“It’s a moderate walk and should take us an hour and a half,” Dougie announced to me, as I was happily scoffing toast and lounging about in our gorgeous holiday home, Shingle Lodge. I
Graduation road trip: Shingle Lodge at Knockinaam Lodge hotel
“We rumbled slowly into a land of little wooded glens and then to a great wide moorland place, gleaming with lochs, with high blue hills showing northwards.” John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps. Buchan’s thrilling novel, with
Going for a walk in Bear Grylls’ trousers
After traipsing around Snowdonia last Spring in either jeans or shorts, my man decided he needed a proper pair of walking trousers for our late summer trip to Scotland. Something more practical and waterproof was
Culzean castle and Country Park
While we were staying in Dumfries and Galloway at the beginning of September, we couldn’t resist taking a drive up the coast to Ayrshire to see Culzean Castle and Country Park. The drive itself was
Kelpies and kirkyards in Kirkcudbright
I have always struggled with the pronunciation of Scottish place names. Dougie hoots with laughter when I read names from the map phonetically. Who knew that Milngavie is pronounced ‘mil-guy’ rather than ‘mill-un-gav-ee’? Likewise the lovely
Douglas comes home to Threave Castle
Earlier this year readers of the BBC’s Countryfile magazine voted Dumfries and Galloway the ‘Holiday Destination of the Year’ award. You can’t have a more resounding recommendation than an accolade from such a trusted, wonderfully
Wigtown: Scotland’s National Book Town
Book towns were established in 1961 by book dealer Richard Booth from Hay-on-Wye. Whilst this one is the biggie in the UK there is a smaller book town in the village of Sedbergh in the Yorkshire Dales.
A room with a view at the Balcary Bay Hotel
Each of the independent hotels we chose from the Luxury Galloway website has a unique selling point. It hardly seems appropriate to stamp these beautiful, esteemed establishments with such a modern term as a USP but