Dumfries and Galloway Things to Do Tips by nickandchris Top 5 Page for this destination

Langholm

This was a real surprise to us, never having really given the place any thought before now, we found Langholm lovely, sitting on the banks of the River Esk and surrounded by hills. On a sunny day, the riverside was busy with lunchtime picnickers. After a prolonged dry spell, the river was extremely low.

The town has a population of 2500 and grew up mainly because of the textile industry, with woollen mills dominating the scene.Today, I guess it's residents mainly work further afield, the town being 19 miles north of Carlisle and south of Edinburgh.

Langholm's famous residents were the communist poet Hugh McDiarmid (a memmorial to him is to be seen on the fells east of the town) and civil engineer Thomas Telford, who lived just outside Langholm. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, also has strong bonds with the town after visiting in the 70's.

Also prominent on the eatern fells is a monument to local statesman, historian and soldier, Sir John Malcolm (1769 - 1833.)The vehicular track up to it is kept padlocked but we noticed a number of cars being escorted back down after a visit.

I feel we will definitely pay a longer visit to Langholm in the not too distant future.

AND WE DID, OCTOBER 2011 WHERE WE ENJOYED A PUB LUNCH AND A WALK ALONG THE RIVER. MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS WERE CORRECT, IT IS A LOVELY LITTLE TOWN.

Address: Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway.

Directions: Between Carlisle and Edinburgh, on the A7.

Garlieston

This is a lovely little coastal village on the eastern Machars coast, with it's own harbour and two good beaches. Despite it's ease of access, it remains relatively little known and is an unspoilt gem.

The original port and settlement was founded in the 1780's with water mills creating power for a sailcloth and rope industry. By 1800 some 500 people lived here and shipbuilding was added to their trades.The port was home to ten trading vessels and by 1900, the village was connected to the railway system, allowing rail excursions to take the steamer from the port to the Isle of Man.

Between 1941 and 1944 Garlieston Bay was used to test parts of the Mulberry floating harbours that were to be used in the DD landings in 1944. An information board at the village hall tells the story, with archive photos. It is quite fascinating and before we stayed in Garlieston, we had no idea this had taken place here.

From the harbour, there is a pleasant walk along the coast and through Galloway House Gardens to Rigg Bay, where the remnants of a Mulberry harbour platform can still be seen at low tide.

The village offers self catering, B&B's, the caravan site and a pub.

To read more about our holiday in this area, please look at my Isle of Whithorn page.

Address: Garlieston, Wigtownshire, South West Scotland.

Directions: Between Wigtown and Whithorn, on the B7004.

Caerlaverock Castle

Caerlaverock Castle, 1270, was an unexpected treat as we had no idea what condition the castle was in. It could have been a pile of rubble, you know what some of these castles are like!
It is near the Solway Firth, on the B725, 6 miles south of Dumfries.
Historic Scotland make a wonderful job of caring for it. It is all beautifully looked after and neat and tidy.
Within the grounds are the scanty remains of the first castle built on this site, in 1220.
The castle changed hands between the Scots and English often from 1312 to 1370. In the 1500's the castle was besieged and changed hands twice.
In 1640 the castle was bombarded for 13 weeks. After it was confiscated it was deliberately partly ruined to stop it being used.
There are two moats, one being full of water, complete with frogs!
In the grounds are two types of seige engines, a Trebuchet and a mangonel. They are a form of catapult that hurled rocks and cannon balls at the enemy.
The castle is open April to May 9.30am - 6.30pm daily and Oct - March 9.30am - 4.00pm daily.
Admission: Adults £4.00
Children £1.60
Concessions £3.00

There is achildren's playground, a cafe and visitor centre/shop and adequate parking.

Directions: On the B725, between Dumfries and Annan. Six miles south of Dumfries.

Other Contact: Historic Scotland

Seige Engines

Make sure you have a look at the seige engines whilst at Caerlaverock Castle. I think I read that they are still in working order.The mangonel reckons to take half an hour to load. It used to have a "spoon" end to it's arm but now has a sling. Of course Philip wanted Nick to make him a model one!!!

Address: Caerlaverock Castle

Other Contact: Historic Scotland

Nature Walk

There is a nature trail in the grounds of Caerlaverock Castle with picture boards explaining what is to be seen. It is a pleasant walk which takes you to the remains of the original castle. We nearly walked on frogs, they were everywhere.
What we did notice were all the fallen trees, presumably from the recent storms. There was a great deal of re-planting being carried out.
The wild garlic was just coming through, but we were too early for the bluebells.

Address: Caerlaverock Castle

Isle of Whithorn

Definitely a picture postcard type of place, but in an unpolished sort of way, the Isle of Whithorn has been designated an outstanding conservation area. It was actually an island until the development of the village and harbour construction caused the gap to be filled in!

This is the place where Scotland's first saint, St. Ninian landed, more than 1600 years ago.The 14th century St. Ninian's chapel stands in ruins on the headland, commanding spectacular views over the rocky coastline.

