What's on in Dumfriesshire

Dumfriesshire was a county in the south of Scotland until 1975. It is now known as a registration county of Scotland and its county town is Dumfries. Today it forms part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area. It bordered Roxburghshire to the east, Lanarkshire, Peebleshire and Selkirkshire to the north, Ayrshire to the north-west and Kirkcudbrightshire in the west (now part of Dumfries and Galloway).

Dumfriesshire, or Dumfries and Galloway, has had a permanent PR department for hundreds of years, thanks to the poetry of local hero Robert Burns but this wonderful slice of south-western Scotland would be quite capable of attracting tourists all on its own, so beautiful is its landscape.

From steep valleys to hundreds of miles of spectacular commercial forests (populated by goshawks, crossbills and red squirrels) and native woodlands of elm, ash and oak in upland areas, to hills covered in heather moorland, the area is paradise for nature lovers. History buffs are well catered for too, with Neolithic and bronze age sites including stone circles at Eskdalemuir and Dunscore, sculptured stones at Dornock and tumuli and cairns at Closeburn. There are also Roman remains between Clydesdale and Dalveen Pass and a well preserved Roman camp at Birrens. Robert Burns fanatics will know that he farmed at Ellisland Farm on the Nith for a few years and spent his last years in Dumfries.

Lastly, Caerlaverock Castle near Dumfries is worth seeing, as is the shotgun marriage capital of Gretna.

To experience the fantastic landscape there is the 1,400 acre nature reserve at the Wildfowl and Wetland trust in Caerlaverock, as well as hundreds of miles of untouched walking, hiking and climbing trails in a region where the sheep outnumber the people. An undiscovered gem.