Wigtown - National Book Town of Scotland

Nido's parked up at Wigtown Harbour (///visions.punters.salad), with expansive views over the muddy banks of the tidal river, salt marsh and the hills in the distance.  It's very quiet and peaceful here; it's a theme running through our time in Dumfries and Galloway. There are two other vans here and I'm watching the swans, egrets and herons making the most of this safe, food-filled environment.  

True to form, the ravens woke us early this morning at Dundrennan Abbey. It's a sound we're used to at home, with a rookery in the trees outside our bedroom window.  In the early hours we heard the owls and they spooked Salty so much that he jumped on to our bed like a big black flea to escape the big birds! I was up at 7am  and took Salty out.  A large hare was watching us as we walked towards the field; Salty spotted it too and was off - or at least he would have been if I didn't have a good hold of his lead!

It was a still and warm, sunny morning and I cooked breakfast with the door open.  A car pulled up alongside us and a lady in an official uniform got out of the car, ready to open the Abbey to visitors.  In England I'd be worried now about being moved on, but she couldn't have been kinder, stopping to ask us if we were having a good trip - I like Scotland!

It was about an hour's drive to Newton Stewart where we filled up with diesel and food, before driving six miles to our current park up at Wigtown Harbour.  After walking Salty, we left him to enjoy some 'me time' and wandered up to the town.  Wigtown is the National Book Town of Scotland; yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Wigtown earning this title and it has a Book  Festival every October. For such a small place it has a lot of secondhand bookshops, along with loads of cafes, pubs and independent shops - think Hay on Wye but in Scotland. We mooched around a few of them, browsing the many old books for travel, cooking and gardening gems. 

Back at the van, we took Salty for a walk across the salt marsh and onto the footpath which used to be the old railway line, routing us back to the road and the harbour.  After a welcome apero sat outside the van, I cooked a dinner of chicken fajitas and stir fry veg, before we sat in the cab with a cup of tea, watching the birdlife as the tide slowly started to turn and cover the muddy banks of the river.

It's cloudy now and the wind has dropped; it's so quiet my ears are ringing with the silence. - a thousand acres of sky.  If it clears tonight, I think we'll witness a beautiful starry night.  If not, I hope I wake early to enjoy a coffee outside at dawn.  I'm really enjoying the peace of this trip. 

Did I say I like Scotland?  

Wigtown Harbour

The Old Bookshop - pick up a book and relax!

C'mon - 'urry up!

Apero hour

View from the galley door

Wigtown - Scotland's Book Town

Tuesday 11 September 2018

Nido’s parked up at a CMC CL at Newark Farm, just off the A76 near Sanquhar.  Despite the proximity to the road it’s a tranquil spot, with lovely views over the hills, which were clear when we arrived but have now disappeared due to torrential Scottish ‘sunshine’!  I picked this as a stopover on the way to Argyll, so tomorrow will be a bit of a transit day to get us into the Loch Lomond area.  

It rained and the wind blew for most of the night, reducing at about 0430.  I managed to get out first thing for some photos, before we drove back up the peninsula to Wigtown.  This is a small market town with twelve bookshops, some small and eclectic, others very large and with a variety of books.  Cathy was in her element and, I have to say, was very restrained, only visiting three of the bookshops - clearly we’ll need to return!  Next week from 21 - 30 September is the Wigtown Annual Book Festival, so perhaps we’ll come for that next year.  I plugged in the co-ordinates for the CL, which allowed us to drive through part of the Galloway Forest Park, making up 300 square miles and known as the ‘Highlands of the Lowlands’. It was the UK’s first Dark Sky Park, due to the very low population and therefore minimal artificial light.  We stopped at the Wild Goat Park car park for lunch; no goats were seen here although we did spot some just before we pulled in.  Moving on, the next pull-over was the The Red Deer Range, a purpose-built hide from which to view the red deer.  We went armed with cameras and binoculars, thinking we’d need to be patient and view them from a distance. However, the head stag had other ideas!  He was laying down right in front of the hide, with his harem and the younger stags about 50m behind him.  Clearly he’s used to people as a family came in and the young child fed him carrots.  Onwards, we were held up due to road resurfacing, but they eventually waved us through; I wish I’d found an alternative route as on arrival at the CL I found black tar splashed up most of the driver’s side of the van.  Luckily a good spray of WD40 on a cloth got rid of it, but it took an hour to get the job done.  By then the rain was coming over the hills, so we shut the van door and I prepared a pork curry for tonight’s dinner.  As we’re on electric hook-up, we’ll charge all the things and make the most of the opportunity of water top up to have a hot shower tomorrow morning.

Grey Mare's Tail waterfall

Any carrots?

Watching over his harem in the distance