Scotland Part Two - Dumfries and Galloway
Saturday 24th April, 2010
Sunday 25th April, 2010 (Anzac Day)
Monday, 26th April, 2010
Tuesday, 27th April, 2010
Wednesday, 28th April, 2010
Thursday 29th April, 2010
Friday, 30th April, 2010
Saturday 24th April, 2010
he red squirrel was back this morning getting his share of the bird nuts.
Mac says he is feeling much better today - that is a relief.
View from the park enroute to Galloway
e got off by 0945 and drove through lovely scenery to Dunoon and the Hunter's Quay ferry. We arrived just in time to drive on board and thirty minutes and twenty one pounds later were on the Glasgow shore. We turned right towards Largs and started off.
e stopped for morning tea at a park overlooking the sea then continued through Ayr (Robbie Burns Country) to Maybole where we stopped for lunch. After that it was an easy run to Newton Stewart where we did some shopping at Sainsburys.
Then, following the very detailed directions we found our cottage.
Entrance to Stable Yard Palnure
t is a nice cottage built from a stone stable block, whitewashed and looking out on a courtyard on one side and a pleasant garden with a picnic setting on the other. We are promised wildlife visitors but having had a red squirrel fix already we don't have to hold our breath.
feel the cottage is a little cold, despite its underfloor "geothermal" heating. It seems quite well-equipped although we haven't a dryer and will have to hang things on a rack in the hall. The brand new oven has the grill built in which means I can't grill the chops and cook the potatoes at the same time - I don't like those. Still, I imagine I will cope, although everything in the kitchen is a bit high for me.
Lounge with stove, Palnure
The walls of the cottage are about two feet thick and the window embrasures have been fitted with cushions. The floors are flagstoned , which makes the kitchen a bit unforgiving and despite the geothermals I do think they are cold. Maybe we have been spoiled with all the heating in the cottage last week, but it does strike chilly. However there is a woodburning stove in the lounge which we will light on our returns to the cottage. The beds are well-equipped with doonas and extra covers.
Sunday 25th April, 2010 (Anzac Day)
t was raining when we got up this morning so we took our time breakfasting and showering. We do miss having two bathrooms but know it was very unusual.
High Tech Firefighting Equipment
e set out rather late and drove up into the Galloway State Forest towards New Galloway. It was a lovely drive, the rain had stopped although it was still grey and misty. The Forest was very brown with the dead bracken and leafless trees. Spring comes late in the north. We found a firefighting post with ultra high tech firefighting equipment. See photo.
At the Grey Mare's Tail
e passed the waterfall called The Grey Mare's Tail, one of the sites of Robbie Burns' Tam 0'Shanter poem, I think. It was narrow, but quite picturesque. The road was not very fast, but we passed several lochs and dams, part of the Scottish Hydro system.
Culzean Castle and Gardens
e had difficulty finding anywhere for lunch so decided to head for Ayr as being a largish town, where we had lunch in a little teashop.
Then we headed for Culzean (pronounced Cullayne) Castle.
Entrance to Culzean Castle
his is a National Trust property in a spectacular cliffside location by the sea. It had some wonderful decoration by Robert Adam and was lovely to go through. We all enjoyed it. The guides in every room were friendly and knowledgeable. We had afternoon tea here then headed for home through quite heavy rain again.
ac and Geoff laid and lit our little stove and the lounge soon became very cosy.
Monday, 26th April, 2010
e have had a very interesting and eclectic day today. After some shopping we headed first for Creetown and the Gem Rock Museum. This was a fascinating display of crystals and rocks of all kinds with many wonderfully crafted pieces made of the finished material.
They had a crystal cave, a hands-on exhibit, an audio-visual and a really good teashop. Just as well really because Geoff was getting very low. But we all enjoyed it as being very interesting and the owner and lapidarist was very informative and chatty.
Town Centre, Wigtown
hen we left it was about midday and we headed for Wigtown, the Scottish version of Hay on Wye, Scottish book town. We had lunch in a café in a bookshop called ReadingLasses. The waiter was a New Zealander who recognised our accents. We didn't buy anything here but went into another called Creaking Shelves which had a huge stock. I bought myself a copy in pristine condition of Katie Fforde's "Highland Fling". I would have preferred a paperback for the weight but it is one of the only two of hers I don't have.
Wigtown was a pretty little town (and not only because of the bookshops) and had a great many interesting areas, including the stake some non-conformist martyrs were executed on.
