Holidays Start Here [Home] > External Links
These links will take you to other relevant websites which we find interesting.
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History, Architecture, Archaeology
- Auchencairn community website, contains Hugh Paton's fascinating local history (the southern end of Gelston Castle Estate falls in the parish). On the site's right-hand menu bar, under Auchencairn History, click Hugh Paton's History. See especially the sections on Orchardton Tower and Ports, Excise & Smuggling (connections with Burns).
- Hestan Island: at low tide you can walk there from the estate (Almorness point). Exemplary wee site.
- A potted history of Castle Douglas (this page) - but the site as a whole is devoted to clan Douglas and has a mass of historical material on its entire history, very well organised: you can find the bloodstained history of the "Black Douglases" of Threave Castle, in fact something about nearly every Douglas in history.
- Whithorn: St Ninian, the archaeological dig, etc. A clear and sober presentation with all the essential information.
- More on Whithorn: a more wide-ranging site on the area, full of interest and well presented. Includes information on Gavin Maxwell (Ring of Bright Water), who grew up nearby at the House of Elrig.
Sports, Outdoor, Wildlife
- Galloway Activity Centre: sailing school on Loch Ken (formerly Galloway Sailing Centre), and LOTS more on offer.
- Loch Ken Waterski School
- 7 Stanes mountain bike trails, official site.
- More on the 7 Stanes and mountain biking in southern Scotland; independent site with handy sections on bike hire, cycle shops, skills coaching providers, etc.
- Fishing in Galloway (all kinds of). Superb site with all the information one could want, immaculately presented.
- Keith Kirk on local wildlife, great guide with loads of photos by one of the local Rangers, incl. good wildlife sites and walks.
- Wild Seasons: fantastic website on wildlife in D&G, including details of the annual Spring wildlife festival - a packed programme of events in April & May.
- D&G Environmental Resources Centre: this is the local wildlife records centre, providing access to high quality wildlife and habitat information. A serious but accessible site with important news items for keen naturalists.
- Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserves: an invaluable guide to the 9 reserves in Dumfries & Galloway, with just the right balance between technical information and accessibility to those without any specialised knowledge.
- Galloway Wildlife Park near Kirkcudbright: essentially a small zoo with an interesting and wide-ranging collection, mixing Scottish wildlife with many much more exotic species. A very worthwhile outing.
Culture & the Arts
Including crafts, music, books, Robert Burns, cinema, gardens.
- Lockerbie Jazz Festival: usually end of Sept. Programme details should be on the site by the summer. Always some top-flight players, with up-and-coming young talent. All at a fraction of the price of Ronnie Scott's!
- Fullarton Theatre, Castle Douglas: not only some highly enjoyable popular theatre, with a slight emphasis on comedy, but also a frequently superb and eclectic music programme with particular strength in traditional/folk, jazz, and indefinable crossover genres, plus some good pop/rock. A gem of a theatre, an intimate space created out of a church, with steeply raked seating, and professionally kitted out with all the proper gear. The website shows the programme several months ahead.
- CatStrand, New Galloway: another multi-use arts venue featuring theatre, music, comedy, storytelling, workshops, exhibitions, films.
- The Whitehouse Gallery, Kirkcudbright
- Kirkcudbright, Artists' Town
- Artists' Footsteps, excellent website project that sets out to be a comprehensive resource on paintings of Dumfries & Galloway subjects by [dead] artists of any repute, together with information on each artist. The database is flexibly searchable, e.g. it allows listing by artist, by location of subject, by gallery/location of picture, etc. Project still in progress.
- Wigtown Book Town and Book Festival (last week Sept - first week Oct).
- Spring Fling open studios, last weekend May. Nearly all the region's many artists, crafts people and galleries.
- Robert Burns local history - see also Auchencairn website under History above.
- The Globe Inn, Dumfries, favourite haunt of Burns: great website full of information. The pub itself is a must-visit too.
- Dumfries & Galloway Council Museums Guide, has links for Robert Burns Centre and Burns' House in Dumfries, inter alia.
- Burns Heritage Park at Alloway, Ayrshire (1 hour from Gelston).
- Outstanding "art-house" cinema in the Robert Burns Centre, Dumfries (the film theatre is totally independent of Burns!). Intimate space, first class equipment, eclectic programme including foreign and independent films, documentaries, animation and short films, alongside the best of the mainstream.
Food & Drink
Local Photographers
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