Dumfries and Galloway
 

Hi,
I am planning a trip to Dumfries and Galloway and will be staying in Gatehouse of Fleet on the southern coast. Does anyone have any recommendations for good landscape / seascape locations in that part of Scotland?
Thanks,
Mark

Dumfries and Galloway
 

Wigtown, Garlieston and Isle of Whithorn are nice to visit. There’s a disused harbour in Wigtown, and Garlieston is where they built Mulberry Harbours for D-Day. There is a harbour and lighthouse at Isle of Whithorn, and a famous cave nearby. The Isle is not actually an island. The film The Wicker Man featured scenes from the coast there, and apparently the stumps of legs remain where the giant wooden figure was burned.
There is access to the coast between Wigtown and Gatehouse of Fleet. There is a network of small roads off the main road which run down to the sea. I spent a nice afternoon last summer on a pebble beach overlooking Wigtown Bay. I would say the coastal landscape is more gentle than dramatic, but it’s a great area to visit and explore. The Mull of Galloway is just West of there, and could be interesting. The West facing coast there is likely to be more dramatic. I don’t know if you cycle, but the area around Wigtown, etc is great for cycling, although the A roads are with avoiding.
One last thing! Wigtown has a large number of secondhand bookshops, including the largest one in Britain. They are well worth a look if you’re in the town.
Alex


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Kirkcudbright is well worth a visit due to the influence of the late-Victorian artists' movement that was based there - many of the houses have been painted. The harbour on the river Dee and Castle MacLellan are both very interesting, as is Tongland Power Station. Further afield, there's another castle, Threave, on an island in the middle of the river just outside Castle Douglas. The RPSB has a reserve near Newton Stewart, Wood of Cree, that is extremely pretty. And the road out of Gatehouse to the disused station and the viaduct (Big Water of Fleet) near the Cliints of Dromore and the visitor centre at Cairnsmore of Fleet is worth travelling along. It goes on to Creetown. Nearer Gatehouse is the ruined church at Anwoth.
The area featured in both the Wicker Man (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070917...ref_=ttfc_ql_5) and the BBC's Ian Carmichael version of the Dorothy L Sayers story of the Five Red Herrings (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1257697/?ref_=ttep_ep1), which was the reason I stayed in Kirkcudbright. I scouted out many of the locations used in the programme, though I haven't managed to successfully get them added to IMDB, as yet. And parts of John Buchan's classic The Thirty-Nine Steps are set in the area, too.

Nick

Thanks Alex and Nick for the advice. Just got to stock up on film now then I'll be ready for my trip.
Mark

Can't help with places to visit but if you haven't already left, you might want to consider a visit to Sharif Photographic at Annan on your way there. He may have the film you need It looks to be on the route to Gatehouse of Fleet. What I do not know is whether he is open for visitors and if he is, whether you need to make an appointment

Maybe others who have used Sharif Photographic will know but you could always ring him to check. On most things photographic he seems to be one of the most keenly priced retailers

Mike