I Travelled To Scotland's Southernmost Point
The south of Scotland A region often bypassed by those visiting Scotland who have their sights set on northern areas of the country Home to beautiful rocky shorelines sandy beaches acres of forest ancient castles and some of Europe's best stargazing Southern Scotland is a part of Scotland which frequently escapes the tourist spotlight Join me as I explore a small corner of this often overlooked region and make my way to Scotland's southernmost point I'm here in the car park at the supermarket in a place called Stranraer which some of you might not have heard of before I don't think it's much of a tourist destination but it is the town that I grew up in I spent the first eight years of my life in Stranraer before moving to another place in southern Scotland But today I'm going to take you with me as we explore around this area And head to the most southerly point of Scotland So the weather forecast for today was... lovely, beautiful, sunny day And I drove down here and then it's been raining and also the weather forecast is rain all afternoon So yeah, might change back Let's see Okay, might go and get some diesel before I head to a remote area Oh my goodness 164 for diesel Well, a funny thing about the town of Stranraer by locals, it's nicknamed "the Toon" I'm not really sure why, but I've always just heard it being called the Toon so if anyone knows please leave a comment below and share I drove through that crazy rainstorm and arrived in this beautiful picturesque little village called Portpatrick and the sun has come out! I can see some blue skies This is a beautiful little seaside village southwest of Stranraer It took me around 20 minutes to drive here Back in the day, this was a bustling port and sailing boats and paddle steamers would come over from Ireland and arrive here into Portpatrick There also apparently used to be a train station here and people would come down from Glasgow on the train for the day or for the weekend to enjoy Portpatrick In the village, there's a few different pubs and restaurants Specifically, there's a place called Connors which is really good for seafood and back in the day the pub called The Crown used to be good for seafood but I haven't been there for many years Two of my best memories of coming to Portpatrick when I was younger were the arcade so I think I drove past that on the way in and it looks like it's closed and also, if you come here, you must go to the putting green Portpatrick has a sheltered harbor and visitor mooring It's also home to the RNLI lifeboat station, which has been in operation since 1877 The Southern Upland Way stretches 215 miles It begins in Portpatrick on the west coast and ends in Cockburnspath on the east coast Behind me, you can see the beautiful village of Portpatrick This is one of my favorite views You can sit up here There's lots of benches on this coastal path and you can look back over the village If you remember my video in Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland The Southern Upland Way passes through Wanlockhead and the starting point for the Southern Upland Way is here in Portpatrick I've decided to walk along a short stretch of the Southern Upland Way and I heard around 20 minutes from Portpatrick you can see a lovely beach so I'm going to head there and I also heard that there's an interesting building on the route too so I'm going to walk along and see what I can find So behind me is the hidden beach that I was looking for Sandeel Beach, it's called Wow, now the weather's cleared up, it's lovely here I'll head down to the beach and then walk on a little bit further to try and find these buildings that I'm looking for So I just sat down here on the Sandeel Beach and as I arrived I spotted a cave with a waterfall and it mentions beside it that a long time ago, in this area, there were some caves that had healing powers and at the beginning of May people would bring their diseased children here and put them in the water from the waterfall and it would hopefully cure them Really interesting Never knew about that I say this is my first time here but I'm sure my parents when they watch this video they'll say that I've walked along these cliffs before when I was younger but probably I just don't remember because I was so young In the 1800s, the Killantringan cable hut was the terminus of telegraph and telephone cables from Scotland to Ireland It was first used for telegraphs but then in 1893 four-wire telephone cables were laid A little further on from the hut is Killantringan lighthouse I've arrived here at the building that I was looking for How amazing to think that there was communication between this building This is one of the first points of communication between Scotland and Ireland back in the day On the ground here behind me, there are metal wires It mentioned at the plaque at the beginning of the walk that you can come across pieces of metal wiring which was were the communication lines back in the day so I wonder if these lines are from