Scotland

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Day 108 : Port Logan – Portpatrick

My intention today was to walk from Port Logan to Portpatrick but after about three miles I got a phone call from my daughter to say that my wife, Christine had been taken into hospital overnight with stomach pains. It turned out that she had a hernia and they were operating that morning to repair it.

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After retracing my steps back to the car, returning to the campsite I was staying at and packing up I set off back home. Six hours later I has able to see my wife at the hospital who was still a bit sleepy after the operation.

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Day 107 : Drummore – Port Logan

Today I reach the Southern most tip of Scotland, the Mull of Galloway. It is hard to image that this point is roughly the same latitude as Hartlepool on the North East coast of England.

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The day starts as as one of those stop and go days, stopping to chat to people on the way. I leave Drummore by the harbour where I meet the first person.

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Day 106 : Glenluce – Drummore

My day started badly with my car running on empty all the way to Glenluce. I had to drive all the way to Castle Kennedy to get a fill up and then back to Glenluce to start todays walk.

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I imagine that for locals the town of Glenluce is a much more leisurely place now that the A75 bypasses the town. No more big lorries thundering down the main street as they come from the port at Cairnryan.

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Day 105 : Craiglemine – Glenluce

On the way into Monreith I come across a memorial to Gavin Maxwell who wrote an autobiographical book called “A Ring of Bright Water”. It tells of him bringing an otter back from Iraq and taking it for walks along the beach. The story was later made into a successful film.

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At Port William I take a breather and of course a coffee and cake. I then walk around the harbour to the seafront where I notice a stone has been laid.

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Day 104 : Garlieston – Craiglemine

I ate at the Harbour Inn at Garlieston last night and the food and beer was excellent. It seemed quite popular especially as it is close to two camping & caravan sites.

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In the Second World war, Garlieston Bay was used to test the first Mulberry Harbours. These were artificial harbours that could be assembled quickly to allow troops and equipment to disembark onto the beaches. The area was ideal due to its remoteness and the rise and fall of the tide.

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Day 103 : Newton Stewart – Garlieston

Newton Stewart is the main Market Town of the area with a variety of shops and businesses. The main street has a few interesting buildings including the Town Hall with its Clock Tower and white painted brickwork.

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It’s time for me to leave this pretty little town but I’m afraid my route takes me along the main road for a few miles. Just after Nether Barr I turn off the main road and follow the signs for Carty Port and  Moss of Cree. I eventually enter the old county town of Wigtown.

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Day 101 : Brighouse Bay – Mossyard

I make an early start on a nice day from the sandy beach of Brighouse Bay to the old port of Mossyard which was part of the Cardoness Estate. The McConchie family now farm there and hire out holiday lodges.

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I follow the track at the end of the car park which eventually becomes a path and climb through some trees to a caravan site. I continue on a track past Southpark Dam to Borness. From here I make my own track across fields, hedges and ditches until I hit the coast at Ringdoo Point.

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Day 100 : Kirkcudbright – Brighouse Bay

Kirkcudbright sits on the River Dee with a busy fishing harbour and farming industry. It is also known as an artists town with galleries and a museum and an artistic community. It also has a the MacLellan Castle which was built on the site of Greyfriars monastery. Today it is maintained by Historic Scotland.

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I first start off by walking around St Mary’s Isle, a wooded peninsular just to the south of Kirkcudbright. You get wonderful glimpses of the estuary through the trees.

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Day 099 : Auchencairn – Kirkcudbright

Today I am walking from the small village of Auchencairn with it’s village store, garage, church and pub to the town of Kirkcudbright. Auchencairn in the past has had a history of smuggling in the bay, probably why the pub is called the Smugglers Inn.

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I take the road leading from the War Memorial towards Balcary Bay. I pass the lovely Balcary Bay Hotel where there are some stories that smugglers used some caves that were behind the hotel.

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