We had tramped around Edinburgh and Glasgow and been over-awed by the highlands and islands. We had immersed ourselves in the history and culture of the east and learnt more about the industrial heritage of south than we ever thought possible. And somewhere along the journey we had fallen completely in love with Scotland. It was as though time had stood still whilst we soaked it all in, generally with our jaws on the floor and silly grins on our faces.
But now we had to admit that our time here was coming to an end. And we still didn’t know what was in store for us after we got back to England. BigMog’s gearbox as well as other, numerous but more minor, issues were standing in the way between us and the open road across Europe and into the east. So we were determined to eke out every last moment of our Scottish adventure whilst we could. We still had three castles, one loch and a national forest to get our teeth into so there was no time to lose.
We headed for Culzean Castle just a few miles along the coast from Ayr
A holiday home of the Earl of Cassillis, it’s real claim fame is the architect who transformed the original old castle into this opulent and striking masterpiece – Robert Adams
The inside of the castle was beautifully furnished and the rooms were enormous
Even the kitchen!
The Oval Staircase was apparently Robert Adams’ greatest achievement
The grounds were almost too much to get to grips with. We started by seeking out the old viaduct
Then went down towards the beach to find the gas house where we read a fascinating history of how gas came to this part of the world
Back up in the formal grounds was the summer house
And beyond that the huge walled gardens, apparently one of the largest and most innovative in Scotland
After a couple of hours of exploring, BigMog was calling yet again. We had remembered at the last minute that his MOT was due at the end of June so spent two hours in the car park trying to get him booked into somewhere in Durham for when we arrived back. It turns out not to be an easy thing to organise an MOT for a 7.5 tonne truck that’s actually a motorhome although not yet registered as one by the DVLA….
With our UniMog chores done for another day we set off towards the Galloway National Forest. It was quite late in the day by now though so we stopped off for the night on the side of a quiet country road
The views were lovely and there were very few cars passing
As the sun went down that evening we felt as though we were in the middle of nowhere again
I woke up the next morning feeling a bit queezy. As I started training it got worse and by the time I’d finished I had to admit that something was not right. A quick look on Google told me that I was either dying (as Google so often diagnoses!) or suffering from a mild ailment known as ‘benign paroxysmal positional vertigo’. I consulted with my sisters on Whatsapp and found that they both occasionally suffered from this form of vertigo and that it generally only lasts a couple of days.
Reassured but still very green, we set off to find Loch Doon, a small loch on the way to the Galloway Forest which is supposed to be a good place to relax and enjoy the countryside. We had decided to visit the castle that sits alongside the loch. However as soon as we set off I realised that I was not going to be able to make it anywhere in my current condition – driving in a UniMog is not compatible with vertigo.
So we made a detour to the town of Dalmellington where we stocked up on food and water and went to see a pharmacist. He told me there was no cure but agreed with my thought that seasickness tablets might help with the symptoms.
I was hugely relieved to find that they did. Twenty minutes after taking the first dose I could sit in the Mog without danger of my breakfast coming back and the rest of the day was far easier.
We had arrived at Loch Doon castle by early afternoon but by now it had started raining – it was not going to be my day today.
The castle is a place with an interesting history
And we spent a while climbing around it whilst the rain gently pattered down
We had had an idea that we would camp up for the rest of the day by the loch and head into the forest the following day, but unfortunately half of Scotland seemed to have had the same plan. The whole place was full of people, with tents pitched on every spare piece of ground. It looked a bit like a refugee camp with litter and bottles strewn everywhere.
The low, grey rain clouds were also making the loch and the countryside around it look rather gloomy. So we decided not to stay but to try and find somewhere a bit further down the road.
Easier said than done in this part of the country. The first place we tried was steeply sloped and when James got out to look for somewhere vaguely flat he discovered it was swarming with flies. He battled his way back into the Mog and we drove to the second spot. We couldn’t even get to that one as the road was too tight.
Just as we were beginning to think that our whole day was doomed I found there was a hotel with a small campsite on the side that was just up the road. It had very good reviews and wasn’t too expensive. I called and they said we were welcome to stay for the night. Very relieved we drove straight there and found a little oasis on the outskirts of New Galloway
It was so pretty and so peaceful that we got our table and chairs out for the third time on the trip and cooked our dinner outside, enjoying the sun that had finally come out
We made the most of being in a campsite the next morning and cleaned out our toilet and all our water tanks. We left feeling revitalised and my vertigo had gone completely.