The harbour was a principal trading port as well as being a landing stage for the steam packet, Countess of Galloway which transported passengers to Liverpool from where they could buy a passage to the New World.

Local fishing boats still leave from here with their crab and lobster pots and although much of their catch is destined for the foreign market,some of it heads to the local hotel, The Steam Packet.

The white tower cairn on the headland has, and always will be, a landmark for those at sea.

The village suffered a cruel blow in 2000 when local boat, the Solway Harvester, went down off the Isle of Man with all seven crew lost. Tragic.

Make sure you walk to the headland for the views both out to sea and back over the village.

There is a large free carpark at the south end of the village.

We heard people on the caravan site at Garlieston saying the fishing was good from the rocks here. It needed to be as the fishing was dire from Garlieston!!

To read more about our holiday in this area, please look at my Isle of Whithorn page.

Address: Isle of Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway.

Directions: At the south of the peninsula, south of Whithorn, on the A750.

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Whithorn

Southerness

I must say, we found Southerness, albeit on a wet and wild day, tacky and somewhat run down.

We purely visited to see what was there and to look at the lighthouse, one of the oldest in Scotland.

The village consists of one huge static caravan and chalet park that also takes tourers. This is a full blown facility site with amusements and cafes and god knows what else. Definitely not our cup of tea and we hated the sight of it but I daresay it is Paradise to many!!There is also a dreadful looking pub.

The lighthouse is built on a concrete plinth on the shore and was built in 1749 as a marker for those navigating the Nith estuary in the Solway Firth, here.A light was added in 1800 but by the 1940's it ceased operating.
We could see into the lighthouse, there were information leaflets and signs but unfortunately it was all locked up, rather annoyingly.

There are vast expanses of sands in both directions at Southerness, but being an estuary, the tide disappears at low tide.

Address: Southerness,Dumfries and Galloway

Directions: From the A710 south of Dumfries, take a right a couple of miles past New Abbey, to Southerness.

Website: http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst17134.html

Ardwell House Gardens

An excellent garden to visit with a walled garden and woodland walks, set around 18thc. Ardwell House. The house is not open to the public.
Admission when we visited was by honesty box. can't remember how much.

Open all year, 10am. to 5 pm. every day.

There is parking, toilets and picnic areas.

The gardens are famous for their azaleas and rhododendrons.

There is a circular walk that takes you along by the ponds to the old fish ladder and back to the house with nice views over the barley fields. While we were on this walk, we came across some swans with their cygnets. We actually thought they were huge models, they appeared so large and were amazed when we realised they were real!!!

Admission is now £3.

Address: Ardwell, Stranraer.

Directions: On an unclassified road, off the A716, between Sandhead and Drummore.

Phone: 01776 860277

Logan Botanic Gardens

Just up the road from Port Logan(14 miles from Stranraer) these extensive gardens have some interesting plant species. Well worth the visit and hours can be spent wandering around.

Because of the Gulf stream flowing past here, the unusual variety of plants found here have led to the gardens being named as Scotland's most exotic gardens. There is a woodland garden, a walled garden and a terrace garden and a wonderful avenue of large palms.

There is a cafe and a gift shop that sells crafts and plants also.

Guided walks are available.

Admission: Adults £5

Open from March to end Oct and Sundays in February.

Children £1
Family Ticket £8

Opening times: March to 31st oct.
10am. to 5pm.
10am. to 6pm. April to Sept.

For further information visit Port logan Botanic
Garden on the internet.

Address: Port Logan,Stranraer, Wigtownshire,DG9 9ND

Directions: Off the B7065 1mile outside Port Logan.
14 miles from Stranraer.

Phone: 01776860231

Website: http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/logan

Threave Castle

I guess you could say visiting Threave Castle is more of an overall experience than seeing a decent ruin. Having said that, we really enjoyed our visit!Close to Threave Gardens and Castle Douglas.

A visit to Threave Castle involves a short boat ride, as the ruins are on the small Threave Island on the River Dee.You park in the carpark some distance from the castle and a ten minute stroll down through the fields (and many lychgates) takes you to the tiny landing stage, where a small motor boat ferries folks across. As our visit was during a fairly busy period, we disappointingly didn't need to ring the bell to summon the ferryman! The river was extremely low and our boatman had to gauge his loads very carefully to prevent grounding or catching his propeller on the bottom. The crossing is literally seconds rather than minutes, but it all adds to the experience.

We were fortunate with the weather, with clear blue skies, warm air and little wind, which all made our time here more enjoyable.

The castle belongs to National Trust for Scotland and there were some rather annoyed people who were not allowed admittance on an English National Trust membership.Much debate was had!

The 14th century ruins create a very scenic picture from all angles, particularly the first glimpse you get from across the river.

Inside, you can visit the kitchens where there is also a prison (padlocked!)and the great hall. Enjoy a walk around the top of the moat and take in the views of the Dee.

Admission, including the ferry crossing is £4.20 per adult.

Address: Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway.

Directions: 20 miles south west of Dumfries and just south west of Castle Douglas.

Website: http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/threave/castle.html