Southern Upland Way: Glenwhan Moor

Monday 22nd May 2023

After two nights in Stranraer at the Aird Donald Caravan Park, I broke camp and caught a bus to Castle Kennedy which was where I had reached on the Southern Upland Way the day before. Now I was beginning a long stretch on the trail with little sign of habitation and no shops for fifty miles, so with my rucksack heavily laden I set off from Castle Kennedy along the lane that leads to the gardens. I didn’t have time to look around them but I still had a pleasurable walk along the drive which was lined with bluebells, wild garlic and many other delightful woodland flowers while rhododendron decorated the scene beyond and made me reluctant to leave. All too soon I emerged onto a minor road and after a short time I took a track that slowly climbed and afforded me with views over gorse bushes back towards the Rhins of Galloway that I had crossed the day before. It was a lovely sunny day with a brisk wind that I felt fortunate to be enjoying after a cold, wet spring that had severely affected my holiday at Easter. After another short spell along a road I turned off onto an access track that led me into Glenwhan Moor conifer plantation, but the Southern Upland Way fortunately just skirts the edge between the outer wall and the conifers, so I was able to have an enjoyable walk, though my mind was on something else. Hidden along the whole length of the trail are thirteen sculptured kists and on my first day I had found the minted coin hidden inside the first kist on Broad Moor, and I knew that the second kist was on Glenwhan Moor so I kept my eyes peeled for anything unnatural that might possibly contain hidden treasure.

Even though I didn’t find anything for a long time I still had a lovely walk on a dry path in the sunshine with the hills of Galloway in the distance that promised future delights while colourful wild flowers, notably bugle, lay at my feet. If more of the Southern Upland Way was like this path then I would be very happy, but I was sure it would not. Eventually I came across the kist, marked as usual beforehand by the word “ultreia” on the preceding trail post, and it was hard to miss as it was clearly labelled beside a clootie tree where strips of cloth or rag are tied for some Celtic custom. I ignored all this and picked out a coin before continuing along the path into the conifer plantation, soon descending under dark conifers with wood sorrel decorating the floor to cross the Craig Burn. Beyond the burn the deciduous woodland floor was covered in bluebells and stitchworts that followed me beside the path through Airyolland Wood until I crossed the railway line and descended to the Water of Luce, my first big river on the trail. After a climb to a road I took to an arrow straight track that led me across Kilhern Moor while dozens of wind turbines could be seen across the hills ahead of me.

At one point I came across an adder that was basking in the sunshine on the path, so I carefully went around it before continuing along the trail. At Kilhern, the moorland scenery was replaced by farmland and I turned into the cold wind to follow a track to a road where I turned right up the valley beside the Cross Water of Luce slowly climbing towards the wind turbines. Eventually I surpassed the previous highest point on the trail so far, on Broad Moor, and continued to climb while my rucksack began to feel heavy on my back despite having felt surprisingly light when I first put it on my back at the beginning of the day as the monotonous climb and sunshine drained me of energy. Soon after the gradient finally eased I entered a vast conifer plantation that was littered with tall wind turbines and after an initial boggy stretch the path improved and I reached a forestry track that provided me with easy walking to take me to the Beehive Bothy at Laggangarn. This would have an awesome place to spend the night, but it was only three o’clock and I felt it was far too early to stop. If the weather was bad or I was not feeling great, then I would have stopped at this time, but neither of those were the case so I pushed on past some standing stones and down to the Tarf Water.

From there I started to climb again along a path that was enlivened by wood sorrel, bluebells, bugle and buttercups, which encouraged me to keep going until I reached a cairn at Craig-dhu where the hills of Galloway, including the highest point, Merrick, could be seen above the trees. Even though I would not be climbing those hills on this holiday it was still great to see them and they almost made me ignore the extensive conifer plantation and wind farm that lay in the way. More climbing through the conifers and past wind turbines brought me to my new highest point on the trail so far at the top of Craigaire Fell, 320 metres above sea level, where a trig point marked the summit and I had extensive views in all directions. The path beyond led me steeply down the hill onto a forestry track and alongside the edge of a moor that tops on Craigmoddie Fell where I had considered camping but it was still rather early and I didn’t want to stop so I kept going onto a road that provided me with frustratingly no opportunities to camp. By five o’clock I finally wanted to stop but there was nowhere to camp. Eventually, with the time approaching six o’clock, I reached Waterside holiday cottage where a sign indicated that I could refill my water bottle, which I eagerly took advantage of, and, now desperate to stop, I soon found somewhere to put up my tent, beside some felled conifers, despite the ground being rather tussoky.