Kenmure Castle was close by so we parked BigMog up in a layby in the woods and walked up to have a look
It was an interesting old ruin. At first glance it looked as though it was quite modern
But we met the farmer who rented the land around it and he said it actually dated back to the 17th century
He also told us that it had been a hotel as recently as the 1950s. It certainly had some intricate detailing on the doors and windows
But most of it was completely derelict with nature reclaiming its place
As we walked backdown the road towards BigMog we had to admit that his hide and seek prowess was now quite impressive!
We were right on the edge of the Galloway Forest where we planned to spend a few days absorbed in nature. Things didn’t start well however with the road to the Brennan viewpont being too narrow for us to get down and the car park at Mossdale having a 2.2m height restriction.
Both locations were on our list as they were supposed to be good for spotting Red Kites – so instead we headed straight for the Red Kite Centre, a very low key family run farm which has been given permission to feed wild Kites daily. Feeding time was 2pm but, with our morning plans scuppered, we arrived at midday. It was raining again with dark, heavy clouds hanging low in the sky. It did not bode well for Kite spotting.
After an hour amusing ourselves watching a short video about Kites and poking around in the craft shop, the heavens opened and torrential rain poured down. It was so heavy that all we could see out of the windows was a sheet of water.
The owners were very friendly and told us not to worry just yet, Scotland is famous for having all four seasons in one day. We chatted to them for a while and cuddled the kittens their cat had recently had – one of which I was sure wanted to be a travel cat when he grew up but James was dubious.
To our amazement, the rain only lasted half an hour and a few minutes before 2pm the clouds thinned out and we were able to go outside and wait for the feeding to get started.
The Kites already knew it was lunchtime, there were suddenly dozens of them circling the air above us
And very quickly, dozens became hundreds
The lady of the house went out with her bucket full of meat and was dive-bombed by the birds
She threw morsels over the grass then tipped the rest onto the nearest feeding table
For the next half an hour we were treated to a fabulous display of these magnificent birds of prey swooping and diving around us
As ever, photographing fast-moving birds proved challenging. My solution was to turn my camera onto the burst mode and take as many photos as I could hoping that at least some would come out
I took nearly 1,000 photos and was pleased to find that some of them were at least in focus…
Watching them swooping onto the table and grabbing the meat with their talons was incredible
And they left nothing on the ground either
After a wonderful hour or so of bird watching we headed off to the old car park of the now permanently closed Clatteringshaw Visitor’s Centre where we spent a peaceful night sorting out bird photos!
There was supposed to be a stone around here somewhere that was laid by Robert the Bruce but there was no clue as to where it was. We also hoped to drive around the Clatteringshaw loch but found the track width-restricted at the dam so we couldn’t get through.
Instead we drove to the start of the Raider’s Road in the hope that it was accessible. At first we weren’t optimistic as it looked overgrown with trees and bushes leaving little room for a UniMog to pass through unscathed. We were beginning to think that the whole Galloway Forest idea was going to turn into a dud. But we met a lady in a van coming from the other direction and asked her what the track was like, she assured us it was fine so we headed down it.
And we were so pleased that we had. It quickly widened out and was a beautiful drive
We stopped off at the Otters Pool and looked out over the view
Then carried on to the Loch Stroan Viaduct and had a wander around
In the end we made it all the way down and popped out the other end back onto the main road, pleased as punch.
We made a quick pit stop for food at nearby Castle Douglas then decided to go back down the Raiders Road to the viaduct and camp up in the middle of the forest for the night
Around 6pm we found ourselves literally surrounded by people and cars as a boating club descended on us but they were all gone by 8pm and the rest of the night was disturbed only by the rustling of the trees and occasional hooting of an owl.
The next morning we drove to the Kirroughtree Visitors Centre. James found a bike shop and bought a bell for his e-bike. He also discovered that the visitor’s centre was at the heart of the mountain bike trails through the forest. His eyes lit up
We took a short walk through the forest around Bruntis loch
Then nipped over to the town of Newton Stewart to buy apples, carrots and bananas. Only the bananas were for us, the rest were for later on in the day.
As you drive down the main road from Newton Stewart to Clatteringshaw there are two interesting things to see – the Wild Goat Park and the Red Deer Range. Both of these are fenced-off areas within the forest where visitors can hope to see wild goats or red deer and, if they come close enough, feed them.
The animals have free range over the hills and forest, it is the visitors who are fenced in! Of course there is no guarantee that you will see anything but we were used to that from our national park explorations across Africa. And sadly, when we arrived at the Wild Goat viewing area – carrots and apples in hand – there was nothing around.
