A Scottish Journey (Part 1) - Overview, Stranraer, Loch Ryan and Mull of Galloway

OVERVIEW

As many of you know, I (David) went to Scotland on business in October 2011. While I worked much of the time I was able to see some of the sights in the surrounding area. The following are a few photos (of the 2600 that I took during the two weeks I was there) highlighting what I was able to see. Most of the time the weather was poor (overcast, rainy, windy) so the photos aren’t great. But I had fun seeing a country I had never been to before and exploring new things (often in the rain).

I spent my time in the extreme southwestern portion of Scotland in the region referred to as Dumfries and Galloway. I stayed in a town named Stranraer (pronounced Stran-raw). It is situated on the southern end of Loch Ryan and currently is the ferryport for the ferry to Belfast and other locations. Before this trip I thought a loch was like a lake, and it is, but it can also be a bay. Loch Ryan is a body of water that is salty and opens into the Irish Sea.

The area around Stranraer is mostly rural farmlands. Some areas reminded me of Pennsylvania. There were a lot of rolling hills in this area. I was hoping to get to the northern part of the country to see the Scottish highlands, but the weather did not cooperate. So all of my travels were in the southwestern portion of the country.

This is a map that shows the area in which I worked and traveled during most of my stay in Scotland.

STRANRAER, SCOTLAND

This is a panorama of a portion of the town of Stranraer at the south end of Loch Ryan. The large, white building slightly left of center is the hotel where I stayed. It is named the Northwest Castle, not to be confused with the Castle of St. John which is also in Stranraer and is the tall structure near the right edge of the photo.

This is a nighttime shot of one of the narrow streets of Stranraer near the town center. A car’s headlights made the double white streaks.

Stranraer is a harbor town and has many fishing boats and pleasure craft. This is a shot of a few of the well-used, but colorful fishing boats in the harbor.

Our hotel had a curling facility attached. Supposedly this was the first hotel in the world to have one. As a part of a national initiative to encourage interest in curling they were offering free curling lessons. My co-worker and I were able to attend two sessions. It was tricky, but a lot of fun.

My co-worker, Travis, took this shot just after I pushed off the “hack” (the black foot block behind me) in the process of “throwing” a stone. There is a special Teflon foot slide that we slid on to throw a stone. The experts have special shoes. The handle on the stone is used to rotate or “curl” it to make it go where intended.

LOCH RYAN AND MULL OF GALLOWAY

This panorama is of Loch Ryan. The town of Stranraer is to the right, behind the ferry. Loch Ryan is enclosed by land except for an opening on the north end. This opens onto the Irish Sea. This opening can be seen toward the left-center of the photo at the break in the hills.

This is a ferry heading south in Loch Ryan (toward Stranraer). Together this shower out over the Loch and one of the few times when the sun was visible converged to produce the intense rainbow. At least the orange and blue that I can see are intense. I assume the other colors are intense also. : )

This photo was taken from the west side of Loch Ryan looking across to the hills on the east side.

This was a typical countryside scene in the south-west portion of Scotland. There is a lot of green grass and there are a lot of stone walls separating fields.

There were some cattle and lots of sheep in the area of Scotland in which I worked and traveled. The body of water in the distance is the Irish Sea and the large granite outcropping in the water is Ailsa Craig. The granite from this is used to produce curling stones.

This is a coastal scene on the “Mull of Galloway”. This is the peninsula on the extreme south-west end of Scotland. This was shot on the way to the Mull of Galloway lighthouse.

This Scottish bovine managed to impede my progress down the single lane road on the way to the Mull of Galloway lighthouse. Apparently he can’t “read” the sign.

As mentioned previously I worked in a rural/farming area. We passed by this farm on the way to work every day. It seemed funny to have a stereotypical red British phone booth out in the country (one of the few that I saw in my travels).