Red Kites and coastal paths a great week in Galloway: Part 5

Raiders Road

This is the fifth and final part of the blog post following our latest trip to Scotland. If you missed earlier posts you can use this link to head to Part 1 and follow from there.

I’ve travelled through the Galloway Forest many times – either driving with my wife or on various motorbike trips and it really is a terrific place to drive.

I think on almost every occasion I have driven that way I have seen signs for ‘Raiders Road’ which has always intrigued me.

A little internet research led me to find out that there actually isn’t any evidence of raiders travelling down the road.

The name actually comes from a novel written back in 1894 called The Raiders. The story tells of cattle rustling in Galloway. As the route follows a similar landscape to that described in the book that’s apparently what inspired the name. So it’s either an example of literature leaving its mark on the map or a decent marketing idea!

What’s the road like … and a cautionary note

The road itself is a very scenic 10-mile forest drive. It’s actually a stony and rough gravel track that winds along the Black Water of Dee and past Stroan Loch. The road is only open to vehicles from April to October. If you are ever travelling that way I would say it’s worth a drive down.

But a cautionary note – we picked up two punctures in the space of a few miles. It’s a messy story and I won’t bother with the details other than to say we ended up ‘limping’ to Castle Douglas for two new tyres.

That journey of just a few miles took us an age as we had to repeatedly stop to inflate both front tyres.

Both tyres would have been close to replacement in any case but the road finished them off.

If you do head that way and your tyres are getting close to the wear limit you may want to think twice before heading down Raiders Road.

The scenery is pretty spectacular. Have a look at the images below (click any image to open a clickable/scrollable picture set)

Raiders Road

Castle Douglas

Castle Douglas was on our list of places to go and only about 30 miles from where we were staying. It’s where we were headed before we had the two punctures.

The town is an 18th-century market town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland.

It was named after its founder Sir William Douglas and is located next to Carlingwark Loch. It’s a freshwater loch with a number of islands, some of which are man-made dating back to prehistoric times.

Due to having new tyres fitted we spent a couple of hours more there than we otherwise would have. But we did enjoy walking around the town and making the most of the excellent weather.

Castle Douglas

Kipford

After leaving Castle Douglas we headed for Kipford which was another 10 miles or so from where we were. The village of Kipford is located on the estuary of the River Urr in south-west Scotland.

Kipford is yet another pretty place. It was a real pleasure to wander along the front and just enjoy the weather and scenery. It’s hard to describe, but there was almost a sort of old fashioned peacefulness to the place which just added to its charm.

Kipford

Rockhill

After leaving Kipford we headed just a few miles further on and took a walk to the beach at Rockcliffe.
Rockcliffe is yet another gem of a coastal village in Dumfries and Galloway. It’s located on the northern shore of the Solway Firth. It’s yet another place that sort of feels old fashioned and timeless. There are a few pictures from there in the picture set below

Rockhill

Dust from Raiders Road

Last full day …

By the time we had got to Thursday we had pretty much seen the things we wanted to see and been to the places we wanted to go. So on our last full day of this trip we decided we would head to Ayr – a seaside town about 40 miles away on the south-west coast of Scotland.

Ayr, Prestwick and Elvis

I’m not quite sure what happened but I don’t think we saw the best of Ayr.

To be honest what we saw was pretty underwhelming. Ayr just didn’t feel like a place where we wanted to spend much time. Since returning home I’ve done some back reading about Ayr and I have seen it described as an historic seaside town brimming with character.

What we saw seemed to be at odds with that description. We saw a town that looked to be struggling with shop closures, empty buildings, and with a general sense of decline.

It may well be we really didn’t see the best of Ayr but any which way we headed on for Prestwick just a few miles down the road and north of Ayr.

Although only a few miles from Ayr the contrast seemed huge.

Prestwick had the feel of a more vibrant coastal town and we quite enjoyed ambling up and down the high street and the promenade.

Interestingly it’s the only place in the UK where Elvis Presley is known to have set foot. He stopped there briefly in 1960 while serving in the U.S. Army.

Cross country

Our route back to Newton Stewart took us through some magnificent isolated and beautiful landscapes. Check out the picture set below.

Local Walking

Once back at our accommodation we headed back out on foot. This time we walked to the King George V suspension bridge. The bridge crosses the River Cree and was built over 100 years ago, back in 1911 to commemorate the Coronation of the King and Queen Mary.

Over the years, it has undergone significant refurbishments first in 1982 and then again in 2001. The refurbishments have meant the structure has been preserved and the bridge is still able to be used as a pedestrian crossing.

It provided very decent views of the river and is set in a pleasant grassed area in Douglas Park.

Craft beer & sunshine

After our walk to Douglas Park we headed back into Newton Stewart, and through to the end of the town for a beer in the The Black Horse – the first pub we had called in back at the start of this trip.