After a morning of writing, I rewarded myself with a walk around Eskrigg Nature Reserve in Lockerbie this afternoon. This beautiful place has been the inspiration behind much of my writing: The Dragon of Annandale (a short story published in Lockerbie Writers’ Anthology in 2016) and Eskrigg Murmurations (a poem published in The Annandale Herald in 2019), for a start. The Dragon of Annandale tells of how a dragon, who lives at Eskrigg, invents the sport of curling with the help of his woodland friends and a fairy from the island of Ailsa Craig. If you didn’t know already, Lockerbie is famous for curling, its stones crafted from the rock of Ailsa Craig (which is Gaelic for ‘fairy rock’). Hope you can see the connection? I am delighted to say that my story is read to any pre-school visitors to Eskrigg by the reserve ranger. Eskrigg Murmurations It’s dawn, and swans silently sweep the pond dampening boisterous behaviour from ducks and patrolling the banks for wayward drago