GCS Programme for 2025
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AGM and Newton Stewart Museum Visit
April 3rd
Lunch in Newton Stewart at 1pm (Creebridge House Hotel) followed by the AGM at the hotel at 1.45pm, and conversations afterwards in the Newton Stewart Museum at c.2.30pm, on the subject of “Remembering Helen Drew”. Tea will be available at the Museum..
Those wishing to attend the lunch and AGM are advised to pre-order their lunch, via the Chairperson’s email: a.buckoke1952@btinternet.com. The pre-order will be sent to the Hotel about 7 days before the event. The main menu items would be Haddock and Chips, Steak Pie and Mash, or Soup and Sandwiches. A fuller menu can be sent via the email above, for those who wish to be more discriminating.
Organiser: Various.
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Visit to Kidsdale Farm, Whithorn
Thursday May 15th, 2pm
Farm Visit to Kidsdale Farm, Whithorn. This is mainly an arable farm, and the Farmer has agreed to show us around the farm and the various facets of agriculture that are engaged in. All access will be by car on farm roads, with no significant walking involved. There is a possible option to meet at the Steam Packet Inn at the Isle of Whithorn for lunch at 1pm, to be followed by the farm visit at 2pm, meeting at the St Ninian’s Cave Beach car park (St Ninian’s Cave is signposted on the Monreith to Isle of Whithorn road, past the Whithorn turn off at Glasserton). For those interested, there would be an option to walk down to the atmospheric St Ninian’s Cave Beach after the farm visit.
Organiser: Alistair Buckoke
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Visit to Rainton Farm, Gatehouse of Fleet
Rescheduled to Thursday 31st July, 2pm
Afternoon farm visit to Rainton Farm, Gatehouse. This is a dairy farm, run along traditional lines, and the visit is an opportunity to learn about dairy farm practice and something about the future of this farming sector, in contrast to the arable context of the Kidsdale Farm visit. Tea would be offered.
Directions: Travelling East on the Gatehouse bypass turn right onto the Sandgreen road and then left after a couple of miles, heading towards the former Cream o’Galloway. Travelling west (on the A75) turn left onto the Sandgreen road and then left again. GCS signs will be put up at the farm road end.Organiser: Alistair Buckoke
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Visit to New Abbey Corn Mill and Sweetheart Abbey
Thursday 3rd July, 1pm
Visit to New Abbey Corn Mill and Sweetheart Abbey, meeting at 1pm for lunch at the Sweetheart Abbey Cafe. This event may depend on what is available at these venues on the dates suggested. For those interested, a walk in Shambellie Woods afterwards would be an option.
Details to be confirmed in due course.
Organiser: Various
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Boat Trip to Ailsa Craig
Thursday August 7th, cancelled
Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the proposed boat trip to Ailsa Craig has been cancelled this year. This would set out from Girvan harbour at c.10.00am, and the aim was to get out to the Craig, land on the island, and have a picnic lunch there. The visit could have included a walk to the top of the Craig, and a possible visit to the curling stone quarry area.
This can be a magical trip, but is dependent on the weather and on the availability of a suitable vessel.
The encouraging response to the planned trip suggests that we should try to offer it again next year.
Organiser: Alistair Buckoke
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Visit to Barony Chapel, Dalswinton, Dalswinton House and the Queensberry Marbles at Durisdeer Church
Friday 12th September
Firstly we will visit the ‘flat pack’ Dalswinton Barony Church, at 10.30am.
It is obvious from the road, and lies less than half a mile east of Dalswinton village which you reach by turning right (heading north from Dumfries) off the A76 to Auldgirth, and following your nose for 2.5 miles.Secondly, we will visit Dalswinton House just after 11am, by kind permission of the Owner, where we will learn about the history of the house and the estate.
Lunch (indicative price £10-20pp) will be at Thomas Tosh, 19 East Morton Street, Thornhill DG3 5LZ which is fifteen minutes drive further up the A76. Turn right at the Thornhill Cross and it’s on the right. We shall leave Dalswinton just after 12.30.
Thirdly, after lunch, we will visit Durisdeer Parish Church with its unexpectedly grand Marbles. It lies between 5 and 6 miles from Thornhill, which will take us not much longer than 10 minutes. I suggest meeting there at 2.30pm or shortly afterwards.
Organiser: Jane Maitland
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Roman Carlisle
Thursday October 9th
Roman Carlisle trip, postponed from 2024. This would mean getting to Tullie House by 11.30am, followed by a talk on Roman Carlisle by museum staff, a walk around the Museum galleries, Lunch at either the Cathedral Cafe nearby or Tullie House itself, and an afternoon walk around parts of the City where former Roman presence can be identified (there is a lot to look at). An idea of taking the train from Dumfries has been discussed, though some may wish to car-share. Car parking around the N side of the City Centre (reasonably near Tullie House) is plentiful.
Organiser: Tullie House, Alistair Buckoke
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Joining Us
If you would like to become a member of Galloway Conservation Society you will receive news and information throughout the year.
The annual fee is £15 payable by BACS:
Sort Code:80-06-11
A/c no: 00402803
or by cheque to The Acting Treasurer, Galloway Conservation Society, LM Bookkeeping Services,
8 Kings Road, Whithorn, Newton Stewart DG8 8PP, email: gcs_treasurer@lmbookkeepingservices.co.uk
Do think about joining us. We have a varied and active programme, available to see under Events.
Our contact details are on the Committee page, or via the Treasurer address and email as above.