This was my first proper day on the Southern Upland Way, now carrying all my gear, and I saw a lot of variation. There were some great sections of the trail where I saw some fabulous wild flowers like at Castle Kennedy Gardens and along the excellent footpath beside Glenwhan Moor or through the bluebells in Airyolland Wood, but other sections saw prolonged road walking which was not fun. I had loved the idea of not knowing where I was going to camp on this trail and having the freedom to just put up my tent wherever I reached at the end of the day, but in practice it is not as easy as that, although in the end the proximity of the outside watertap at Waterside was a great benefit to where I eventually stopped.

Southern Upland Way: Broad Moor

Sunday 21st May 2023

After my original plans for this day fell through and I had to hastily find a replacement, I considered resuming my walk along the Dales High Way which I had abandoned at Easter, but in the end I decided to go with a walk that I had planned to do later in the year along the Southern Upland Way. This is a coast to coast long distance trail than runs from the south west of Scotland across the hills between Glasgow and the English border all the way to the North Sea and covers an area that I had never done any walking in before. I have been coming to Scotland for a walking holiday every year for almost twenty years but I have previously always gone straight past the Southern Uplands and into the Highlands. Now, when I my train dropped me off in Glasgow, instead of catching a train north towards Fort William or Inverness, I caught one that was heading south and eventually I got off the train in Stranraer. This used to be an important ferry terminal, but now the ferries to Ireland leave from Cairnryan further up the coast which has left Stranraer as a quiet backwater. The railway station is still beside the old ferry terminal at the end of the pier, but there is nothing else there now.

After a night spent at the Aird Donald Caravan Park, I caught a bus to Portpatrick, on the west coast, where the Southern Upland Way starts. Rather than immediately setting off along the trail, I had a look around, walking around to the old lighthouse before circling around the harbour and past the modern lifeboat station. My map indicated that the Southern Upland Way starts from the northern tip of the harbour but an information board nearby revealed that the trail starts from the end of the pier. So, I made my way past the harbour buildings and onto the rocks at the end of the pier which were liberally decorated with sea pinks and bird’s foot trefoil. This was a wonderful place to explore and I was glad that the board had directed me in that direction. Nearby was a signpost that proudly directed the Southern Upland Way back down the pier, so I set off along the trail and up beside the coast. Wildflowers proliferated including gorse beside a golf club while at Port Mora I found red campion and bluebells which enlivened the scenery despite low cloud.

The exit from Port Kate was hidden behind a large rock and only became clear on closer examination involving a steep climb back out of the cove and onto the grassland of Ouchtriemakain Moor where a large lighthouse ahead of me marked the point where I would start to turn inland. I had mixed feelings about this as I was enjoying the stunning coastline but you can’t cross Scotland to the east coast by walking north up the coast. At Killantringan Lighthouse I joined a road and followed it up the hill, steadily climbing away from the coast and into potentially dreary countryside, mostly farmland, however, I just used the opportunity to relax and begin to unwind from the stresses of work as there is no better place to recover than on a good walk and I was looking forward to all that was ahead of me on the Southern Upland Way. Eventually I came off the road and found a sign that announces the presence of hidden treasures along the Southern Upland Way in sculptured kists. The word “ultreia” on a marker post just before I entered Broad Moor revealed that soon I would find one of these kists so as I made my way along the path I kept my eyes peeled for the hoard. Rather than relaxing I was looking for the kist and eventually I did find it and the specially minted coins inside.

I was happy to find my first kist and was accepting of the fact that I would probably not be able to find all thirteen along the trail. After pocketing just one coin I continued along the path through the moor where, although the heather was not at its best, the bilberry provided some welcome colour with its fresh growth. At the far end of the moor, beside Knockquhassen Reservoir, I joined another road and followed it for a prolonged spell, over a low hill and around Stranraer with views towards Loch Ryan beyond. Despite the tedium of the road surface, my walk was enlivened by many wildflowers that decorated the verge including bluebells, stitchwort and red campion. The road walking eventually brought me to a wood that was beautifully decorated with wild garlic and swathes of bluebells. While taking in the gorgeous displays I started to have a sneaking suspicion that I had strayed off the Southern Upland Way and this was confirmed when the outskirts of Stranraer came into view so I hastily I retraced my steps past the bluebells that I shouldn’t have seen and found the junction that I had missed where I now turned to follow the much narrower path through more woodland and past more bluebells until eventually I reached the village of Castle Kennedy.

This marks the end of the first stage of the Southern Upland Way, but I couldn’t leave without a brief wander through Castle Kennedy Gardens, although I didn’t go far and after gazing across the waters of White Loch I took a path through Douglas Wood and Macgill Wood until I could go no further and I emerged onto the main road. This was a good introduction to the Southern Upland Way that eased me gently into the trail, a relaxing first stage with a lot of road walking and no hills. The highlights were the fabulous coastline and the many wild flowers, especially bluebells, so it was a pity I didn’t have better weather. The sun finally began to break through the cloud towards the end of the walk so I able to spend a pleasant evening in Stranraer after an easy day before the really strenuous walking would begin the next day.