This meant a return to our friend of yesterday the A710, leaving it at the village of Kirkbean to head down to the coast for the approaches to Southerness Point. It is a walk of rise and fall, with a number of 'lowish' braes on the road to be negotiated. Because of the climbs on the route there are, if the weather is in your favour, some lovely views over the various rivers (Nith & Eden) and the Solway Firth as it stretches out to the Irish Sea.
On the right coming out of New Abbey but not visible from the road, is Loch Kindar. There are a couple of small islands on the loch that are of interest. On one there are the remains of a crannog, probably dating from the Mesolithic period. Crannógs are small artificial islands that were built on lakes and rivers and on top, people placed their houses and livestock. The one on Loch Kindar is seen on the surface as a circular islet of stones, but it is built on top of submerged oak beams. On another island are the remains of Kirk Kindar, which was the local parish church of Lochkindeloch (a local parish at that time) until just after 1633, when it was transferred to Sweetheart Abbey. There is a causeway linking the abby to the mainland but it is now submerged.
Online you will find reference to 'The Nearly Lost Garden of Arbigland', a reference, no doubt to The Lost Garden of Helligan in Cornwall and similar gardens. Whatever its claim to fame, there are substantial gardens to be seen here and development of them is ongoing. The estate is also well known as the birth place of John Paul Jones (JPJ), the founder of the US Navy and, James Craik, illegitimate son of William, was the first Physician General of the United States Army. In 1993, a museum was established in the cottage where JPJ was born, a building you pass on the current route. It was closed the day we passed by.
Behind the lighthouse, the windmills of the Robin Riggs Offshore Wind Farm silently cut the air. At 180MW, it is one of the largest wind farms in the UK. Completed in 2009, it became operational in 2010 and powers nearly 120,000 homes. The beach itself at Powillimount is full of interesting rock features. At low tide there are some fascinating repetitive formations to be seen and, on top of the sand, a wonderful variety of seashell.
To finish off today we had a distance of about three kilometres remaining which we took at a very leisurely pace along the beach. The ground underfoot had firmed up and it was a pleasant and enjoyable section with lovely views all around.
We headed to the lighthouse but when we arrived it was closed and there seemed to be lots of people round about and, having been on our own for so long the noise was the last thing we wanted. Our accommodation for the night was just up from the lighthouse and we headed there hoping to catch lunch in the pub on the way. We were unlucky as they just closed the door as we were going down the path. We went instead to the cafe across the road, afterwards stopping off for a long, cold drink in the bar before retiring to our room.