Seabiscuit and Beyond: Road Trip SW Scotland and Cat Sitting in Tideswell

Location: Tideswell, England

At the end of our pet sit with Poppy in Grindleford, we rented a car and went touring in the Lake District of England and Southwest Scotland. The map below shows our travel route.

Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, Scotland

Friday, February 16, 2024 - Grindleford to Levens, England: It was a beautiful morning when we started out on our last walk with Poppy, but raining by the time we got back to the house. Her family arrived home early afternoon. We said our goodbyes and set off on our road trip. Our first stop was at the Hare and Hounds in Levens, on the eastern edge of the Lake District. We arrived early afternoon, checked in, had a beer in the pub and a delicious meal in the restaurant.

Saturday, February 17, 2024 - Levens to Braithwaite, England: It was raining and foggy this morning. We had planned to do a hike overlooking Lake Windermere but we wouldn't have been able to see anything so we skipped it. Our first stop was Bowness Pier, where we planned to do a lake cruise, but it was too foggy and they weren't running any of the cruises. We walked around and had a coffee, then drove north through Windermere and into Ambleside, at the north end of the lake. We wandered around town and had lunch.

Church in Ambleside

From Ambleside, we drove north to The Coledale Inn, our hotel in Braithwaite. The pub was busy with wet hikers enjoying a warm fire and cold beers. We had a delicious supper at the hotel restaurant.

Sunday, February 18, 2024 - Braithwaite, England to Garlieston, Scotland: This morning we drove north and crossed the border into Scotland. For the next few days, our route was based on the southern and western portion of Scotland West Coastal 300 route. We drove through Dumfries and on to Kirkcudbright, a small artist town at the mouth of the River Dee (note: there are two rivers named Dee in Scotland. This one in the southwest that flows into the Atlantic Ocean and the more famous one on the east side of Scotland that flows into the North Sea). It was Sunday and the town was quiet. We walked along the river and through downtown.

The Welcome to Scotland sign on the M6

Crocuses in bloom at the Kirkcudbright town park

The bridge over the River Dee in Kirkcudbright

The castle ruins in Kirkcudbright

Our next stop was the Isle of Whithorn. We walked up to the lighthouse and wandered around the harbor area.

St. Ninian's Chapel, first built in the 1100s. The ruins seen here are from the chapel that was rebuilt in the 1300s.
Isle of Whithorm

The Isle of Whithorn harbor at low tide

B walking the cliffs near the Isle of Whithorn lighthouse

A different view of the Isle of Whithorn harbor at low tide

From Isle of Whithorn, we drove north on the east side of the peninsula to Garlieston and our hotel for the night, The Harbor Inn. The sun was shining and we took a walk around the Galloway House Gardens and back along the beach.

The Galloway House

A blooming rhododendron at the Galloway House Gardens

The beach at low tide, Garlieston, Scotland

Monday, February 19, 2024 - Garlieston to Girvan, Scotland: We woke up to another beautiful sunny day today. Our first stop was the lighthouse Mull of Galloway, Scotland's most southerly point.

Dave on the path to the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse

Mull of Galloway Lighthouse

After walking the paths around the lighthouse, we headed north back up the peninsula. The gulf stream flows near this part of the Scottish coast, sometimes called "The Scottish Riveria", but officially known as the Solway Coast. The weather here is typically milder than it is further north. Because of the mild weather, plants that don't typically grow in other parts of Scotland, do grow here. Logan Botanic Garden includes plants from Central and South American, southern Africa and Australiasia. The gardens are only open on Saturdays during the winter, but the gardeners were working so they opened the gates for visitors and we were allowed to wander around.

Two new born lambs. Because of the mild weather lambing season comes early in SW Scotland.

Dinosaur amongst the palm trees, Logan Gardens

Pheasants near Logan Gardens

Camillas in bloom at Logan Gardens

From the gardens, we drove to the town of Stranraer for lunch. From Stranraer, we drove along the coast to our B&B for the night, just north of Girvan.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 - Girvan to Kens Bridge, Scotland: After a delicious breakfast at the B&B, we drove north up the coast to Culzean Castle. The castle was closed, but the grounds were open and we enjoyed a nice hike through the walled garden and along the cliffs above the sea coast.

Dave sitting inside the onion in the Culzean Castle walled garden

Dave walking on the beach at Culzean Castle

B near a carving of otters on a trail through the woods at Culzean Castle

The dragon in the Swan Pond at Culzean Castle

The view of the Culzean Castle from inside the ruins of the arched gateway

Looking out through the ruins of the arched gateway

From the castle, we drove north to Ayr then turned southeast to follow the Galloway Tourist Route back towards Dumfries. We stopped for lunch in Dalmellington. It rained all afternoon so we checked into The Ken Bridge Hotel early and spent the afternoon unlaxing.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024 - Kens Bridge to Dumfries, Scotland: It was still raining when we left the hotel this morning. We drove along the Galloway Kite Trail and into the town of Dumfries. We spent some time in the Dumfries Museum learning about the history of the area. The rain finally took a break and we walked along the River Nith and had lunch downtown.

Bridge over the River Nith, Dumfries, Scotland

We checked in to the Mabie House Hotel mid-afternoon. It's a beautiful country house hotel, south of Dumfries and surrounded by forest, fields and hiking trails. We went out for an afternoon hike then had supper in the hotel dining room.

An owl carved into a tree stump in the Mabie Forest

Thursday we spent the day hiking the trails through the Mabie Forest.

B at the base of a redwood tree in the Mabie Forest

The view out to the sea from the hills of the Mabie Forest

A crocus carving in the Mabie Forest.

Friday, February 23, 2024 - Mabie House, Dumfries, Scotland to Tideswell, England: Today was the last day of our road trip and we turned south and headed back to England. We took a coffee break in Gretna Green, the first Scottish town north of the border with England. It became famous in the 1750s as a place where couples younger than 21 could get married without parental consent. Our next stop was Lowther Castle where we wandered the grounds and the castle ruins.

Lowther Castle, Penrith, Cumbria, England

We arrived in Tideswell late afternoon and settled in for our pet sit.

February 23, 2024 - present - Tideswell, England: Tideswell is a small village in the Peak District, surrounding by rolling hills and pasturelands. We are cat sitting Lottie and Monty, two older cats with lots of personality.

Lottie

Monty

We've been walking everyday and exploring the country side. We took a day trip to Buxton for lunch with a couple who pet sit, a trip to Castleton for tour of the Speedwell Cavern and a trip to Eyam to visit the plague museum.