The Rockcliffe File

The Solway Firth on Scotland’s southern coast is often bypassed at great speed by motorists on there way to Glasgow and all points north on the M74.
Oblivious to the hordes is the fact that this glorious stretch of coastline is internationally renowned for bird life, rare plants and offers a host of different habitats for many animals. The landscape surrounding the Firth is varied and includes sand dunes, salt marshes, raised mires and mud flats and is a rich agricultural area. The numerous small ports, harbours and towns that dot the intricate coastline have grown, shrunk and grown again according to the changing fortunes of farming and industry.

The Solway Firth can be a wild and sometimes treacherous place, and only recently have people looked on it as a place of quiet contemplation and pleasure. Previously, the firth’s shifting sands and muds were more or less known only to those whose livelihoods depended on them such as the wildfowlers and the fishermen. The poke nets and haaf nets that can be seen catching salmon on the Solway today are unique to these shores and together with the stake nets, have been used by local fishermen for almost a thousand years.

It is this neglected coastline that we make our first sojourn in to Scotland’s most southern county (Dumfries and Galloway) to visit Rockcliffe.
Rockcliffe is one of a number of small seaside villages along the stretch of the north shore of the Solway Firth known as the Colvend Coast. An arc of largely white-painted houses and cottages stand on the landward side of the road, looking out over the beach. The village stands on the east side of the mouth of Rough Firth, the estuary of the Urr Water.

Two islands are visible offshore. The more distant is Hestan Island, complete with its lighthouse and cottages. Closer in, a third of a mile from Rockcliffe, is Rough Island. This is accessible on foot at low tide, either via a causeway of sorts from the north or directly across the sand from Rockcliffe when the tide permits. The island is a bird sanctuary and we are advised not to visit during the months of May and June to avoid disturbing the nesting oystercatchers and ringed plovers.

The NTS (National Trust Scotland) owns much of the coastal land north-west of Rockcliffe, and it is through here we take the footpath which leads to Kippford a mile away. En route we pass the Mote of Mark. This Dark Age hill fort overlooks the Urr Estuary and is thought to have been occupied for up to 300 years until being destroyed by fire in the 700s. It is said to be named after Mark, King of Dumnonia, and links have been made with the story of Tristan and Isolde and with the legends of King Arthur.

From here we travel slightly east to what is regarded as one of the most attractive villages in Scotland, Gatehouse of Fleet. Known as a "gait" after the Old Norse for road, the military road crossed the Water of Fleet over a wooden bridge. The local lairds, the Murrays, saw a commercial opportunity, and built a stone gait-house or inn on the road near the bridge to service the passing traffic. Over time the word gait passed into antiquity, and the gait-house became known as the gatehouse.

Given the current pace of life in the village, it's difficult to imagine that in the late 18th- and early 19th centuries, Gatehouse of Fleet was a thriving industrial centre with cotton mills, shipbuilding, a brewery and its own port and was known locally as the 'Glasgow of the South'. Today, little remains of Gatehouse of Fleet's industrial past. The Mill on the Fleet Visitor Centre occupies the one remaining mill building on the banks of the Water of Fleet, on the north side of the village. Unfortunately for us the VC and Mill are closed on our arrival but thankfully the renowned ‘Ship Inn’ was just opening for evening meals which we duly frequented and had an excellent dinner in sumptuous surroundings.

On our journey home we detour to visit Cairnholy burial site which is situated a few miles east of Gatehouse of Fleet. On a gently sloping hill above Kirkdale Glen this superb Clyde-type chambered cairn has a monumental curving façade of eight tall uprights. The forecourt was used for ritual ceremonies and lying prostrate in front of the entrance there is a closing stone which dates from the 3rd Millennium BC. The standing stones are not in the Stonehenge class of course, but as the night sky envelops us we recognise the significance of the strategic placement of the stones and ponder at the funeral rituals of our predecessors, speculating if they celebrated a life well lived or mourned the passing of loved one to another world?