Modern Witness Cairn, Whithorn
e went on from Wigtown to Whithorn, called the Scottish "Cradle of Christianity" where St.Ninian converted the Picts of South Galloway in the 5th C AD, a century before St. Columba. We walked up the headland to the ruins of a 13th C chapel to the Saint, which was a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years. Beside it is a modern cairn where modern pilgrims are invited to lay a stone to signify either the beginning or the end of a personal quest.
e went on to the town of Whithorn to the "Whithorn Story", a visitor centre based on the ruins of the medieval priory which is included in the ticket. They have set up a remarkable display of the Ages of the place which is very well done. We didn't have time to see the museum or the archaeological dig but our tickets are good for another visit so we may return.
e saw the red squirrel again this morning. That is one sighting each day so far. A pheasant sits on the wall screeching from time to time and birds of all sizes visit the garden.
And, hallelujah, Mac is well again! Antibiotics are marvellous!
Tuesday, 27th April, 2010
Environs of Wanlockhead
he day dawned mistily and damp but we got away relatively early and headed for Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland. It is the site of the Lead Mining Museum and very interesting, despite the heavy sounding name.
We traversed the Galloway State Forest and an evershrinking selection of roads through fields and tiny villages, climbing all the time, until we arrived at the Visitor Centre, Wanlockhead in freezing misty rain.
Geoff Prepares to Enter the Lead Mine
e organised a tour which took us into a drift mine which showed pretty clearly the horrendous working conditions of the men and boys (women too). We then went through miners' cottages through the centuries, from the beaten earth floors and heather thatch of the earliest huts from the 1770s to the prosperous days of the 1880s, with two levels in between. It was social history laid out in front of your eyes. Fascinating. What I found most interesting was the fact that the miners set up a subscription library, one of the earliest working class examples in the UK, and the landowner, the Duke of Buccleuch set up a school and donated thousands of his own books to the library, installed a doctor and a church and generally was very generous. One of the good guys.
Drumlanrig Castle
e had lunch here, then headed back. On the way we found a turnoff to Drumlanrig Castle so we thought we would look in. Far from a ruin, this was the very impressive seat of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry (double dukedom) home of the benefactor of Wanlockhead and lots of less savoury ancestors. They started with Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II, who was the first duke and who tried to take the throne when his father died - no luck there. There was the Black Douglas, friend of Robert the Bruce, who took Bruce's heart on crusade with him after his (Bruce's) death. Also presumably the Marquess of Queensberry who set up the rules for boxing, and Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde's lover. An interesting family.
he castle is incredible from the outside but the rooms are not huge, quite homely. The parlour has shelves of well thumbed books and modern magazines, board games etc. It was good. We had afternoon tea here, then came home through Dumfries, on the shore of Solway Firth.
Wildlife today included the resident red squirrel, a roe deer and a hare. All good.
Wednesday, 28th April, 2010
oday dawned wet so we decided to have a day at home. I have a large bag of laundry but no dryer in this cottage so I will have to allow plenty of time for drying inside. We have a large rack on pulleys hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen. I think it used to hang over a range (which would have been better than this underfloor system) and I can hang my travel clothes line over the fire in the lounge.
e saw two red squirrels today, bouncing over the wet grass and doing acrobatics from the bird feeders. There are signs here asking us not to put out food for the wildlife because our neighbours are responsible for feeding and there is a special diet and calculated feeding times. It seems nobody has told the squirrels because it always seems to be squirrel feeding time. The birds look just as miffed as at Strachur.
Wooden Sculpture, Kirkcudbright
t fined up this afternoon so, after a soup and toast lunch, we drove to Kirkcudbright (pronounced Kircoobree). This is a lovely little town with many art galleries. It has been the home and studio to many artists and writers.
MacLellan Castle
e explored the town on foot, visiting MacLellan Castle, a ruined 16thC townhouse style castle, built for comfort and display rather than defence. This is the first Historic Scotland site we have visited and it was good to get in free with our English Heritage cards. Especially after all the expensive private castles lately. Not that this compared with Inveraray, Culzean or Drumlanrig! It was quite interesting, however, and gave quite a good idea of the whole.
Harbour Cottage Gallery
fter this we strolled down to the Harbour Cottage Gallery, an iconic building for the local artists as it features in many paintings, which was rescued in the 50s and run for exhibitions. The current exhibition was divided between two women painters, one of whom was there. Hers were thick oils suggestive of Van Gogh (she made the claim herself) a couple of pictures were her "takes" on Van Gogh and Gauguin. The other work I thought was much better, some exquisite landscapes, well painted portraits and some incredibly delicate pencil work. We all found it interesting.
e had afternoon tea in a handy teashop then walked along the main road, looking at the little shops and houses painted in pastels. It is a pretty little town.
