Dalbeattie Tourist Information

Dalbeattie, The Colvend Coast & Surrounds

The best of the Scottish Riviera's beach area is down here on the Colvend Coast. The sublime beach bay stretching from Rockcliffe and Sandyhills to Southerness and Carsethorn is well served with attractive B&Bs and family holiday caravan parks. Family beach holidays in Scotland don't get better than the Colvend Coast, and alongside superb beaches you've a scattering of golf courses and numerous attractions up in Dumfries, New Abbey and across the the Annan Coast and Scottish Borders. This stretch of the Dumfries & Galloway coast is a hub for caravan parks and family holidays. Walkers and birdwatchers are also attracted by the stunning coastal walking and birdwatching/wildlife opportunities in the area.

Dalbeattie town is the biggest nearest the Colvend Coast and an excellent local asset as a source of supermarkets and shops for stocking up those caravans! A number of attractions are building in the town, mainly to serve as an information point for the stunning nearby Colvend Coast. The Dalbeattie Discovery Centre is well worth a visit, and is a good point to gain information on the nearby Dalbeattie Forest and 7 stanes trails as well as coastal walking and local history. Dalbeattie's Granite festival, a feast for granite lovers every mid September, links into the town's history which for a period was industrial. The town had a granite boom in the 1870s, and many of the towns buildings are testament to that. It was also an early centre for mills in the industrial revolution (mills were largely powered by water here). Like Castle Douglas though, its early industrial drive fell off, especially when the railway ceased in the area.

For more information on Dalbeattie's hidden heritage check the weblink right. Dalbeattie's little museum is well worth a look, with its huge collection of artefacts, photographs and stacks of information on some of its industrial heritage. Take for example the Edingham Munitions Factory, a World War II munitions factory here in Dalbeattie dating from 1939. Irish navvies built it, staying in wooden huts which later were used to house prisoners of war from 1943 to 1947. You might well wonder at the mounds around Dalbeattie - the munitions factory was built deep underground (backbreaking work for Irish workers). It was located for its convenient access to the Dumfries to Stranraer railway line. Unfortunately the site is not currently open to the public as it's unsafe, but once a year a guided tour is organised (see the Dalbeattie Hidden Heritage weblink right for more details).

There's more to the Dalbeattie area's heritage, including recent archelogical finds on the Colvend coast and the Moyle Iron Age Hillfort. Read more on the websites right.

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Colvend Coast Walking & 7 Stanes Mountain Bike Trails

There's some fine opportunity for coastal walking along the Colvend Coast below Dalbeattie. The Jubilee Footpath takes you past the Mote of Mark Celtic hill fort and Castle Point and offers fine views across to little Rough Island, a bird sanctuary and owned by the National Trust for Scotland. (see the walking leaflet weblink right for the Jubilee Path and the National Trust for Scotland's information on the Rockcliffe coastal area).

Off-shore Rough Island is a bird sanctuary - it's off limits in May and June when oystercatchers and terns are breeding. The Colvend Coast is a good walking spot for families, with gentle coastal walking on the menu here, plus pretty Rockcliffe Beach if you fancy a dip! Birdwatchers will be in their element, this whole stretch of coast which includes various habitats in woodland, merse/saltmarsh and meadows mean an abundance of wildlife. Birdwatching tourism down here is particularly good around Rough Firth in winter!

The Dalbeattie area is fast becoming a hotspot for mountain biking holidays, and one of the 7 Stanes National Bike Trails - the Dalbeattie Ironhash Trail is here (weblink right). One of seven excellent mountain bike trails running across the South West of Scotland, the Dalbeattie Ironhash Trail is 11.5 km and takes about one and a half to two hours to complete.

With a nice wide singletrack, the Ironhash bike trail is a good easy one for families, pushing into the Dalbeattie Forest. The Dalbeattie Forest has a number of other mountain bike trails ranging from easy to difficult and 'severe'. Download maps from the 7 Stanes website right for details. Other mountain bike trails include the Moyle Hill Trail and the 'severe' Hardrock trail if you dare! Other Dumfries and Galloway Mountain bike trails which form part of the 7 Stanes bike network stretch into the Galloway Forest Park, particularly around Glentrool and just north of Newton Stewart into the Kirroughtree Forest. More mountain bike trails are also within Mabie Forest just to the south of Dumfries.

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Dalbeattie & Colvend Coast Scotland Golf

Scotland golf choice is particularly good in the Dalbeattie area of Dumfries and Galloway, and indeed across Dumfries and Galloway as a whole. The Solway Links Golf Course sits just 20 minutes from Dalbeattie near Kirkean and the coast. Checkout the weblink right, and if you haven't heard of Golf Cross, an aerial game with a raised target and an oval golf ball you're about to find out! You can play golf cross at Solway Links! Solway Links Golf Course, Southerness, Kirkbean, Dumfries DG2 8BE. Tel. 01387 880323 (weblink right for details).

Other Dalbeattie Golf courses in the area include the Craigieknowes Golf Club near Kippford. This ones a gentle 9 hole/par 3 golf course with short but challenging holes. Find Craigieknowes Golf Club at Barnbarroch Farm, Dalbeattie, DG 5 4QS. Tel. 01556 620244.

That's not all on the Golf front in the Colvend Coast area. Checkout Southerness Golf Club situated right on the shoreline of the Solway Firth. The golf course here is a true Championship Links course (par 69). The 12th hole here is regarded as the best.

Southerness Golf Club, Southerness, Dumbries DG2 8AZ. Tel. 01387 880677.

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John Paul Jones Cottage Museum near Kirkbean

Homing in on the life and times of local sailor made good - John Paul Jones, who is often given credit as the Father of the American Navy. The cottage museum sits just to the south east of Kirkbean overlooking the Solway Firth and is well worth a detour.

The sailing career of John Paul Jones (1747-1792) is explored in-depth in this recreated 1700s home. Jones saw a spell working within the slave trade, but quickly left it in disgust. Jones also famously fought against the British during the American War of Independence. Find out more via the John Paul Jones Cottage Museum website right. It's situated within the grounds of the Abigland Estate.

John Paul Jones Cottage Museum, Arbigland nr Kirkbean, DG2 8BQ. Tel International. 00 44 1387 880613 (UK. 01387 880613).

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