We continued on to the Red Deer Range and chatted to a couple of ladies who had been waiting for an hour or so and seen nothing. As they drove away we were feeling a bit deflated but just as we were about to leave I caught movement out of the corner of my eye
We weren’t sure whether he had been sitting in the long grass the whole time or had managed somehow to creep down the hillside unnoticed but were excited to see a young stag heading our way
He gradually got closer and closer, carefully picking his way over the grassy hillocks towards us, ears flicking, on high alert
As he approached closer I held out an apple through the fence. His nose twitched
And before long he was out best friend and ate almost half the bag of carrots and most of the apples
James shot a very artist video of the feeding process!
Thrilled with our up-close deer experience we headed back to the visitor’s centre to stay for the night. We had come back here so that James could take advantage of the bike trails early the next morning. He was up before me setting up his bike and off he went whilst I started my training
This time he was gone a bit longer than at New Lanark and came back grinning from ear to ear having had the time of his life.
High on our successes we headed back to the Wild Goat Park and managed to see a small herd of goats way off in the distance in the hills. It was enough, at least we could say we saw them.
We then tried the Red Deer Range again and found to our delight that there was a small herd of females very close to us. Two of them approached and spent the next half an hour munching through the remains of our bags of carrots and apples
But it was all cupboard love, as soon as the bags were empty they wandered off back into the hills
And that was about it for the Galloway Forest, we had seen the Kites, the Goats and the Deer, James had taken full advantage of the bike trails and we had walked and driven the lochs and the trails. Next stop was Drumlanrig Castle before heading south to Dumfries
In a rare episode of bad planning, we arrived at the castle to find that whilst the beautiful gardens were open, the castle itself was closed. It turned out that tours are only on offer three days a week and those days did not include today. It had been a bit of detour to get there as well and it was supposed to have been a real highlight.
We wandered around the gardens which were lovely
And the house itself was very grand
But left disappointed and I was annoyed with myself for getting my planning so badly wrong.
We arrived in Dumfries an hour or so later and parked up in a spacious, safe but rather dismal and very noisy town centre car park. We treated ourselves to a nice meal in a lovely restaurant and settled in for the night.
There is not a lot for a tourist to do in Dumfries except that it is the town where Robert Burns lived and died. We saw his statue in the middle of town the next morning
Then walked in the rain to his mausoleum
The graveyard was impressive with huge tombstones rising out of every inch of ground
From there is was a short walk to the Robert Burns House, the small home where he lived with his family for the last few years of his life
There may well have been other things to do in the town but James had started to feel unwell and in fact this turned out to be the first day of a pretty grim man-flu that took both of us down for a couple of weeks. So we did a quick shop in Lidl and drove half an hour out of town to the Sweetheart Abbey, looked after by Historic Scotland.
The car park of the Abbey welcomes motorhomes to stay overnight and as soon as we pulled in relief swept over us. The views were lovely and the whole place was peaceful and calm – a world away from the hustle and bustle of the Dumfries car park.
The sky was blue and the sun was out but James was up for nothing but being tucked up in bed and sleeping, he looked so grey I was quite worried about him
With him safely asleep I wandered out and took advantage of the weather to see the Abbey
It was a beautiful place, full of history and atmosphere
I chatted to the Historic Scotland guide and found out all the stories behind the facades
I had hoped that James would be able to see the Abbey the next day but it was pouring down with rain when we woke up and he was still feeling grim. So instead we popped back into Dumfries to buy him some socks and continued on to our very last Scottish stop – Caelaverock Castle
This is another impressive ruin looked after by Historic Scotland and we had a great time clambering around it
There was even a short video of Tony Robinson telling the story of the seige that took place there hundreds of years ago
We drove up the road about a mile from the castle and found a small car park hidden away in the trees that was the perfect place to park up.
James was starting to feel worse again so we had an early dinner and went to bed. This was to be our last night together in the UniMog in Scotland. We had come to the end of the road, our journey was complete.
The next day I packed a bag with everything I could need for two weeks or more, not knowing really when I would next see James or BigMog. We set off away from our cosy car park and before we knew it we were across the border and back in England
We were heading for Carlisle and arrived in plenty of time for a quick celebratory lunch in a nice café before James walked me to the train station. We were early, there was no rush but we were both subdued. I had wanted to see Scotland for as long as I could remember and we had done it proud – our estimated three weeks had turned into three months and what a three months it had been. But now it was all over.
The train pulled in to the station, James and I kissed our goodbyes and he helped me and my baggage into the carriage. As I set off on the long journey back to Warwickshire and my Mum, he and BigMog headed east for Durham and Lewis’ workshop.
There was much to do, much to investigate, much to fix. BigMog had proved his worth on his maiden voyage but he was not yet ready to go any further. How long would it be and how much more cost and frustration would it take before our adventures could really start again in earnest?
Read on…
The Sidetracked Sagas 