Safe Return Doubtful

This week I’m in Galloway after a Six Nations weekend in Shap. I’ve watched the games in many different places and circumstances over the years, but this was a first, with a nursery load of toddlers and their fathers, while their mothers jaunted off for a baby-shower to Keswick.

My previous excursions to Galloway have all been fleeting, passing through in order to get somewhere else. The first trip I did in this van was to Glentrool, just as Scotland opened after the last lockdown in April 2021. A longer visit was much overdue. I’ve had a couple of recommendations, and done a bit of research. Amidst the beaches, the hiking, are two other lures, ‘The Bookshop’ in Wigtown, and the India Gate restaurant in Newton Stewart.

I began south of Kirkcudbright at Brighouse Bay, though it was a wild evening by the time I arrived, with a wind up above 40 miles per hour, beefy showers, and the temperature hovering around zero. Roja has missed beaches since Mani, and doesn’t fuss so much about the temperature, so we had an hour out, and made the most of low tide. To stay there would have been tough though, so I retreated back to Kirkcudbright, where there is a good sized car park on the sheltered harbour. There is a decent selection of pubs, cafes and restaurants here, something to bear in mind for next time, as I had come equipped with fresh salmon.

This morning the wind had cleared, and taken any cloud with it. There was a frost, but days like these are welcome in the winter. I’ve been back in the UK for three weeks now, and it does seem weather wise, it’s one thing or the other, very windy and often wet, or, clear and calm. I’ve missed eleven named storms, so feel a bit guilty about enjoying any days like this.

We moved on to Carrick Bay, which would make a wonderful stopover, but like most places along the coast, vans are not allowed. It’s half term, so there were a few families around, though the lady I got talking to on the way up to the viewpoint told me that this walk was the way she was celebrating her 74th birthday. And on such a great day, I could see why. I headed off across farmland, temporarily forgetting how ungraceful I am at getting over fences, and cut across to the sandy beach at Carrick, returning along the coastline.

I’m parked up for the night at Kirroughtree Visitors’ Centre a few kilometres south of Newton Stewart. Kirroughtree is one the Seven Staines, a mountain and gravel biking project begun across Scotland in 2010. There is gravel riding here, but the mountain biking trails get the most visitors. There are walking trails also, and the area has Dark Sky status, a DSP, or Dark Sky Preserve. Tonight should be a good night to check it out also, as it’s clear, with a 20%, waxing crescent moon.

The Centre is in the second year of offering limited places for campervans and motorhomes. There are no facilities, though during the day there is a cafe, with showers and toilets. The charge is just £5, but with so many places in the area clearly not wanting vans, it is a good option. There are about 20 forest car parks about rural Scotland participating in the Stay The Night Scheme, run by Forestry and Land Scotland, which was originally just for a year, but has been extended until October 2024. It was created because of the growth in visitors with vans, and then parking in places they were unwanted. Most of the signs that say ‘no overnight parking’ are made by local residents rather than being official. But, it is good to know you are not wanted…

There are two other motorhomes here, one, very smart and expensive one, only because it’s broken down, and the mechanic can’t attend until the morning. It’s clear that the couple is it, aren’t used to being off a camp site.

I seem to get talking to a lot of older ladies at present.. this evening, as the daylight faded, Roja met a black labrador, and soon its owner and I were chatting. She gave me a potted history of her family in the area over the course of about half an hour, then took off in her car, with her neighbour, only to return twenty minutes later with a large piece of her homemade Dundee cake.

I’m saving The Bookshop at Wigtown for a rain day, which looks like it will be either tomorrow or Thursday. Of the two days, it seems at present, that Thursday is wetter for longer. Tomorrow, there is hope of a dry afternoon, which should mean a morning of reading and could be a cafe visit, before heading out.