Scottish New Year Part 2
Welcome to part 2 of my travels around Scotland during New Year. We start at the artists town of Kirkcudbright (pronounced Kir-coo-bree).
This has been a thriving community of artists predominantly between 1850 and 1950, It is said that it was the quality of the light that brought painters to Kirkcudbright. However, there can be no doubt that a strong attraction would also have been being part of a close-knit colony of artists, all working together at the pursuit they all lived for. That’s also hinted at, from one of the pieces of prose I discovered on the door of these colourful sheds.
Even in the local knitwear shop, there’s a keen eye for colour, texture and display. The town has some fabulous buildings and views.
A second day we met up with more friends for a stroll around some beautiful countryside at Glentrool Visitor Centre near Newton Stewart.
I loved photographing all these woodland wonders.
Not sure little Ruaridh at the front is that happy about Boo being too near lol.
A cold but beautiful setting, and I’d really recommend the food made by the friendly staff in the visitor centre, well worth a visit… even Boo agreed!
On the return journey we stopped off at Wigtown, which was officially designated as Scotland’s National Book Town in 1998 and is now home to a wide range of book-related businesses. Some bookshops weren’t yet open (it was just the 3rd January), but I had tempting glances of hidden away gems and at least 5 were open that I could wander around and be happy to loose myself in.
I loved the work of Astrid Jaekel as I bought a few of her postcards and then discovered how she had covered some of the shops in Wigtown for their Book Festival, click the link for some images.
On the way back to Manchester we side stepped the services for a visit to Shap and discovered this quirky and beautiful Greyhound Hotel.
Great welcome and tasty food will make it a firm favourite for future stop offs.
We also headed for a quick walk to find the remains of Shap Abbey and found this stunning bridge. Sorry no prizes in our ‘Spot the Boo’ competition.
A bit of a stormy grey day but still with atmosphere.
A great NY holiday break. Boo certainly enjoyed her long walks and lazy chilled out evenings, as did I. If this isn’t a contended dog photo then I don’t know what is. Hope you enjoyed coming along on my travels too. How did you spend your festive break ?
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All these photos and no comments?? Of course, I’m here a few months late, but what a great visit you had. A truly beautiful area.
Lol I must attract such a shy following Joy lol
It was… thanks Joy