Galloway: South by south-west

We take a tour through the under-visited region of Galloway, home to gorgeous gardens, standing stones, ancient abbeys, and Scotland’s famous book town

Words by Fiona Laing

The wind could flatten you – it certainly takes your breath away as you gaze out across the sea. Here on the edge of Scotland, an engineering masterpiece guards the seafarers and tempts countless modern tourists along a single-track road.

The Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, built by Robert Stevenson in 1830, tops the high headland amid the gulls, puffins, and a stylish café. This is as far south as you can drive in Scotland. But it is worth it.

Of all the parts of Scotland we write about, it is Galloway that is the real hidden gem. Tucked into the southwest corner of the mainland and off the main road and rail network, it takes a conscious decision to get here. But the rewards for making the effort are great.

From gloriously green forests in the north to the beaches and cliffs of the long, rugged coastline, through rich farmland and wild moorland, Galloway is layered in history. Its fans come to escape the bustle of modern-day life, but once you unwind it’s easy to become caught up getting under its skin.

Galloway is the western part of the Dumfries and Galloway Council area and is made up of the traditional counties of Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. The Solway Firth lies to the south and the North Channel of the Irish Sea is to the west, with Northern Ireland just 22 miles away. Stranraer on the west coast is 85 miles from Glasgow, so although it seems far off the tourist trail, it’s really no distance at all.

I’m exploring a small portion of the South West Coastal 300 (SWC300) driving route, a route that takes in the coast, hills, and forests of southwest Scotland, with the majority of its 300 sweeping miles falling within Dumfries and Galloway, though a few also cross over into Ayrshire.

For this trip, I’m travelling from Newton Stewart to Stranraersticking to the area referred to on old maps as Wigtownshire, which covers two peninsulas – the Machars and the Rhins of Galloway.

At the southern tip of the Rhins is the lighthouse, dramatic in its hair-tugging majesty where, in normal times, climbing the light tower and learning about life there is as good an excuse as any to enjoy the Gallie Craig Coffee House.

Hunkered into the hillside with a living green roof, its shelter is welcome as you make out Ireland on the western horizon.

Just 10 miles north, the contrast couldn’t be greater. A lush oasis of exotic plants means Logan Botanic Garden is one of those quirks of nature that make you smile. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, this sister to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh nurtures plants collected from across the world, which really have no business growing this far north.

Galloway has something of a reputation for its gardens and my stretch of the SWC300 takes in several botanical jewels. For a contrast, I stop at Castle Kennedy Gardens, where 75 acres take in woodlands, lakes, a walled garden, and a spectacular ruined castle as a backdrop for champion trees and colourful shrubs.

At many of the attractions you visit, it is the stories behind them that leave the lasting impression, as is the case at Knockinaam Lodge. This luxury country house hotel is reputedly the venue of a key Second World War meeting between General Eisenhower and Winston Churchill. The isolated former shooting lodge in a gentle hollow by a shingle beach is not such an unlikely venue for world leaders to have a secret meeting.

Wigtownshire was playing a crucial part in the war effort, with nearby West Freugh an air base and training camp, and Garlieston on the Machars the site of the secret development of the temporary portable Mulberry harbours that would play such a decisive role in the D-Day operation in June 1944.

My SWC300 drive takes me back further in history when I pull up at Glenluce Abbey. The ruined Cistercian abbey is my gateway to the Machars, the cradle of Scotland’s Christianity.

From Glenluce to the Isle of Whithorn, at the tip of the Machars peninsula, the influence of the early men of faith is chronicled.

The abbey beside the water of Luce and the one at Whithorn grew from the roots put down by St Ninian in the simple chapel on the windy headland of the Isle when he arrived from Ireland.

Many people walk the Whithorn Way – the 143-mile pilgrims’ route from Glasgow Cathedral to Whithorn, one of Scotland’s most influential medieval religious centres. Along the way they will find not only relics from early Christian times but also some of Britain’s most important discoveries from the prehistoric era. There are Bronze Age standing stones at Drumtroddan and Iron Age crannogs discovered at Whitefield Loch.

In the car, my route from Glenluce takes me past what is said to be Scotland’s second oldest pub. The Cock Inn at Auchenmalg heralds a stretch of road that clings to the coast to the fishing village of Port William.

The arresting statue by Andrew Brown of a fisherman gazing over the water reflects the impact Galloway has on me – that focus on the sea.

I linger on the wide sands near Monreith, the family home of author and adventurer Gavin Maxwell, remembering being enchanted by his book Ring of Bright Water. Later, I divert to find the cave that St Ninian is said to have used as a retreat.

However, it is in Whithorn where the strands of history are really brought together. The Whithorn Story exhibition charts the generations who have left their mark on the landscape. Then, exploring the cathedral remains and the modern reconstruction of an Iron Age house helps make sense of those long-gone years.

Heading north through rolling fields where ‘belted’ Galloway cattle graze towards Newton Stewart – the eastern end of my drive – it’s time to come right up to date.

Wigtown has put the area on the world stage as the location of an annual book festival, as well as many book shops. 

In this, Scotland’s Year of Stories, Wigtown is hoping to draw on some of Scotland’s most intriguing tales, from great works of literature to local stories, to inspire visitors to the Wigtown Book Festival (held from 23 September to 2 October) to explore the places, people and cultures connected to all forms of its stories. A highlight of this year’s festival will be a story-telling workshop set in an enchanted bookshop, The Bookshop Untold. However, if you can’t make the event this year, it’s worth planning a future visit around the annual festival, when as many at 200 events around the themes of books, music, poetry, and theatre give visitors the chance to experience a little of the Galloway literary magic.

To toast my Wigtownshire adventure, I have the choice of two distilleries. There’s whisky being made at Bladnoch, but I plump for Crafty Distillery, whose tasting room has views of the Galloway Hills.

Since 2017, Graham Taylor and Craig Rankin have been crafting whisky and vodka and making gin using local botanicals (bladder wrack seaweed and noble fir needles) in their modern, creative distillery, which is the ideal place to drink in the spirit of the region.

REWRITING WIGTOWN’S STORY

In the mid-1990s, it was suggested that a book town modelled on Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales, could help regenerate a community in Scotland. Six small towns submitted bids. An international panel chose Wigtown, and it was officially designated as Scotland’s National Book Town in 1998.

The former county town of Wigtownshire had been at its lowest ebb. There were empty and run-down properties and the almost derelict county buildings were threatened with demolition. The Book Town’s hoped-for regeneration came and Wigtown now has 20 or so book-related businesses flourishing beside a selection of charming shops and refreshment stops and the refurbished County Buildings.

First held in 1999, the 10-day Wigtown Book Festival each autumn is run by a small professional staff assisted by more than 100 volunteers. In the spring, there is Big Bang, a festival of space and science.

wigtownbookfestival.com; wigtown-booktown.co.uk

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