Langholm Castle
Perhaps fittingly, the forlorn ruins of Langholm Castle are situated in a wooded area inside the modern racecourse, so the sound of hooves tearing up the turf still reverberate by the solitary standing wall. Because the Border Reivers loved their horse racing and the ‘baa – the precursor to modern football. It’s well documented that prior to a raid a clan chief would either announce a race or a game as a pretext for gathering his riders together. The Bold Buccleuch arranged a horse race at Langholm where he met the main conspirators that would take part in the infamous rescue of Kinmont Willie from Carlisle Castle. The Carlisle Bells flat race was first contested in the sixteenth century and is still run today. An original bell, believed to date from around 1580 and the oldest known racing prize in Britain, bares the inscription: ‘The fastest horse this bell to take for my Lady Dacre’s sake.’ It is housed along with another from 1599 in Carlisle’s Guildhall museum.