Home to light the fire and see if any of my washing can dry.
Thursday 29th April, 2010
Sweetheart Abbey Exterior
nother wet start to the day, but it was clearing as we left, heading through Kirkcudbright east to Sweetheart Abbey in the town of New Abbey.
Rosemary and Mac in the Nave, Sweetheart Abbey
weetheart Abbey was founded in 1273 by Lady Devorgilla, widow of John Balliol, who had died five years earlier. As they were devoted to one another, Lady D had his heart embalmed and kept it in a casket with her wherever she went. When she died she was buried in the Abbey beside her husband "with his heart on her bosom". So the Abbot christened the Abbey "Sweetheart". We were very impressed with Sweetheart. Much of the walls remain and some of the traceries from the windows. The remains of Lady D's tomb are in the nave and all in all it is a very impressive building.
New Abbey Cornmill
eaving Sweetheart we went on through the village to New Abbey Cornmill. This is not the one built by the monks but a "new" mill set up in the late 1700s by the local landowner. It is a watermill and is usually working but at the beginning of April it started making loud noises and the Historic Scotland people shut it down pending the availability of the one and only millwright who is presently engaged in setting up a mill in Tasmania! Still, we were shown all over it by the enthusiastic and knowledgeable custodian and all found it very interesting.
Caerlaverock Castle
e had lunch at the Abbey teashop, very nice, and drove on towards Dumfries and the turnoff for wonderful Caerlaverock Castle.
Medieval Interior Caerlaverock Castle
aerlaverock is a terrific ruin. A triangular castle with round towers on each corner. It has a wet moat and an outer dry moat. There are siege engines in the grounds and the remains of a lovely Renaissance home inside the medieval castle walls.
Trebuchet at Caerlaverock Castle
aerlaverock was besieged by Edward I back in 1300 and eventually surrendered. The whole place is very evocative and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The fact that the sun shone on us all the time there was an added bonus. It has been a very good day.
Tomorrow is our last day. We will have to pack and clean as well as everything else.
Friday, 30th April, 2010
Coastal Scenery, Mull of Galloway
t was a lovely day today. We spent the morning packing and tidying then headed off for the Mull of Galloway.
Lighthouse at Mull of Galloway
his is the southernmost point of Scotland and from the lighthouse you can see "five kingdoms" - England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man. Unfortunately it was not clear enough to see much. We drove through rain all the way from Newton Stewart to the Mull of Galloway but after lunch it cleared and we went to look at the lighthouse.
The tower was closed today, (not that I would be climbing 150 steps) but there was an interesting exhibition of the old equipment which included the huge engines used to generate compressed air for the foghorn. Apparently they stopped using it in 1987 (I imagine the noise would have disturbed the nesting birds at the RSPB site on the cliffs.) The custodian said that widespread use of GPS negated the need for foghorns. Geoff went down the cliff to see the foghorn (100 steps!) but Mac and I didn't.
Portpatrick Harbour
e then decided to detour to the west and see the village of Portpatrick. This was a great decision as we all fell in love with this village with its walled harbour (the tide was actually in!) with its Lifeboat and Coastguard vessels, fishing boats and visiting yachts. We had been looking for somewhere nice to have dinner and there were several hotels on the waterfront with tables out in the sunshine.
Portpatrick Harbour
e were pretty early for dinner so we thought we would check out Stranraer, the ferry port for Ireland, but it was a dreary dump in comparison so we drove back to Portpatrick and sat in the sun by the water until it was a reasonable time for dinner.
We chose the Waterfront Hotel but decided to eat in the dining room. It was a very attractive room and the meal was great. Geoff had chicken liver pate followed by a seafood pancake, Mac had Aberdeen Angus strips in a rich sauce and I had rack of lamb with roast potatoes and vegs. They said the chef made his racks very pink which is OK by me but it wasn't pink. Still tender and tasted good. We had cider in the foyer while we waited for our table and Geoff and I had a glass of Pinot Grigio Rose. There was a jug of iced water on the table so that was good too.
Altogether we felt we had made a good choice.
t was still light when we left and not fully dark by the time we reached home.
Wildlife today included the usual red squirrels, a heron in the burn, a deer which raced across the drive in front of us, a rabbit and lots of birds.
Tomorrow - off to the Lakes - may the weather continue like today. And hope the Bank Holiday crowds allow us to get there.
Back to Top
Back to Contents
Back to Previous Page
Forward to Next
