OzTennis

Here's some photos taken yesterday for anyone interested. We went a trip further west in Galloway to the Isle of Whithorn (which isn't an island) and Port William. It was a lovely day for a change - it has been a very poor summer this year in northern Blighty.

The Post Office at Isle of Whithorn:

A panoramic shot of the harbour:

Coastline near Isle of Whithorn looking over Wigtown Bay towards Cairnsmore of Fleet; cattle grazing by the shore:

At Port William there is a statue of a fisherman looking out to sea and the plaque in front contains an extract from W H Davies poem 'Leisure' - What is life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

Teaandtoday5

We lived in Scotland for 10 yrs, and there is SO much I didn't see. Lovely pictures.

SoCalDon

Lovely pics, thank you.

OzTennis

Here's some more photos in an occasional series. Yesterday we headed east of where we stay and had a lovely day in and around the village of New Abbey and on the Solway Coast nearby. New Abbey is a lovely, quaint village built around Sweetheart Abbey. The Abbey is unusual in that it was built in 1275 by a woman in memory of a man - by Devorgilla in memory of John De Balliol, their son John was briefly King of Scotland.

The Abbey is now largely in ruins:



On a walk through the village, looking back at the Abbey:



In the house on the left of that view there was a nice display of old bottles:



At the other end of the village there is a Corn Mill and these houses originally were built for the miller:



On the way home this is the view across to the Lake District hills with the village of Carsethorn, the mouth of the River Nith and the Solway Firth in the foreground. The viewpoint marker said 23 miles across to England:



Some pics of the interior of the Abbey on this website:

The Lost Love of Sweetheart Abbey | Traveling Savage

Buzzy--Bee

Very beautiful.

BB

Gibbo

The whole of the southwest has changed little. I hope it stays that way.

OzTennis

It hasn't and one of the reasons we like it so much (apart from Mrs OzT coming from Dumfriesshire!) We've had a dire summer (I hear of Melbourne shivering in the coldest winter for a long time and we've barely had summer temperatures above Melbourne the last few months!) However we have had a few spells of still, sunny days and we're in one now thankfully.

Here's a couple more taken at Logan Botanic Gardens over on the west coast south of Stranraer. A friend is the curator so we go over there from time to time for a look. They specialise in sub-tropical plants from other countries with lots of eucalypts to make me feel at home!

OzTennis

Purple heather is coming into bloom:

MartynK

My wife lives in Crossmichael, and I know this area quite well. We visited Sweetheart Abbey a few years ago and, if I remember correctly, the mill in your photograph is still run occasionally for visitors. There's also a local belief that Devorgilla built the first bridge over the River Nith in Dumfries, although this is uncertain, and some people still refer to the stone footbridge as 'Devorgilla's Bridge'.

FWIW, Devorgilla's son John Balliol (Toom Tabard) was briefly King of Scots, rather than King of Scotland. It's not quite the same, and reflects differences between the English and Scottish systems of monarchy.

OzTennis

Quite right, King of Scots - you'll have to tell tourist brochures and Wiki of the subtle difference. We stay in Castle Douglas so Crossmichael is very near of course. I often walk the bridges over the Nith.

themajor

Fantastic pictures. Great Britain is still GREAT in many ways. We loved the West Coast of Scotland and loved sailing there. Lake district is a natural place of everlasting beauty.

Thanks for sharing.

OzTennis

Thanks very much, coincidently we are going to Keswick in a few days so I'll post some Lake District photos.

themajor

Thanks will look forward to seeing them

wanderlustruss

Cool photos! Scotland's really bucketlist-worthy.

OzTennis

Yes, the Corn Mill is open regularly under the Historic Scotland organisation and is interesting. Some Crossmichael pics - all taken from the other side of the loch in or near Balmaghie Churchyard looking across Loch Ken to Crossmichael. (The Church of Scotland closed Balmaghie Church a few months ago and the congregation now go to Crossmichael.



Colder times: