The Taking of the Final Four
The Machars literally “the Plains (of Galloway)" is a peninsula in Galloway in the south-west of Scotland. The word is derived from the Gaelic word Machair meaning low lying or level land, known as "links" on the east coast of Scotland. Although there are no high peaks in the Machars, it is not flat and would best be described as undulating or rolling. The North Atlantic Drift or Gulf Stream creates a mild climate in which plants normally associated with the Southern Hemisphere can thrive, and dolphins and basking sharks are frequently seen in the seas.
The Machars peninsula is roughly defined by a northern boundary stretching south of the A75 from Newton Stewart to Glenluce, the only other boundary being the sea. The 40-mile coastline has enormous variety, starting with the mud-flats of Wigtown on the east facing Wigtown Bay, down to the sandy beach at Rigg Bay in Garlieston. The coastline then rises to form dramatic cliffs as it passes the ruins of Cruggleton Castle, dropping a little at Portyerrock Bay and the Isle of Whithorn, and rising again at Burrow Head.
Past the southern tip of the peninsula, the shoreline leaves Wigtown Bay at Burrow Head and becomes part of Luce Bay. The cliffs continue as far as the beautiful sandy beach at Monreith and on past Port William. A combination of rocky shoreline, sandy beaches and cliffs continues as far as Auchenmalg and Stairhaven before the sandy dunes approaching Glenluce.
Two rivers cut through the peninsula, the River Bladnoch which rises at Loch Marberry and meets the sea just south of Wigtown, and one of its major tributaries the Tarf Water which meets the Bladnoch south of Kirkcowan. Another tributary of the Bladnoch is the large burn the Water of Malzie. which rises in the large expanses of peat bog near the Old Place of Mochrum before meeting the Bladnoch near Corzmalie.
The Machars is about 190 square miles in area covering 556 grid squares and after just over two years travelling and taking pictures for Geograph I have finally completed my last personal grid squares.
The last four grid squares were all around Craignarget Hill which took six hours to walk in torrential rain across waterlogged moors, 5-7 feet high bracken and dense forest starting and finishing at the coast by Craignarget House on the A747.
Garheugh
in NX2751 Link
Moor to the east of Craignarget Hill
in NX2752 Link
Castle Loch
in NX2753 Link (and also my 10,000th picture on Geograph)
Track west of Craignarget Hill
in NX2652 Link
No firsts on this trip or hectads completed (they were all finished some time ago) but immense satisfaction on completing the Machars in all weathers by car, bike and foot over the last 2 years.
References
History of Whithorn and the Machars - Link
Machars on Wikipedia - Link
The Machars Archaeology Project - Link
- When
- Sat, 18 Aug 2012 at 10:26
- Chosen Photo
blog comments powered by Disqus