2024 Programme of Events
Annual General Meeting
Saturday 6th April
2.00 p.m. St Ninians Church Hall, Castle Douglas
Lunch at 12.30 at the Kings Arms
Please let the Secretary know if you wish to attend the lunch. The options are fish and chips or soup and sandwiches if you wish to order in advance. Please let the Secretary know what your option would be.
Talk by Dave Cowley, HES, on LIDAR technology.
LIDAR stands for Laser Imaging, Detection And Ranging, and uses a pulsed laser source to scan areas of ground from the air and record what the reflected pulse indicates about the shape of the ground, in great detail. This has been revolutionising field archaeology.
Organiser: Alistair Buckoke
Rhinns Coastal Path Walk
Tuesday 30th April
We shall explore sections of the Coastal Path, looking at the remarkable archaeology and the wild flowers. We will meet at 11.30am at the Port Logan Fish Pond car park. After paying a courtesy visit to the Fish Pond, we will take the coastal path to the Clanghie Bay and Clanghie Point coastal promontory forts, which offer good examples of the kind of liminal features talked about by Dr Toby Driver recently. The walk is a little less than 1 Km each way, and is not strenuous, but is for reasonable walkers, though will allow shorter distances for those wishing to enjoy the beaches and wild flowers. We will have a picnic lunch at Port Logan, after which we will migrate by car to Port Gill to the NW of Port Logan. There we will walk c.0.5 Km along the coast bluff to the Duniehinnie promontory fort, another excellent example of the liminal siting so characteristic of these kinds of site. We will return to the parked cars by 3.30pm, 4pm at the latest. Those attending will need to bring a picnic lunch. The weather forecast is for showers, but with clear periods around the middle of the day, so those attending will need to have waterproofs available.
Organiser: Alistair Buckoke
Polmaddy/Carsphairn Walk
Thursday 30th May, 13.30pm
A cultural walk of c. 4 miles on paths, so for reasonable walkers.
The aim will be to look for evidence for the longevity of use of a routeway, significantly beyond medieval settlement.
We will meet at Carsphairn War Memorial, at NX 567 931, at 13.30 pm. There should be enough space for 3-4 cars, but we are looking for a volunteer to drive to the other end of the walk as below, in order to shuttle drivers back to Carsphairn.
From the War Memorial we will walk to Cairnavel long cairn, at NX 5594 9245, and then on up the hill on the old pack road, taking in round burial cairns, clearance cairns, hut circles, old field systems and farms (eg Faulds, Craigrocket, a possible gallows site). We will then walk down the forestry road to the point where it joins the A713, which is marked by signs with the letters STTS, at NX 587 902, the picking up point. We should get there at c. 16.30pm.
Some members plan to have lunch at The Clachan Inn, Dalry beforehand, meeting there c.12.15pm. All would be welcome to join us.
Weather advice at 10 am, 29/05/24: the forecast is for scattered showers in the area during the day, which do not appear to be heavily concentrated. The advice would be to bring waterproofs, which may not be needed for the duration of the walk.
Organiser: Michael Ansell
Dumfries House Visit
Friday 16th August
To replace the postponed Roman Carlisle event, a visit to Dumfries House is proposed on the 16th August, hopefully now benefiting from more establishment of the gardens and the main venues. The aim is to get to the house at 11.30 am, followed by an exploration of some of the gardens, and then lunch in the Cafe at 12.30pm. A ‘Grand Tour’ of the House is booked for 1.30pm, which will include the Upstairs Gallery and some bedrooms. We will then have a further exploration of the gardens and other available venues until departing for home at around 4pm. Car sharing is to be arranged, and those wishing to obtain a lift need to contact The Secretary or The Chairperson. Non-members are very welcome to join us.
Organiser: Dumfries House and Alistair Buckoke.
Whithorn Archive Collection Research Facility Visit
Thursday 12th September, 2pm, 14 Bellevilla Road, Stranraer
The Stranraer Museum Store Facility holds the entire Whithorn Excavation Archive, including all the skeletal material recovered. Now that new scientific methods are available to study excavated artefacts, the Excavation Archive has become a hub of research on this material. The Manager of this facility has kindly agreed to give a talk on the research under way, and to show us a variety of artefacts and the techniques that have been used to study them. Afterwards we will make our way to the Stranraer Museum on George Street, where the Director will show us some new material on display, including artefacts from the Dunragit Bypass excavations. The Bellevilla Road building is just the other side of the road from Morrison’s car park, on the W side. Members may wish to combine the visit with some shopping at Morrisons. Stranraer Museum is on the other side of the town centre, and is a relatively easy walk from Bellevilla Road. Some members may wish to drive there, however, and parking should not be too difficult in that area.
After the visits we will have tea at the North West Castle Hotel, which is a very short distance from Morrisons. Parking is available at the front of the Hotel.
Organiser: Bronwyn Chomitz
Roman Carlisle
Postponed until the Autumn due to building works overrun.
11.00: Meet at Tullie House, Carlisle
11.30: Talk, followed by visit to galleries in the Museum, then lunch in Tullie House Cafe.
PM: Walk round Roman City Centre (AB as guide)
Cost for talk and galleries: £15.00
Lunch prices and options TBC. The aim will be to look for evidence for the longevity of use of a routeway, significantly beyond medieval settlement.
Excavations and finds this summer have re-awakened perceptions of Carlisle as a significant place in Roman Britain, and anticipate renewed research efforts, including what might remain of a bridge linking Luguvallium Fort with Stanwix Fort on the north side of the river. Roman links with places such as Whithorn are now of established relevance for Galloway history.
Organiser: Tullie House and Alistair Buckoke
Galloway Conservation Society 