Views of Galloway - 1

Setting the Scene

In many ways, Dumfries and Galloway resembles England's Devon and Cornwall, or Wales's Powys and Dyfed. There are cattle-filled fields of rich grass, contrasting with bare moorlands with sheep and wild birds. Unlike Cornwall, but like Powys, Dumfries and Galloway has a vast acreage of trees, both natural deciduous and commercial conifers. Like Powys, it is home to some of the finest hawks and owls in Britain, and has excellent nature reserves. The wild Barnacle Geese come annually to feed at the reserves in the Solway marshlands, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds together protecting this valuable natural and tourist asset. Birds are just one attraction on the largely unspoilt coastline of Dumfries and Galloway; the region is surrounded on two sides by the sea, which was the 'road' at a time when the inland mosses and wastes barred easy travel.

Dalbeattie Forest	Carstramon Woods	Southwick Nature Reserve	Sandyhills Bay	Cree Estuary

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The handful of small towns cluster in the valleys near the coast. The area is about 116 miles long, by a maximum of 45 miles wide, but holds only a population of 148,000 permanent residents. 37,000 are in the regional capital of Dumfries and about 13,000 in the ferry port of Stranraer. The remainder are scattered in a handful of small towns such as Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas, Newton Stewart, Lockerbie, Langholm, Moffat and Annan, or live in the villages and farms.

Dumfries	Dalbeattie	Kirkcudbright	Castle Douglas	Stranraer

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Dalbeattie Internet is run for pleasure and profit by . Views of Galloway started 12th March 1998, last updated 26th February 1999.