South Scotland Facts

Ailsa Craig sits in the Firth of Clyde and is the remains of a volcanic plug from an extinct volcano. The hard granite makes it the source for many curling stones, including those used at the Winter Olympic Games. The Bass Rock, on the Firth of Forth is sometimes called the Ailsa Craig of the East!

Mossgiel Farm in Mauchline was home to Robert Burns from 1784 to 1788. While there, he wrote “To A Mouse” – a 2 metre-high statue of a mouse can be found near his cottage in Alloway.

The Scottish Dark Sky Observatory lies within the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park. It is the only Dark Sky Park in the UK.

The first Open Golf Championship was held at Prestwick Golf Course on October 17th 1860 and the course hosted it 12 more times, the last time being in 1925.

The Borders railway is the longest new domestic railway to be constructed in Britain for over 100 years. Work started after the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2006.

The lighthouse at the Mull of Galloway is at Scotland’s most southerly point.

The Reiver Statue in Hawick commemorates the protection of the town from an English raiding party in 1514. The Borders Common Ridings, held in various towns across the Borders, continues the tradition of protecting the towns from land and cattle thieves.

South Scotland Featured landmarks

Ailsa Craig, Athelstaneford Battle Site, Bass Rock, Borders Railway, Dean Castle Country park, Dumfries Midsteeple, John Muir Way signpost, Leaderfoot Viaduct, Mossgiel Farm, Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, New Lanark, Prestwick Golf Course, Reiver Statue, Hawick, Scottish Dark Sky Observatory