sheila

So, our much heralded week in Dumfries-shire got off to a dodgy start, when we had to delay our departure from Saturday morning to Monday night because of a work commitment on my part. We arrived, totally knackered, at 12.50am along a long farm track at a nice warm cottage

One of the other alarms and excursions of the day had been when I got a call in the morning from the reserve manager telling me it was high tide in a day or two and the road might be under water when we arrived!. Fortunately it wasn’t. We so so tired, I doubt we’d have cared, and we’d probably have put the car off the road for a week.

There are two cottages for let on this RSPB reserve- Mersehead- in South West Scotland, through, I think, Discover Scotland. We were in Barnacle Cottage; it has been recently refurbished and was very well equipped and nicely furnished, and, did I mention, warm. I would strongly recommend them to anyone wanting self-catering in this neck of the woods.

So when we eventually surfaced the next day, the plan was to do nothing. We went into Dalbeattie bout 12 miles away, to get essential supplies. It’s a pretty little town on the river Urr, mostly built out of granite which was its main industry for years.

So, after some slobbing out, late morning, I, of course, got bored, and wandered, with the dog, down to the visitor centre, and met the Reserve Manager, and then walked down to the shore. I knew Keith wanted lunch so cut it short and returned and then we decided we’d go down to Kirkcudbright.

To explain, this part of Scotland lies along the Solway Firth, which cuts north east from the Irish Sea, and is a series of river valleys running north south to the main river.

http://www.dumfries-and-galloway.co.uk/maps/map.htm

so, basically, having wandered about one promontory in the morning we headed off for the next in the afternoon. Now, I haven’t been in Kirkcudbright for, oh, 40 years and I can’t remember a thing about it (well, I couldn’t). I know it is the apple of Danna’s eye, and it bills itself as an “Artists’ Town” and that the connection with the Glasgow Boys is the Kircudbright Girls- ‘twere ever thus! By the way , we stopped at Dundrennan Abbey on the way over- the mother house of Sweetheart Abbey. Closed of course, but stupendous.

So how pleasant a town to fall into. Nice wee shops; good book shop, lovely views of the river, multi coloured two hundred year old houses, and dozens of little galleries. One problem tho’. By the time we got there it was about 3.30pm. It’s still winter here, and EVERYTHING had closed by 4pm. That was to be the story of our week, actually.

So we meandered back- lots of wee back roadies, so we weren’t much retracing our steps. Had a glass or two then set out to get some supper.

We headed back to towards Dumfries to find somewhere to eat. We had a number of recommendations, not least from here, and two were to the pubs in the village of New Abbey. Both of which were closed for redecoration. So we went on to Dumfries, and thought we’d find the place you had recommended there, the Eatin’ Place. But we couldn’t. So, having gone round Dumfries’s one way system of road works no fewer than 4 times, we gave it up as a bad job and went to the restaurant at the Burn’s Centre- Hullabaloo, where we had a lovely meal in a nice ambience overlooking the river Nith. Highly recommended. The only black spot in the week was Dumfries, which I thought cut up and soul-less.


So, next day, I suggest a trip to Wigtown. By this time we’ve purchased the world supply of guidebooks on the area, and, in particular, the one published by Historic Scotland. So, we’re following this route they have with some stupendous stuff on it. We stopped at Cairnholy chambered Cairns which were pretty top, and saw lots of castles (do you think there are more castles in Dumfries and Galloway than anywhere else in Scotland?). Just be fore the main road reached Newtown Stewart, there’s this big brown Tourist sign which says “Wigtown- Scotland’s book town” And Keith looks at me sideways, and I say “what?”; and he says “I smell a rat!”, and I just about wet myself laughing. So we get there, and very pretty its is too; and it does have DOZENS of second hand book shops. So the boy lasts 5 minutes and then sods off to find a caff, and I catch up with him an hour or so later. Why do you think he picked the only feminist bookshop/café in the placeJJ

I bought a lot of books.

