Another trip to Scotland – short break in Newton Stewart (2)
In part 1 I mentioned that my wife and I have holidayed together many many times in Scotland as well as having travelled pretty extensively in Scotland on my own by motorbike (my most recent bike trip there was in August last year).
There are many places in Scotland that we are drawn to especially further up on the West Coast – but there are a couple of places that are not quite that far up that are firm favourites with us and they include the Galloway Forest Park and the Red Kite feeding station at Ballymack Farm.
Included in this post
Picture sets from Newton Stewart; the Red Kite feeding station at Ballymack Farm; Galloway Forest and the Isle of Bute. The final two picture set are a series of aerial drone pictures from Newton Stewart and the Isle of Bute.
Back through the Galloway Forest
I’ve been on a variety of motor bikes through the Galloway Forest many times and my wife and I have driven some of the same routes on a number of occasions. It really is a wonderful place and covers some 300 square miles and it’s an area I have never got bored with visiting. There’s plenty of information online about the forest and the Wikipedia entry is not a bad place to start
Our previous visit to Ballymack Farm was in September 2021 you can read more about the farm and see pictures from that trip at this link along with some ‘edited’ pictures from the 2021 trip here.
Picture gallery 1 – Newton Stewart
We had a brief wander into the small town of Newton Stewart, which is a small market town on the banks of the River Cree and about 25 miles or so from the coastal town of Stranraer.
Given its proximity to Galloway Forest it certainly feels like a decent place to base yourself if you enjoy walking or biking. There are pictures from the town centre in the following picture gallery.
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Picture Gallery 2 – Red Kites at Ballymack Farm
There’s a lot of pictures here from our visit to see the red kites at Ballymack Farm. This was our second visit to the farm and was a place we were really keen to return to and share with Andy.
It’s a genuine spectacle to see the kites gathering in advance of the 2pm feeding time and then to watch the feeding routine is just superb.
Good value
I can say for sure that it wont be the last time we visit and at just £7.50 per person we think it’s great value. The entry fee also directly helps to continue the important work that has been done at the farm with the kites over the last 20 or so years.
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Picture Gallery 3 – Galloway Forest
After we had left the red kite feeding station we headed for Newton Stewart and our accommodation at Woodbank.
Our route took us through the wonderful Galloway Forest and there are pictures from the forest in the gallery below.
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Picture Gallery 4 – macro photography at Woodbank
When we are away I often pack my macro lens (Sigma 105mm) it’s a decent bit of kit and pairs well with my EOS 90D.
Although I didn’t get to use it a great deal on this trip, I did have a wander around the garden at Woodbank and some of the images that I snapped are included in the picture gallery below.
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Picture Gallery 5 – Isle of Bute
We also found time to make the drive up to Wemyss Bay to take the ferry across to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
It’s another place my wife and I have been to a couple of times – check out this post from when we have stayed in Argyle & Bute (one of our favourite parts of Scotland) and also a place I have motorbiked in on other occasions.
Bute covers around 48 square miles but on this trip we didn’t get to see too much of it – one of our main reasons for going was so that Andy could experience the CalMac ferry
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Newton Stewart – aerial photographs
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Isle of Bute – aerial photographs
Clicking any of the images to open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
A really decent trip. Lovely photo’s.