The adventure as a whole, turned out to be a patchwork endeavour as we jumped about taking advantage of local transport when we could, sometimes walking forward, at other times walking back. One one occasion we left a walk through a military firing range for over a week so that we could access the long beach walk on a non-firing day. It was well the wait.
Shortly after we finished last night the heavens had opened and torrential rain fell for most of the night. It had eased as we were sitting eating breakfast and we decided to try keeping to the original plan. The commitment did not last long. As we left the B&B very heavy rain started and was with us for most of the day.
We tried to find a footpath down by Harbour Road to take us to an old railway line but despite our best endeavours we could not get through the heavy, over-grown and very wet undergrowth. The rain was so torrential we dare not take out our mobile phones or the paper map to check for other alternatives. What should have been a river walk turned into a road walk instead.
At the village, the road crosses the river on the Bladnoch Road Bridge. The first bridge was built on the site in 1728, replaced in 1867, with the old bridge left to lie derelict.
After the road end the route follows a small road along the bottom edge of the airfield from where you can see the old airfield buildings across the fields. RAF Wigtown was operational from 1941 to 1945, and again in 1947/48. During the operational period it played host to a variety of squadrons and support services. The station was closed in 1948 and passed to civilian control since when it has been used by a variety of small businesses.
It is worth noting again here that there is a substantial local footpath network in Dumfries and Galloway that are not all shown on OS Maps and the website is worth a visit if you are to be walking here.
It was one of those long, uphill roads that you begin to hate before you reach the end of it. It looked fairly short on the map but seemed to go on forever. I suppose being wet and cold helps you look on the dim side of life. Once back on the B7004, it was heads down and make the miles until our next turnoff to head down to Innerwell Port on the coast for a forest walk round Wigtown Bay and into Gairlieston Bay. From the South Balfern / B7004 junction to the turn off to Innerwell Fishery it is just short of three miles and a further mile to the cut off for the Gairlieston footpath.
By the time we reached the Port Whapple area we were wearying and with the rain off decided to stop for coffee. As you would expect, sitting in the open on the rocks overlooking Wigtown Bay and just starting to relax, the rain came back with a vengeance and we quickly had to grab our gear and run for the shelter of the trees.
One of the difficulties of walking in Scotland is that there are not the same number of way marked coastal paths are there are in England and Wales. With the joys of freedom to roam (FTR) there is an expectation that within the restriction of FTR you will just find a way through. That is fine until you find out there is no way through for one reason or another and you are forced to turn back and find an alternative route. It would be interesting to hear from other coastal walkers whether or not they have managed to walk down the River Cree or whether like us that walked the road.