We finished our lunch; the town is mall and pretty and sits up above its Solway harbour which now hosts walks and a bird hide. After a quick mooch round we headed past Bladnoch distillery (would he stop? Would he hell!!), and following the twists and turns recommended by historic Scotland to Garlieston and Sorbie, we came to Isle of Whithorn, where the pilgrims landed in the early Middle Ages; then on to Whithorn to see the Abbey and the Celtic crosses which were in the wee museum at the side; which was …closed. The Abbey, which claims to be the cradle of Scottish Christianity is amazing and hardly explored at all. The town is very nondescript, except for a church, which has been converted into a filling station.

Then we headed off back home, after a long day, and stopped in Castle Douglas on the way back. Castle Douglas terms itself the “Food Town” (can you see a theme here?). So we mooched about a bit, bought some hand made choccies and stuff from the 2 delis, and went home and slobbed out a bit more.

The weather all day was fantastic with bright sunshine and crisp air.

Thursday, I had invited an old friend and her husband for supper, so we went BACK to Castle Douglas (it’s got a Tesco) and food shopped; then I went up to Gatehouse of Fleet to meet another old friend who runs the local area for the RSPB, and we spent a few glorious hours in the countryside, looking at some of his reserves and some of the community work he’d been doing. I advise anyone going to this area to spend some time on the Red Kite Trail. These birds are out of this world.

Quick dash home and three course dinner later, we were on our feet watching the thousands of barnacle geese come whirling in to roost, when a barn owl flitted up the other side of the track- at least 10 feet from us, and sat on a fence post in front of the window, in case we missed the point.

Friday, I managed to get up and buy fresh bread and the papers- it had been my intent EVERY morning- then dragged Keith off to see some more antiquities- the Twelve Apostles stone circle and the Motte of Urr, then we went round all the little villages along the coast from Dalbeattie, eventually stopping in Kippford at the river mouth for lunch. We were only about 3 miles from the house, so he felt the need for a siesta and Winston and I walked all round the merse and along the beach and got our feet wet in the outgoing tide, for about a couple of hours. Went back to the visitor centre and said our farewells, then spent eth evening in the Balcary Bay Hotel where the food was very very good, but they were so far up their own behinds it wasn’t that fun an experience., really.

And that was it. We barely scratched the surface of what there is to see. It’s very pretty. I was surprise with how Celtic it was; and the little river valleys make it all a bit closed in. But I will certainly go back.

carolyn

Sheila, what a lovely report. Glad to hear you had a good time.

leonberger

Ah, Sheila, it's good to hear about your trip! You're usually the one giving advice and recommendations, so it was great to hear about your explorations.

I guess The Eatin' Place isn't there any more. As soon as you mentioned the one-way streets circling around, I remembered them, so you were in exactly the right spot, but it must have disappeared. Sounds like you found a nice place anyway.

Did Winston enjoy the walks with you? I must admit that the only "downside" to traveling (for us) is leaving the dogs behind. We always try to take them along when we're on a road trip, and love watching them explore and check out new territory.

I'm bummed that we managed to miss Kirkcudbright on our trip a few years ago - it sounds like my kind of place. I'll add it to the list for another trip.

Your report is great - fun, informative, and full of your own impressions. Thanks for sharing!

Gayle

sheila

Mmm. Now I do a search I can't find it on the net, so I guess it's not there. Maybe I won't share that one with my spouse who already thinks Fodors is the work of the devil.

Wins did enjoy his walks- although the longer one- about 4 miles- nearly did for him. But he hates the car. Loathes and detests it. I can't decide if he feels sick after a journey like that or is just sulking. It's been like that since the occasion I put him in the back of Keith's brand new Passat- he was brand new, to us, anyway, too- and he cr****d all over it.

We're very careful with him and cars, now.

leonberger

Ooohhh...dog that doesn't ride well in a car....bad!

Our two nuts love to ride and will go anywhere, anytime. We open the sliding door of the minivan, and they'll jump right in, even if they're not invited along today! We've taken them on very long trips (1200+ miles)...sometimes two days of nothing but driving. We stop for gas, eat while we're off the road, use the "facilities" and walk the dogs briefly, then get back in the car and go on. Willow and Birch are just fine with that, and remain excited about the whole thing.

They love visiting relatives, staying in hotels, walking on "new" streets, and chasing squirrels and other local critters.

We've never had to deal with a dog that didn't ride well (and provided "gifts" while riding)...I guess we're fortunate!

Gayle