PoshPedlar's Guide to Galloway: Making Room For The Magic This Summer

I'm sharing my top JUNE picks for South West Scotland - ancient ruins, secret gardens, wild beaches, birds, bookshops and the best scones, ever.

‘It’s a twenty minute drive to the tip of the peninsula, through gorse-strewn moorland, already dazzling yellow, and rich fertile farmland where Belted Galloway cows huddle around hay-stuffed mangers. The sky is immense today, and I catch glimpses of the sapphire sea along the undulating road.’

The road to the coast, sapphire seas and immense sky

The above is a passage from my memoir, Devorgilla Days, describing the drive from Whithorn, (where Pilgrim Cottage is now called home), to the coast. Because so many of you have asked for the keys to this enchanting and alluring kingdom, I have put together a taster for you, a wee guide to some of the best and most beautiful places to go.

So put the kettle on, put your feet up, and let’s have a wander together through the stunning Scottish countryside:

Home is where the Hart is: Whithorn

Steeped in layers of intriguing mystery and fascinating history, Whithorn is at the beating heart of the Machars peninsula, and home to my ancient stone cottage, named Pilgrim Cottage after the centuries of pilgrims who have walked past my front door in the footsteps of St Ninian. Ninian founded Scotland’s first Christian church here around about 397 AD. The town now has a quiet and peaceful air to it, and the main street is strikingly majestic with its pastel painted grand Georgian townhouses, hinting at the status of Whithorn as a thriving, bustling destination in times gone by. The ruins of the medieval priory, once the Cathedral Church of Galloway, with its carved stones and curious Celtic crosses are tucked behind the main thoroughfare via an impressive 17th century pend.

• The PoshPedlar Insider Tip: Walk down past the old priory towards the reconstructed Iron Age Roundhouse and take time to contemplate the centuries of wanderers that have walked this same path, from pirates to milkmaids, kings to monks. Buy the famous Pilgrim Socks from the Museum shop. The Faith, Hope and Charity Shop on the main street has a shoe box on the counter where you can leave your prayer request.

  

  The stone steps of the old priory worn down over 1,000 years

The Wide Horizon: Rigg Bay (A favourite Swim)

Tucked into the sheltered shoreline of the Galloway House estate, Rigg Bay is a sweeping, crescent-shaped beach mantled by ancient woodlands, and scented in spring by a zillion indigo hued bluebells. The water here is frequently calm, and warm (!) due to its shallow depth heated by the sand on an incoming tide. This is a favourite spot for a wild sea swim, (although my swimming is definitely more tame than wild) especially if you can set your alarm for sunrise, and admire from the water as the sun’s first rays embrace the bay. Don’t forget your tide timetable book, available at local shops, and a flask of hot tea, and look out for jellyfish: the small ones with alarming purple gonads are harmless.

• The PoshPedlar Insider Tip: following your swim, take the coastal path to nearby Garlieston, once the realm of smugglers, sailors and soldiers. You will find, midway along an elegant curve of Regency houses, (which face the fishing boats and shimmering bay), a cafe called The Hive. Treat yourself to a mug of hot chocolate and the most delicious scone, with cream and jam, obvs - you will have earned it by then!

The Secret Walled Garden: Cally Estate

Tucked away in the historic grounds of the Cally Estate in Gatehouse of Fleet, this magnificent brick-walled garden feels like stepping into a land that time forgot, with its 15ft high walls, mushroom house and vinery. Crunch your way along the gravel paths, and take in the heaving herbaceous borders and apple orchard. The whole garden hums with the sound of contented bees.

• The PoshPedlar Insider Tip: Keep an eye out for other local garden openings under Scotland’s Gardens Scheme (the famous ‘Yellow Book’). Visiting on a Yellow Book day adds a wonderful layer of community spirit and shared horticultural passion to a summer afternoon, especially when the proud hosts offer their own wonderful, and often rare, plants for sale.

  

  A visit to a secret walled garden

The Literary Haven: Wigtown

At the centre of the Machars Peninsula is Scotland’s National Book Town. Wigtown is home to around 12 independent book shops. Most of them curate to a theme, such as crime (‘murrdah!’) folklore and fable, first editions etc. Kindles are frowned upon, in fact Kindles are shot at, and the second hand book is revered. The exotic, rather French, rather gothic County Building overlooking the garden square is home to the library and small museum. There are cafes and gift shops aplenty, and if you arrive at the right time, Mrs Dill’s new tatties are not to be missed, even if they are the MOST expensive potatoes you will every buy.

• The PoshPedlar Insider Tip: Walk along the old railway path to the birdhide and listen for starlings, and onwards along the River Bladnoch to the whisky distillery, also named Bladnoch, where I’d recommend a guided tour of the stills, and a wee dram to finish.

Be Your Own Outlander : Torhouse Stone Circle

Hidden away amongst the drumlins just outside Wigtown, this 4,000 year old Bronze Age stone circle feels entirely untouched by the modern world. Nineteen lumpy/dumpy granite boulders stand in a perfect ring on a low ridge, observed usually by a herd of jet black Galloway cattle. Take a small gift or token to place on the recumbent central stone, I might leave a wishing stone from the beach, a feather, or a shell. The stones feel warm to the touch, and you never know, linger long enough and Sam Heughan himself might just appear (he lives locally!)

• The PoshPedlar Insider Tip: Unlike the crowded site at Stonehenge, you will almost always have Torhouse entirely to yourself. Visit at dusk when the low sun casts long, eery shadows across the tussocks. The silence here is uncanny. You might meet the White Witch here, she often charges her crystals on a full moon.

To The Lighthouse: The Mull of Galloway

Scotland’s most southerly point is literally breathtaking, particularly in times (almost all the time) of wild and stormy hooleys. It is a windswept peninsula where towering cliffs meet the colliding tides of the Irish Sea and Solway Firth. On a clear day the views stretch all the way to the Isle of Man and the Mountains of Mourne in Ireland, which makes me nostalgic, as my grandmother would sing to me of those mountains when I was a small child. Occasionally when I pluck up enough courage for a full moon swim, miles across the bay, the water is scanned by the full beam of the lighthouse. It’s both eery and very romantic.

• The PoshPedlar Insider Tip: Seek out the bird warden, Our feathered friends on the cliffs are many and various, from puffins to osprey. And look out for the ‘Nine Tides’. This phenomenon occurs just after low tide when the sea rips and rages violently. Legend has it that this maelstrom is the work of nine local witches, who once cast a spell to sink a boat allegedly carrying a ‘witchcatcher’ from Ireland.

P.S. For those who choose a paid subscription or join as a Founding Member Posh Patron, thank you for helping me keep the midnight candle burning at Pilgrim Cottage, and allowing the ink to continue to flow. xx

Sunrise from Pilgrim Cottage

I hope you’ve enjoyed my whizz around Galloway, I have hardly scratched the surface, and these are just a few of my favourite jaunts. If you’re visiting, or thinking of planning a trip, do let me know how you get on. I haven’t added links to all my suggestions, you can find opening times etc with a simple www search.

I will be writing regular wee guides like this, subjects I have in mind are:

Pros & cons of a stone cottage and accompanying garden - the romance v reality

The anatomy of a slow morning - the perfect tea and the blank page

How to start again at 50, and then again at 60, life expands, it doesn’t shrink

The Scottish wardrobe essentials - from hiking boots, to posh thermal knickers

Local what’s on guides - fairs, festivals, theatre, whatever takes my fancy

Supplements I take post Breast Cancer and Heart Surgery

My skin care guide using home made products and potions

And so on, what do you think, I’m open to suggestions…?