Galloway Again.

Last week I took the children to visit the grandparents for a few days. They stay in the south west of Scotland and there are lots of very nice places to visit in the area roundabout.

Rabbit watching on the way to the play park.

 Boing!

Clematis in my Mum's garden.

Another clematis (she has loads in her small garden).

N caught a small white butterfly.

Now to our first outing. Making good use of our Historic Scotland membership we decide to visit Caerlaverock Castle. The castle dates from the 1300's and it has a turbulent history due to its proximity to the border with England.

Archway and estate cottages.

Front view of cottages.

Heading towards the castle.

Inside.

 Tower.

View looking up through the tower.

Fireplace remains.

Carving detail.

 It's possible to walk right round the castle and its moat.

 The views are wonderful.

 Gorgeous sky.

On the way back we stopped at Glencaple - a tiny village which used to be a busy trading post, hard to imagine nowadays. There are lovely views from the village.

We enjoyed watching the cows going for a paddle across the river.

Landlocked boat. Looking closely at one of the wires you can see...

 ...swallows! We have so few swallows where we live, it was a pleasure to see them.

It would appear the boat is inhabited.

 The children thought the hill looked like a dragon's lair with the clouds above being the smoke from the dragon's fiery breath.

The afternoon was spent buying school shoes and the requisite navy school pinafore. Above is a nice detail from one of the boarded up shops in the town.

Next morning it rained. We decided to go to a paint your own pot cafe. Hmmm, rather expensive for what its is, but the children are pleased with their pots. This crazy cow was brightening up the cafe car park.

The back to a few photos I took of yet more clematis (and an osteospermum) in my Mum's garden. It's what I do if I feel I'm starting to get a little bored!

Now to our last day. We'd planned to leave after lunch, however, the weather was so lovely we decided to have another trip before leaving the area. We took a little detour to New Abbey. There are two Historic Scotland properties here: Sweetheart Abbey and the Corn Mill. 

Sweetheart Abbey was founded in 1273 by Lady Dervorgilla of Galloway in memory of her husband John Balliol.

When she died she was laid to rest next to her husband’s embalmed heart and the monks named their abbey in memory of her.

Some local boys had climbed through the fence for a sneaky visit while we were there. 

A curious cow grazing next to the abbey.

 We then walked through the village towards the corn mill. We were in time for the 3 o'clock tour.

Here the water is just starting to trickle from the mill pond to power the water wheel.

Cart outside the corn mill.

New Abbey is a very attractive little village.

 There are many trim, white washed cottages.

It's not great for wandering about in though as it's on a fairly busy road and the pavements (where there are any!) are very narrow.

A last look at the view from the car park before heading home.

Now there's only one more whole week of the summer holidays left. Eek!