Red Kites and coastal paths a great week in Galloway: Part 2

Morning in Newton Stewart

In Part 1 of this series of post I wrote about staying in Newton Stewart.

The town of Newton Stewart is in the Dumfries and Galloway area. We decided we would head out for the day, do some walking and check out areas and locations that were unknown and unfamiliar to us.

Peaceful start to the day

Our accommodation on the River Cree provided a peaceful and ideal start to the day. Fine views across the river, watching the swallows swoop and dive and looking for Sparlings leaping from the water was as good a start to a day as we could wish for.

After a short post breakfast walk we headed for Port William on the eastern shore of Luce Bay. Port Willian was just about 18 miles away and less than a 30 minute drive.

Click any image below (and in all picture sets) to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through.

Fine view from the river room

Accommodation circled

Bridge over the Cree

One of my favourite pictures from the trip

Ready for the day

Gull

Morning walk

Robin

River Cree

Sparling Bridge

St Johns parish church

Port William

Port William is an 18th century fishing village on the eastern shore of Luce Bay, a large bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland.

The origins of Port William go back as far as the late 1700’s and I gather that in the 17th and 18th centuries, smuggling was pretty commonplace in the Port William area.

It’s a small but pleasant place and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of wandering around small harbour areas like Port William – have a look at the pictures below.

Don't forget to take your photo with “The Man”, a bronze statue of a fisherman leaning on a railing gazing out to sea. The statue was created by award winning sculptor Andrew Brown from Stranraer and was to produce a sculpture to reflect the local people and their relationship with the local environment. Beside the statue is a sign reading “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare”.

Port William

Harbour life

Inshore rescue

Heading for St Ninians Cave

After Port William we headed for St Ninians Cave – about a 10 mile drive away and then a short and pleasant walk of around one and a half miles.

The story has it that the cave was a retreat of St. Ninian who was Scotland’s first saint. From the Middle Ages the cave has become a place of pilgrimage and is still an annual pilgrimage place for Christians.

Years ago during an excavation at the site beneath the caved roof there were a number of Christian symbols found. These included headstones and crosses from the 10th and 11th centuries.

The items that were found are now on display at a museum in Whithorn just a few miles away.

To be honest (an in my opinion), the cave itself looks more impressive from a distance. When you actually get to it there isn’t really a great deal to it – but it’s a fine walk, with great views and like so many places in this part of Scotland it’s wonderfully peaceful.

Heading for the cave

Decent walking area

Mr & Mrs

On the beach

Watch out

Whithorn and Wigtown

After walking to St Ninians cave we headed for a wander around the two small towns of Whithorn and Wigtown.

Both of them are pretty small and quiet places. Whithorn is closely linked with St Ninians cave and early Christian movements and you can read more about the town at this link. The town is known as the cradle of Christianity in Scotland and was the location of the first recorded Christian church in Scotland built by Saint Ninian.

Wigtown on the other hand was designated as Scotland’s national book town in 1998 … so as you might expect there are plenty of bookshops. It’s also home to an annual book festival. You can read more about Wigtown at this link.

Fine end to the day

We had enjoyed a decent day, seen new places, enjoyed the sunshine and done plenty of walking. We rounded the day off with a beer in the The Cree Inn, just across the bridge that was a few hundred yards from our property.

The Cree Inn

Hello

River Room

Mallards

Evening view

River Cree

Here’s the link to Part Three

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Tags: Galloway, Newton Stewart, Penrith, Scotland, St Ninian, Whithorn, Wigtown

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Red Kites and coastal paths a great week in Galloway: Part 2