Garlieston - with visitor!

On arrival at Garlieston CC site the relief warden recognised us from our visit to Melrose in June!  The Garlieston site is a lovely lochside site right next the quiet former fishing village.  Phil found a perfect spot for practicing some unicycling, the bridge over the burn had a hand rail on either side, so he was doing that for around an hour before tea!

First stop the next day was Aldi! We got some groceries and Phil bought a waterproof biking jacket for £20! After that we headed west, with a detour off the main road to Luce Sands, we drove down a little lane to a picnic spot and had our picnic sat on a bench, then took the dogs on the small beach for a bit of play. We then got back in the car and drove a bit further round to Torrs Warren, a small patch of woodland just inland of Luce Sands where there is a forestry car park. We had a walk through the woods where there were lots of bits of rubbish (bottletops and bottles) hanging in the trees, no signs to tell us why though.  The huge sands and sand dunes themselves are actually out of bounds due to military activity, as we found out when we got to the edge of the woods and spotted an MOD sign, so we trod carefully on the way back, making sure not to tread on any shiny metal things!  We got back to Tonks and drove on to the village of Portpatrick, a small fishing village that now has a new industry in tourism, with a huge hotel at the top of the hill and lots of small ones within the village.  We had a look around the harbour (where we read in the local paper that a boat was sunk a few days before, apparently deliberate..) and walked up the cliff path for a great view over the village.  Then it was off to Stranraer as the local paper had told us of an award winning butcher.  We drove round the town, another typical port which we have become accustomed to (there is 2 ferry companies operating from here), and after a brief stop we found the butchers. It was great, with lots of selection and advice from the staff!  We carried on up the coast until we reached Corsewall Point the northernmost tip of The Rhins where there is a lighthouse that has been converted into a hotel.  We parked up and went in for a beer, a bottled beer turned out to be £4.60 so we settled for tea for two at a much more reasonable £3! 

We set off for Kiroughtree the next day, one of the 7 Stanes bike routes which has walks and a visitor centre so we were all going to be happy!  Linda and the dogs did 2 walks, both very quiet through lovely woods and by the side of a small loch, with no other walkers around, one 2.5 miles and then back to the car for lunch, then the next walk was 1.5 miles and by the time we were back at the car and had a drink Phil was back from his ride. The Kiroughtree black and red route is great fun with lots of variation on the route, from wooden board riding to singletracks, jumps, drops berms and a feature called ‘McMoab’ a section where riders are taken over huge sections of rock which bulge out of the ground like giant slugs! Then on to the visitor centre for well earned hot chocolate and cake – both cakes were far too sickly and we both left some – imagine that!!!

Gav arrived at around 9:30 that evening, so we had our tea, Phil and Gav had a beer and several large measures of whisky before bed!

We awoke to glorious sunshine, and so we set off on a walk from the site.  The 7 mile walk took us past

Galloway house and out onto Rigg Bay, where we walked across the sand, and saw the remains of a WW2 ‘Hippo’ being lapped by the water.  Rigg bay, along with Garlieston Bay was used by the navy to practice using the ‘Mulberry’ floating harbours in preparation for the D-day landings in 1944.  The Hippo, a part of the harbour structure, was found to be an unsuccessful method of supporting the temporary road spans, and was abandoned.   We continued along the coastal path until we reached Cruggleton Point, where the cliffs rise up out of the sea, and you can see the small remains of an arch which was once a castle keep. When we were there it was surrounded in scaffolding as Scottish Heritage are doing some preservation work on the structure. We sat on top of the cliffs and had our picnic, looking out to sea we could see for miles, including the huge Robin Rigg off-shore windfarm (60 wind turbines which only became active in April 2010) and we could even see the faint outline of the Lake District mountains 40 miles away!  We re-traced our footsteps, stopping on the way to pick a load of sloes, ready for some sloe gin and vodka manufacture!  When we got to Galloway House we headed into the gardens where we had a wander around the lawns and pathways, eventually coming to the walled garden.  A bit of a disappointment inside in that it is now just one big lawned area, and looking very neglected.  There were some pear trees in the greenhouses though, which Linda couldn’t resist scrumping from! Across from the greenhouses were 2 baby pigs snuffling for some apples which had been dropped for them.  The route we took home passed by the front of the very impressive Galloway House, once the seat of the Earl of Galloway, built in 1742 and subsequently enlarged it is now owned by overseas owners and looking a little unloved to say the least.  Just before reaching the campsite we passed another set of pig houses, and spotted the owner coming round to feed them. We leaned on the fence for a bit and got chatting, he told us they were large blacks, and he had a litter of them only 3 weeks ago, and already they had been sold on to breeders!  The unlucky pair in front of us were unfortunately heading for the bacon factory in a few months, but they were having a great time in the meantime!  Back at the ‘van we had a brew before going onto the campsite bridge for a play with the unicycle. Gav’s attempts at staying on the thing made Linda laugh so much she nearly wet herself!  After a short while we tired of that and Phil and Gav went for a walk out into the bay, paddling in the freezing cold sea and throwing skimming stones for Prince to chase.  After showers we donned our glad rags and went to the nearby Harbour Inn for some food, good old fashioned pub grub gave way to a few pints in the bar, watching an assortment of locals from large to small, scruffy and smelly to dolled up for a night out, one chap even brought in his crazy Labrador which wreaked havoc! 

Up early, we had breakfast, got ready and headed off to Glentrool in Galloway Forest Park.  We wanted to do a walk with Gav before he had to set off for the long drive home, so we chose a 5 mile route that took us through the forest and out to Loch Trool before heading back

along Trool Water to the car park.  Prince got dunked in the river a few times by Linda and we had a great walk amongst all the autumn trees.  We had a look in the visitor centre which was very quiet and had our picnic sat on a bench outside, then had to wave Gav off so that he could make it home in the daylight.  We then got the bikes off the car and set off on the 6km ‘Green’ mountain bike route, the bumpy terrain and the loose rocky descents scared Linda to death, and she was heard to holler “Where’s my Mummy?” on one of the descents!  She made it back to the car park in one piece, much to everyone’s relief, and we set off home.  Back at the ‘van Phil was out for more unicycle practice, for the first time managing to leave the safety of the bridge and pedal off down the site!  

The next day we set out in Tonks for Wigtown, Scotland’s ‘book town’.  It is a very quaint little village and reminded us of some in England with its large square in the middle with car parking all around it.  There are a lot of bookshops, hence the name, but we didn’t go in as Linda had to refrain from buying before her birthday!  Instead we made do with a look around the information centre, which had a display on Wigtown and an Osprey centre (due to the nest which is nearby).   Back at the ‘van Phil went out on the unicycle again, making the most of the site’s great unicycle facilities inbetween the showers of rain, this time managing to get all the way around the site!  (Roy - Does this mean I beat you?!)  (Gav - you have to get one!!)