Garlieston, oh Garlieston

Two nights at Garlieston Camp Site is an excellent way to finish off our holiday. The site is quiet and welcoming, and apparently very popular. It is situated in Garlieston Bay, on the north shore of the Solway Firth.

Garlieston itself is a small and tidy fishing village, now with only one (good) pub and a garage/shop. Like in most of small British harbours the fishing activity is now very low, and a lot of the old cottages have been turned into holiday lets. In this case it has at least saved the village from decay.













The main claim to fame for Garlieston is the part it played in the Normany Landings seventy five years ago. The beach and harbour here were apparently very similar to the Normandy beaches, so it was here that Operation Mulberry was launched. This was to devise and test methods of getting tanks and equipment off the ships onto land.

They developed three methods, but only one was worthy and became known as Mulberry Harbours. Needless to say, they worked well. There was still one of the pontoons in Garlieston Bay right up to 2006, when a storm finally carried it off.



We've enjoyed our journey to Scotland, despite the indifferent weather, and stared wide eyed at it's beautiful lochs and glens. The Scots we met were always been pleasant and helpful - "That's nae proablem, Hen. You just take a wee seat and we'll bring it right to you". The only downside is that it is quite expensive.

For something completely different, we are up in Hoylake, Wirrall, next weekend (beginning of July) for a few days at Summer Strum. This is popular annual event based around ukuleles. I shall report further.

Comments

  1. Ann and David what an amazing beautifull country. Loved the comment by the beautifull pictures. Have a safe trip back home!
    Thank you!
    Katrien

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've said it before, I'll say it again, TV holiday travel correspondent (?).

    ReplyDelete

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