the communication Here's something else that looks like a cable or wire that's also sticking out of the ground just below the building It's not possible to go inside the building All the doors are locked but you can still see it from the outside Behind me here is the path the Southern Upland Way so it's really well-trodden and it's also really well signposted I've seen markers with yellow colours on them marking the path but it seems really good and I heard as well that there's bothies along the route on the way so for those of you who are not from Scotland are not aware of what is a bothy it's basically an abandoned-looking shelter and they're free to stay in and they're unlocked and accessible to everyone so you can stay in those as you walk the mountains or the hills and you can get some shelter overnight from the rain and the wind If anyone has stayed in a bothy before, please let us know in the comments what it was like and where was it I've never stayed in one before Next in Portpatrick, I'm climbing up the hill and the cliffs on the opposite side and I'm heading to the best place in Port Patrick my opinion and I can't wait to show you what it is If you were to just drive into Portpatrick, and you hadn't done any research I think you wouldn't even know that this place is here because there's not really any signs for it and there's just this path I can't remember how long the walk is Oh my goodness the castle has come into view Just steep drops down This castle is called Dunskey Castle and I think it's the top thing to see in Portpatrick So if you come here, definitely walk out to Dunskey Castle It's taken around 20 minutes to walk up here Here's the castle And last time I was here was around four years ago and you could go inside So I really hope you can still go inside because it's really cool inside I did see online that someone wrote that you can't go inside That'll be a real shame Apparently, some children were eaten by the ghost I'm just joking It's probably just too dangerous because it's so old I have great news for you The floodgates are open I'm going in Dunskey Castle is a three-story ruined tower house shaped like an L and was built in the 1500s The castle is naturally defended on three sides by cliffs and has a rock-cut ditch on the land side The castle was owned by a few different people but was then abandoned Its coastal location once a strategic advantage contributed to its decline The elements caused rapid deterioration and it's said to have been in ruins since 1684 It's great you can still go inside Let's go and explore Oh, it's so dark in here So dark Last time I was here There was a young boy and his dad and they had one of those machines that you can speak with ghosts and I could hear the ghosts communicating with them Wow, this place is insane! Legends and ghost stories are associated with Dunskey Castle, including tales of a ghost nursemaid who dropped a baby from a window and a piper who disappeared into the caves below with his pipes occasionally heard The castle's dramatic coastal location has made it a popular spot for filmmakers and it's been featured in several movies It's one of my favourite castles in Scotland So I've got something I want to share with all of you Early next year, I really want to go to France in my camper van for a few weeks There's something in France that I really want to do but I'm a bit nervous to go to France, to be honest especially driving on the opposite side of the road and also with the language barrier To prepare I've decided to start taking some French lessons I did learn French at school. but I've basically forgotten all of it because it was so long ago To learn French I'm using Lingoda an online language learning platform where you can have lessons with native-speaking teachers You can learn English, Spanish, French, or German and have either individual or group lessons Since I have limited time before my trip I'm taking the Intensive Lingoda Sprint Challenge This challenge encourages you to take 15 or 30 lessons within a month and you can earn rewards for completing the challenge I've already taken a few classes and learnt a few basic phrases and I've even been practising with Jean Paul the handsome Frenchman in my local village Bonjour, Enchanté Bonjour Comment tu t 'appelles? Je m 'appelle Ruth Tu habites où? J 'habite en Écosse Au revoir If you're also a beginner, or looking to brush up on your language learning skills Lingoda are offering 30 % off this month for their language sprint challenge If you use the code "RUTH" you also get an additional 20 euros off Using my code really helps support the channel and I'll put the link below if you're interested to find out more And if anyone has any advice about travelling France in a campervan, please leave a comment below Sandhead was once used for landing lime and coal and today the main attraction is the beautiful sandy beach which stretches for three miles at low tide I've just arrived at Sandhead Beach This is a really nice beach, especially when the tide is in but