Terally Bay and Port Logan, Galloway Holiday 2023

 

Eventually, I've gotten around to sharing the final post from our 2023 camping trip! If you want to know more, check out the posts below, otherwise enjoy the photos :) 

2023 Holiday Posts:
North Rhinns Camping, Stranraer 2023
Portpatrick, Galloway Holiday 2023 // Part 1
Portpatrick, Galloway Holiday 2023 // Part 2

2022 Holiday Posts:
Bruce's Stone, Loch Trool
North Rhinns Camping, Stranraer
Mull of Galloway - Part 1
Mull of Galloway - Part 2
Swimming at Terally Bay Beach, Rhinns of Galloway
Kirkmadrine Chapel and Stones
 Tor of Craigoch

This year, Mr H joined Baker and me swimming at Terally Bay Beach! I stupidly didn't think to check the tide times, so when we got there, it was high tide. That wouldn't usually matter when going swimming, but this beach is a pebble (not sand) beach, so it was difficult to get footing entering the sea, and it got too deep by the time the sand was below. Still, we had a quick swim, did some wildlife watching and then spotted the Gannets while we got dressed before heading to our next stop.

What a gem of a place we ended up going to explore! Originally we had planned to revisit Mull of Galloway Lighthouse however before leaving the beach we had a quick search online and decided to give Port Logan a shot. It turned out to be the best part of our whole holiday - very quiet, beautiful and there were plenty of birds haha. 
I've never understood the worldwide reputation the UK and Scotland, in particular, have for apparently 'always raining'...just look at that glorious sun!

A stone pier with a circular lighthouse tower, Port Logan harbour dates back to 1818 thanks to a Colonel Andrew McDouall. Although abandoned, the tower is still in great condition. It was really cool to be able to go inside and enjoy the view from it too as many other abandoned places you are discouraged from exploring. I've tried to find more information online about Port Logan and its history but my fuzzy brain is struggling right now, but I can say I highly recommend a visit to this quaint little village!

Make sure to check out the previous posts from out 2023 holiday and keep an eye out for our 2024 trip post coming soon.

Portpatrick, Galloway Holiday 2023 // Part 1

 

June 2023, Mr H and I took our little man Baker on his second camping holiday to Dumfries and Galloway. On the second morning of our trip, we drove over to Portpatrick nice and early armed with the Treasure Trails Treasure Quest booklet to explore the area. As always, I took a whole host of photos so I've split this post into two parts, see below for the start of our adventure...

On the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway, Portpatrick was a 20-minute drive/8 miles from our campground North Rhinns Camping, Stranraer. It is an old fishing village boasting a beautiful harbour, ruins of St Patrick's Chapel (shown in part 2) and is a half-mile walk from Dunskey Castle which we visited from the opposite side the previous year. We had hoped to do the walk up to the Castle this year, however contrary to what the photos show, the day began to turn extremely hot and we returned to the aircon of the car for the sake of Baker more than anything. 

I'm a big fan of Treasure Trails and have done many over the past 10 years. I find that whether visiting a new place or your hometown it helps you to discover hidden gems, learn facts and makes a fun structure to your day. We did complete this one, but I haven't shared anything except photos of some of the areas included so no major spoilers if you fancy doing it one day!

This year, 2024, the RNLI are celebrating 200 years of lifesaving. I don't know about people who live in-land, but as someone who grew up in a coastal town, the RNLI has always been well-known and important to me. As stated on their website, ''For almost 150 years an all-weather lifeboat has operated from Portpatrick's picturesque harbour. The crews have been honoured with five awards for gallantry, including a Bronze Medal for a launch to one of the worst peacetime disasters involving a British merchant vessel.'' It is well seen in Portpatrick how appreciated and central to the village the Lifeboat Station is and if you're interested in more of their history and medal records I recommend popping over to > Portpatrick's station history | RNLI. 

Something personal to me is that Portpatrick was the first place I ever saw Black Guillemots! Being the bird obsessor that I am, that's a special thing to me. I'll share more on our day in the part 2 post. 
Until next time...


2023 Holiday Posts:
North Rhinns Camping, Stranraer 2023

2022 Holiday Posts:

Bruce's Stone, Loch Trool

North Rhinns Camping, Stranraer

Mull of Galloway - Part 1

Mull of Galloway - Part 2

Swimming at Terally Bay Beach, Rhinns of Galloway

Kirkmadrine Chapel and Stones

Tor of Craigoch