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This week we are still in the area around Rose cottage which is delightfully situated right beside the water at the end of a long lane near Kircudbright. The scenery is fantastic and in May the place is really brightened up with woods that absolutely tumble with blue bells and white ramsoms. The subtle colours of these two plants are then contrasted by the vivid yellow of the gorse as it lines the coast for mile upon mile.
I said last week that there is so much to do in this part of the world and one cannot fit everything into one week.
If you do visit the area I would suggest that one thing not to miss is a drive up to Clatteringhshaw's Loch. Here you can walk the banks of the Loch and see one of the many Bruce's stones that seem to be scattered about this part of the world. You can also enjoy the charms of the Forrest and Wildlife centre, but the best bit can be savoured for the journey back.
If you take the A712 from Clatteringshaw's loch towards Newton Stewart you will shortly come across "Raiders Road" Forest drive. This is a lovely drive through scenic countryside that is almost devoid of other traffic. If you like peace and quite this is a lovely place to go for a picnic. The drive is 10 miles long so there are plenty of opportunities to just pull over and have a cuppa. For part of the journey the track follows the Black Water of Dee as it races over rocks and forms magical pools. You will find that it is probably the best 10 miles you will ever drive in your life and all to soon you will be popping out onto the A762 where you can rejoin the real world.
I have driven this twice and although the surface isn't metalled it is wide and at the time I went it was smoother than the roads in my county town. A small toll is paid via a machine to go on the road but it is money well spent. For the record the track was used to drive cattle and was used as the basis for a book called "Raiders" written by S R Crocket in 1894. The book was about rustling and so that is how the Forrest drive got its name.
Aren't digital cameras amazing things. I bought one of the first ones that came out with some bonus money I got from work. It was an Olympus model, boasted 1.3 million pixels and cost me a whopping £250. Since then the prices have dropped dramatically and the pixel count has rocketed so that has got to be good for everybody.
I am sure you've all experienced the joy of being able to take as many shots as you like without worrying about the cost of buying and having your film developed. The only downside is that I sometimes take pictures of something and when I look back later I haven't got a clue where it was taken.
When I was looking through one of my galleries the other day I came across the curios photo of a sculpture that cam be seen above. At some time I had edited the photo and called it Heavy Treader but beyond that in the words of that great Spanish waiter Manuel, "I know nothing." If anybody can tell where I took it I would be pleased to know some details.
Whilst in this part of Dumfries and Galloway we also went to Shambellie house to see the costume museum, a photo of which can be seen on the left. We also went to the small village of Arbigland which had two distinctively different attractions. The first was Arbigland House gardens which consisted of a delightful walk through some lovely wooded gardens down to the shore of the Solway Firth.
However, the attraction we enjoyed most and one we still talk about years later was a visit to the John Paul Jones museum. John Paul Jones who was born locally was the founder of the American Navy and came back years later to terrorise his homeland. He was born in a small cottage in Arbigland and this can be seen at the attraction along with other interesting artifacts. However the star of the show for us was the video that was shown which chronicled the life of this navy commander, cum pirate. The video was shown in the back end of the replica of an galleon and as the video rolled so did the ship. My wife and I were almost seasick by the time the credits went up, but we also had a good laugh. Never had we had so much fun in the name of education.
I leave you with a picture of some cattle enjoying a pleasant ray of sunshine and look forward to writing my next Scottish post which will come from the stunning Isle of Whithorn. Meanwhile if you want to see some more of my photos Click Here
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