today it's a bit cloudy and rainy, and the tide is out So yeah it doesn't look its best, I don't think but on a sunny day, it's really lovely here Here at Kirkmadrine Church, I think it's called I'm going to walk along to it now So one thing I've realised as I've traveled Scotland is there's so many places that I don't know how to pronounce So it's a learning experience trying to pronounce all these names so hopefully the pronunciation is Kirkmadrine and that's correct So I'm heading along there and the reason I've stopped here is because there's three stones here, which are from 500 AD and are said to be some of the oldest stones in Scotland The other five are from later times but basically, these stones show how much the church grew during that time and the importance of the church at that time as well The church is just peeking out through the trees there This place has serious spooky vibes This church feels really spooky There's no one here And it's just really, really quiet And quite a lot of very old gravestones are around the place A lot of the gravestones are from the late 1800s so there's no recent gravestones here Some of the people that are buried here would have been born in 1800 or the late 1700s which is crazy The next stop on the tour today is the Port Logan Fish Pond And I remember coming here many times when I was younger but I haven't been in absolute years So I'm interested to see what it's like now The Port Logan Fish Pond was basically used as a larder to store fish for the nearby estate and it's over 200 years old I'm looking forward to going in because I can't really remember what it's like inside I just remember there being lots of fish So let's go in and have a look The Port Logan Fish Pond is the oldest and most unique natural marine aquarium in the UK It's home to a wide range of sea fish and marine life including rays, cod, pollock, turbot, mullet, starfish, hermit crabs plus more The fish pond is created from a natural feature of the rocky coastline and was originally used as a sea fish larder for the laird of Logan It's interesting to see the fish pond And now this is the bathing hut that I'm in And there's a pool here for swimming So this is over 150 years old So people used to swim here but it looks like with the barrier here now you can't actually go into swimming You can just have a look at it And there's a lovely view over to Port Logan in the distance It was really nice to see the Port Logan fish pond, and also the bathing hut The bathing hut is really cool even though you can't go in swimming I do recommend you to stop by here at the Port Logan Fish Pond and support the really enthusiastic owner Unfortunately, a few weeks ago he was robbed and some people came in the night and stole a lot of the fish which is just absolutely terrible I can't believe someone would do something like that Okay let's head to the next spot My next stop is the Logan Botanic Garden a beautiful garden located near Port Logan It's famous for its diverse collection of plants, especially those from the Southern Hemisphere The garden benefits from a mild maritime climate due to the Gulf Stream allowing for the cultivation of rare and unusual species Visitors can explore features like the walled garden, woodland garden and rock garden These gardens are amazing such a peaceful place It was established in the late 1960s and is affiliated with the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh Those ferns are absolutely massive I think ferns are actually my favourite plant In the future, when I have my own house, I really want to have a bathroom full of ferns Actually, they're not ferns It's a tree They just look like ferns from above It just looks like a heap of trash, but actually, it's called Buggingham Palace and this is a habitat for lots of bugs to live So I'm looking for red squirrels The lady at the desk said that there's been some red squirrel sightings around here today It's actually quite common to see red squirrels but in recent years, there's been some issues with grey squirrels coming into their territory So it's really important to take care of the red squirrels They're so cute If you've seen a red squirrel before, let me know in the comments If you have a different type of squirrel where you live, also let me know in the comments I know in different parts of the world there are different types of squirrels On some of my videos about Shetland and Orkney, there were quite a lot of questions about why there's no trees in Scotland But actually, there are trees in Scotland, it just depends on where So in southern Scotland, there's actually a lot of woodland so you'll find a lot of places with oak trees and old trees And I still haven't found out the reason why there's no trees on Orkney and Shetland If anyone can enlighten us, please leave a comment below and let us know Just arrived into the walled garden and oh my goodness I don't even feel like I'm in Scotland anymore It feels so tropical So warm in here but these gardens are really amazing Definitely recommend