Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 28 on 20/09/2006.

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Five coastal villages

There’s more to the Scotland’s coastline than meets the eye. Emma Newlands picks out some villages of interest

From Plockton, in Ross-shire, made famous by the television series Hamish MacBeth, to villages such as Crail in Fife, and dolphin spotting at Cromarty near Inverness, there is plenty on offer at Scotland’s many coastal villages.

Their often incredible scenery and excellent visitor attractions consequently make for an ideal day trip, or base around which to travel.

Wigtown, just south of Newton Stewart on the west coast, was once the county town of Wigtownshire but is now more notorious for its literary attractions. A busy book festival is held there every year, and visitors have access to more than a quarter of a million volumes, with its many bookshops covering all topics and ages. There are also regular Saturday street markets and summer gala days.

Other things to see in Wigtown, the name of which derives from the German for “town or port on the bay,” include the rather gruesome Martyrs’ Stake at the tidal flats, where two women covenanters were drowned in May 1685.

There is also the imposing triangular main square, overlooked by the County Buildings, where there is wildlife video coverage from the nearby Wigtown Bay Local Nature Reserve. This nature reserve is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom, and is a good spot for bird watching: its feathered visitors include pink-footed geese and whooper swans from Iceland as well as cormorants and grey herons.

Should this be thirsty work, there is always the option of heading to Bladnoch Distillery, the most southerly.....

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By Emma Newlands

Section : Scotland Villages

Page number : 68