Coronation Weekend in Wigtown

We arrived in Wigtown on Friday afternoon and after sorting out all our stuff from the car we headed for a walk into town and then I went a longer walk along the old railway line bordering the Wigtown Marshes. We passed one of the nicest houses in Wigtown and it is called Barbados Villa. It was built by a family in the 19th Century based on money made in the Sugar industry of Barbados. 

The town is getting ready for the Coronation celebrations and in the centre of the town they have a Marquee where many of the community events will take place.

The Wigtown Marshes and the habitat for many birds

Wigtown is very fortunate in having its Bowling Green in the very centre of the town right in front of the Town Hall. This must be unique in Scotland and it makes the town centre such a lovely community space

The Parish Church, although Wigtown was predominately a Catholic community when Gaye lived here all those years ago. It's ironic that we are staying just a few doors up from the house where she spent the first 10 years of her life and listened to the Coronation on the radio 70 years ago.

On Saturday we took a run down the coast of the Machars and this is Isle of Whithorn

The river Bladnoch near the harbour and an outgoing tide.

Gaye enjoying a seat in Garlieston on a lovely Saturday morning so she read a book while I went a walk along the shore.

Lunch at the Steam Packet Inn at Isle of Whihorn and a bacon and egg roll with a Coffee.

A nice walk along the shore at Garlieston

The view from the seat Gaye was sitting on at Garlieston and at High Tide

The path along the shore at Garlieston and a bit tricky in places while Gaye enjoyed her book just round the corner at the harbour

The Martyrs Memorial for my Saturday evening walk on a wee hill just above Wigtown. The Solway Martyrs were two Scottish Covenanter Ladies from Wigtown who were executed by Scottish Episcopaleans in 1685 by tying them to stakes on the town mudflats and allowing them to drown with the rising tide.
 

The view of Wigtown from the Martyrs Memorial

 

My First Walk at Wigtown

Our journey from Langholm to Wigtown encountered heavy rain until we got to Castle Douglas and then as we got further west the sky cleared and the weather became beautiful. A quick visit to the river Bladnoch on arrival as we were slightly early.

The view across the valley with the A75 in the distance

Our holiday accommodation which has been greatly improved and renovated since the new owners moved here from the south of England 2 years ago.

A Curlew on the mud flats near the harbour

A view of Wigtown Bay

A Swan on the opposite bank

This Oystercatcher is guarding his nest on the pier at the harbour

Low tide next to the harbour on the Bladnoch

The Martyr"s Stake at Wigtown. This commemorates the execution of Covenanters on 11th May 1685. They became known as the Wigtown Martyrs

Our small holiday flat at the back of the big house

Wigtown Harbour and a dead sheep 

The Oystercatchers Nest

The Oystercatcher on the nest

I was walking along the old railway line and was being watched by this Deer.

Later in the evening I visited the bird hide near the harbour. The late evening sun was right in my eyes so it was difficult to photograph many of the birds

The freshwater ponds that are great reserves for the birds

This is a small burn flowing down to the harbour but at high tide it will be full of water

 

A Visit to Portpatrick

We left Langholm last Thursday for a couple of nights in Portpatrick as we love this part of the world and it gives us a chance each year to visit Wigtown where Gaye was brought up until she was about 12 years old. This is the Town Hall and Bowling Green in the Market Square in Wigtown and it must be one of the most impressive town centres in Scotland. The town is now Scotland's Book Town and is becoming more prosperous but it still needs more jobs to be created and in parts of the town a good facelift. As we drove further west the weather got better and better until by the time we arrived in Portpatrick it was a glorious evening.

The harbour in Wigtown and I have never seen a boat in it so don't know if it is used much these days.

Just next to the harbour at the mouth of the Bladnoch river there is a nature reserve with a superb bird hide.

This is the Bird Hide built by the local community in Wigtown 

While we were at the harbour we met this couple from Haltwhistle who often visit Newcastleton as they have relatives live there. We spent a very pleasant hour chatting to them and left as if we had known them for years. They are called Fiona and Robert Burn.

On arrival at the Rickwood Hotel we went down into Portpatrick for a meal and then came back to spend a very pleasant 30 minutes in the Hot Tub

On Friday we headed to the north of the Rhins and had a lovely walk along the shore of Loch Ryan at Kirkcolm. We then had lunch in the Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel at the northern tip of the Rhins of Galloway. From the Lighthouse you had a superb view of the ferries leaving and coming into Loch Ryan. The lunch was excellent and the surroundings just perfect. 

The Lighthouse Hotel at Corsewall. We can recommend it to anybody who wishes an unusual venue for a wedding or just to stay for a night. 

After lunch we headed down to the southern end of the Rhins and to Drummore where we spotted this Heron fishing at low tide. It caught a couple of fish while we sat watching it but I just was not able to take a photograph at the exact time it caught them.

The beach at Port Logan

On Saturday I went on a long pre breakfast walk to Dunskey Castle. It was a dry morning but a bitterly cold wind and by the time I got back to the hotel for breakfast I was ready for my excellent porridge and the fry up which we only have these days when we are on holiday.

Portpatrick from the southern end of the town.