you to visit It costs £8 to enter There's definitely more plants here than flowers maybe because it's October and all the flowers are finished but if you're interested in gardens I recommend watching my video on the Isle of Gigha where I visited Achamore Gardens I was there in August and there were so many beautiful flowers I'll link it here so you can watch it if you want The Mull of Galloway at Scotland's southern tip is a nature heaven It features grassland, heath, and stunning cliffs overlooking the sea Many seabirds live on these cliffs including about 4,000 gannets on the nearby Scar Rocks A trail along the cliff's edge has local plants and wildflowers The visitor centre is open from Easter to late October each year and you can also book accommodation at the lighthouse There's the Mull of Galloway lighthouse behind me and there's a circular walk I'm going to go closer and see the lighthouse So I was outside trying to get some beautiful, beautiful shots of the lighthouse to share with you guys and it started raining It was like a three-minute walk, but I got absolutely soaked So it's about to get dark now So I'm going to stay around this area and then I will show you guys the lighthouse in the morning So I just woke up to come and see the lighthouse in the morning and at the moment the sun rises around 7:50 am And I came out just as the sun was rising I think it's even more special than a sunset because you have to get that extra effort to get out of bed and see it There's now a rainbow behind me Look! This place is magical a rainbow and a sunrise in the same day! Just over there is the Isle of Man It looks so clear it looks really, really close On the sign there it says we're 37 miles from Douglas which is the biggest town on the Isle of Man Over on the left side, I think that's the Lake District And then over there is Northern Ireland I was also reading on the sign that the gannets, which nest here in the cliffs, they go to Senegal when they finish nesting 4,000 miles away I'm down here at the Foghorn now And that's the view of the lighthouse from down at the Foghorn Just on the plaque outside, the lighthouse it said that Robert Stevenson designed this lighthouse Now he designed a lot of the lighthouses in Scotland and I didn't realise his grandson was the one who wrote Treasure Island and apparently he was inspired by trips to a lot of these remote places If you've read Treasure Island, let me know in the comments I don't think I've read it actually, so another one to add to the list Although the lighthouse does seem like the most southerly point It's actually not the most southerly point of Scotland I was looking on Google Maps and the most southerly point is actually on cliffs here Just a short walk from the lighthouse I'm going to head there now and actually go to the most southerly point of Scotland There's this cairn here behind me and it's not actually on the cliff edge I'm not sure if that means that the Southerly Point is here this field is really muddy If you come to these cliffs, make sure you wear your hiking boots A few months ago I made it to the most northerly point of Scotland Well, I saw it Muckle Flugga or the Outstack is the most northerly point It's quite tricky to get over to that island because it's so treacherous and it's a huge big rock But I made it to the Hermaness Nature Reserve in Shetland And you can watch that video here if you'd like to see my journey to the most northerly point of Scotland and of the UK And today is the most southerly point of Scotland I'm actually more interested to see the most southerly point of Scotland than of the UK I don't know why, it just feels more special since I'm from Scotland I just came through these gates here and arrived on the cliff edge So this is the cliff edge here Okay, it seems that I'm almost at the most southerly point It looks like it's on this cliff edge here so I need to walk out and I'll try and reach that pin on Google Maps and reach the southerly point of Scotland There's absolutely no sign or anything here to identify that this is Scotland's most southerly point The path on the cliff here does look a little bit worn, so people are coming down here and it looks like there's a path along the cliffs there behind me from the lighthouse I'm so excited to go to Scotland's most southerly point Okay, I made it to Scotland's most southerly point! Woohoo! Oh it's amazing here These peninsulas in Scotland just feel like islands within themselves Oh, it's amazing here It was so amazing to reach Scotland's southernmost point In this video, I explored part of the Rhins of Galloway Peninsula and had such a fantastic time This is a wonderful and often overlooked part of Scotland I hope this video today inspires you to explore this lesser-visited corner of Scotland I often share photos from my trips on Instagram or Facebook The links are below, so feel free to have a look If you'd like to see more of my adventures traveling in Scotland, then please subscribe to the channel See you next time!
2023-11-10 19:23
