Far from Dull at the Mull
by - 13:58 on 14 November 2008
There’s Dunnet Head, most northerly; Ardnamurchan Point, most westerly; and, Peterhead, most easterly point on the Scottish mainland. Then there’s the Mull of Galloway – the most southerly. Each of the four places has its own ambience: Dunnet with those Orkney panoramas; Ardnamurchan’s romantic island horizons; Peterhead, where, just beyond the guano-spattered 4 x 4s on the quayside, you can see all the way to the massive fishing boats tied adjacent. But of the four, the Mull of Galloway definitely has the nicest café, Gallie Craig Coffee House. It sits by the lighthouse on the end of the peninsula known as the Rhins of Galloway.
View from cafe usually much much better
On a recent visit, the beautiful autumn weather of late October broke for a single day, with a strong south-westerly gale and grim grey skies. Bad luck, eh? But, gallantly, on its clifftop perch, Gallie Craig had stayed open. After fighting our way from the carpark – and being almost blown off our feet - we found we were the only ones in for lunch. Normally, magnificent views are on the menu but on our visit, the panoramic windows were bowing inwards as the wind boomed around the building. With the spray blowing like bubble-bath right across the narrow neck of land it certainly had atmosphere. It probably deserves an extra mile just for being open on such a day of storm.
Gallie Craig interior - usually much busier - trust me!
You would of course be daft to drive to the Rhins in the far south-west and not make it all the way to the Mull. Vivid greens of pasture, sheltering woods and the sea on both sides are the impressions of this rural journey. And, like the other three compass points, it does have the sense of being quite a long way from anywhere. From a tourist perspective, peaceful places with their sense of escape and ‘getting-away-from-it-all are by their nature attractive. Look at it another way. Quiet and out of the way communities mean local shops and other services can struggle, especially out of the summer season.
See, I told you: it's sunny here a lot. This is Dundrum Cottage basking in the Gulf Stream
This in turn links to the role of self-catering businesses. Deliver four or five star accommodation, market it well, and a steady stream of usually city based folk will come right through the year. And that trickle of (probably) comfortably off folk can make all the difference to the local shop or hotel by way of purchasing provisions, bar meals and so on. I’m thinking here of Galloway’s first five-star self-catering accommodation, on the Rhins, south of Stranraer, also visited on this south-west day excursion.
Dundrum Cottage is the sort of place that’s so comfortable that you wouldn’t want ever to leave, whatever the season. See for yourself on its website. The owners, Aileen and Matthew Caughie, are busy with beef and dairy cattle on their 400 acres but also somehow manage to find the time to welcome their guests with a range of goodies from champagne and chocolates to eggs and wild boar meat – and they also offer a tour of the farm, a great opportunity for an insight into Scottish farming. And, come to think, of it, all this probably merits an extra mile mention as well.
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