Thodum three

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We walked this from Dumfries to Thornhill over one and a half days, with the breakpoint at Auldgirth, where there was a bus stop, but at the time the pub/hotel was closed for quite a few months.
Leaving Dumfries Station we followed some pleasant quiet cycle tracks, which had safe road crossings. At Dalscone Farm Fun we soon found the slightly confusing start of the path which followed the top of an earth flood defence ridge. Various animals were in the fields either side - sheep, donkeys, ponies - and directly in front of us, blocking our path, several llamas! We were unsure of how to deal with llamas, the big male one looked a bit peeved at being disturbed, and it took a while before they decided to move down off the raised path.
We continued along the embankment for some distance, and it was sometimes a bit uncomfortable, with bumpy, hard, hoofprints suggesting the possibility of cows too. Once we were close to the River Nith, the farm and hill scenery looked nice in the sunshine.
After Carnsalloch, there were signs that the embankment next to a drainage ditch had collapsed and been patched up. One notice had suggested a diversion (with no details) but we found that the original route was easy enough to negotiate, although we had to step over a couple of low barbed wire fences at the short section involved.
We had an early lunch break at Kirkton, on a shady bench in front of the church. There aren't normally many facilities here, but there was a "soup and pud" pop-up café that day, plus a bench and a bus stop.
From here we had nearly four miles of fairly fast road with no verge, and we had to have our wits about us to keep safe, particularly near corners. It was also very wearing on our feet. There were some nice views and pretty houses, but mostly it wasn't all that pleasant.
Dalswinton was very nice, with a cute church, nice (but short) woods and a pretty street, with a café and bus stop. Soon after this, we were pleased to escape the road, onto a track around the back of a hill. There was some building work happening here but the small diversion was clear. After passing many pheasants we came out into Auldgirth.
After a short section of the busy A76, with a safe pavement, we started the climb up a quiet lane with almost no vehicles. This section was very peaceful with lots of birdsong, and really quite lovely. There were nice views too.
Closeburn was an interesting village with several grand red sandstone buildings. Cample had a small arts centre and a fun skew viaduct with a river bridge where the sound of the babbling river was amplified by the viaduct arch as we walked through it.
The last section was an off-road track that led across Thornhill’s golf course, before we headed into the centre of the small town for lunch.
This was mostly a very good (though long) route, but the slight issues with the embankment section, and particularly the long, long, fast road from Kirkton to Dalswinton easily knocked off a star for me.

Review of Slow Way route Thodum3 (Thornhill to Dumfries Three)
I walked this route with one other person over two days in September 2024 and in reverse (Dumfries to Thornhill). The first part of the route which involves getting out of Dumfries is a little complicated as it makes use of several of the town’s cycle paths. However the mapping is easy to follow and quite quickly the edge of town is reached (at Dalscone Farm Park). The route follows a public path through the farm park (between the main buildings and the Donkey paddock) before turning diagonally left at the sewage treatment works, passing through a small area used for storing machinery and climbing up onto the flood-prevention embankment. This embankment is followed all the way to the ruined Carnshalloch House. Please note that the embankment passes through a field of rather inquisitive Llamas and is also quite uneven underfoot. From Carnshalloch House the route crosses a ditch (using a footbridge) to a smaller embankment which is followed all the way to Wellington Bridge. On the day we visited, notices at Carnshalloch suggested that the embankment was impassable. However on checking we found repair work had been carried out at Milnhead so that the intended route could be followed, albeit with a little extra care. After Wellington Bridge, the route passes through another field and emerges near the centre of Kirkton village. The next part of the route (from Kirkton to Dalswinton Barony Church) is almost entirely along a fairly narrow road with quite a lot of traffic (at least as far as Duncow), no pavement and high verges. Consequently a lot of attention is required to stay safe, meaning that the route is considerably less enjoyable than it should have been. After the church at Dalswinton, the route branches off through woodland, giving a welcome break from the traffic. There is also a tea shop in Dalswinton Village. From there, the route again follows a (less busy) road, but quite quickly veers off onto a quiet track at Glenfoot. This section is quite pleasant as it passes through woodland but care must be taken near the quarry where building work is taking place. Thereafter the route circles Belt Knowe (through a Pheasant-rearing area) and rejoins the road at Skew Bridge just before entering Auldgirth. Shortly after leaving Auldgirth, there is a brief section along the busy A76 but this is almost entirely on pavement so should not present any difficulty. There is then a short, uphill slog to a lovely (and generally quiet) country road which meanders through the villages of Park, Closeburn and Camphill, finally arriving in Thornhill via the town’s golf course and Manse Road. I found the latter half of this route is very much better than the first, and decided to upgrade my initial ranking of three stars to four stars as a result. The entire route is suitable for walkers, could possibly be completed by cyclists with difficulty, but is unfortunately unsuitable for other wheeled users.

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