granny Boyd died suddenly at her home in Armadale. Granny Boyd was always a regular visitor to Auchengray and liked to keep busy cooking and cleaning and listening to the boys tell stories and she kept us up to date telling us what was going on back in Armadale. Granny also liked to visit the hotel and enjoyed being taken trips around the scenic places in Dumfries-shire which was a nice change from West Lothian and she loved the farm. Granny Boyd still liked to tell us stories about all the patients at TippethillHospital where she nursed. She had an infectious laugh and the boys and Liz and Anne used to have a good laugh with her. Granny Boyd was sadly missed by us all and still is.
Granny Boyd in garden
Me and Betty with her cousin Mina visiting from new Zealand
Betty and me with Willie Williamson when visiting us from New Zealand
Me and Neville Chapman who painted our Massey Ferguson
Garden with cottage in background
Betty always kept the garden lovely and grew lots of vegetables as well as flowers and plants. Many people commented on how beautiful it was. Joe, Patch, Ed and some other pets were laid to rest there and Joe at the spot where he always used to sit while Betty was working in the garden.
Another view of garden with Betty’s flower pots on show and Danny
In 1993 at Drungans sheds where we wintered a lot of cattle we fitted a feeding passage along the outside with a feeding barrier to feed silage to the cows. We got Bob Johnson with his rotovator to mix up the cement and concrete then Willie Johnson and our Willie laid it the full length of the shed. Bob Johnson mixed up the concrete in the big shed floor then our Andy carted it out to lay the feeding passage, it made a good job. Latterly I laid a concrete base for an outdoor silage pit with two lorry loads of ready mix concrete.
Cows and sheep up top field
In 1994 Andy had bought a lorry and started hauling hay and straw from across the country and selling it locally when he was not working on the farm, he also kept cattle. Andy was kept busy with his haulage work and built up a lot of good contacts. We had started to keep a lot more cattle and sheep so we took on more grazing away from home. We took 100 acres for summer grazing at Alleyford near Kirkgunzeon and grazed sheep, lambs and some cattle there and had that for about 5 years. I learned when young it is always best to graze cattle with sheep as the cattle dung contains nutrients grass needs like nitrogen, potash and phosphate, whereas sheep dung has no value.
Moving cows along road to Barlay
Fields at Drungans
During lambing time at Auchengray we would get the foxes killing new born lambs and in the latter years we had been getting more lambs killed by ravens. They also attacked the ewes when lambing with their big beaks by picking their eyes out, picking their stomachs out and get the lambs as well so you have to be going round all the time to keep them away. Ravens are protected by the law so farmers are not allowed to shoot them and over the years their numbers have increased.
Me and Willie at sheep pens