Headed of early and was at the Dumfries Air Museum for 10am (air show wasn't till 11am it turned out). Was good though as there were not many people about and was able to get some photos and have a look around the various displays of memorabilia. The Air Traffic Tower is where most items are displayed and it was a good range of interesting stuff. Normal admission is £3 which is not bad. Bought a twix in their cafe for only 40p so not dear to eat either. Here are just a few of the photos I took.
The Airshow starting to get busy
A Wessex helicopter of 848 Naval Air Commando Squadron. I spent 2 years with 845 Squadron so spent may an hour flying in these.
The Counter rotating propellors of a Gannet. Looking at these on the flight deck of a carrier could be very dangerous as they could have an hypnotic effect on some people and we were shown real video of somebody walking into these props during out training. All you saw was a puff of red and then two stumps of legs falling over.
They had quite a few displays about the Spitfire and have a restoration project going on which should be good when it is finished
A Search and Rescue Seaking arrives for the show
I left the museum just after eleven and headed West to Galloway National Park. From Gatehouse of Fleet I headed up into the hills but that bit it wasn't as scenic as I had hoped. Came out at Creetown and headed North up the back of Newton Stewart onto the A712 (The Queen's Way) heading towards New Galloway. This was a good road with nice views, good surface and little traffic. On this road is the Grey Mair's Tail Waterfall. The waterfall lies just behind the car park by the roadside so dead easy to get to. Unbelievably I was the only one there so was able to mess about for ages trying to get different shots. It was a bit drizzly at this point but wasn't too bad. Here are a selection of the photos I took.
A couple of hundred yards further on there was a wild goat car park and I did see plenty goats but by this time it was raining a bit more (and I had believed the weather forecast and had a mesh jacket on). Before reaching New Galloway I turned Eastwards onto the Raiders Road which is a forestry trail similar to the one up at Dukes Pass. The road was fine for a GS and like all other roads was virtually deserted apart from the odd 4x4.
"Journey" an earthwork labyrinth on the Raiders Road
Spotted some young deer in this area.
At the end of the Raiders Road you join the A762 and from there it wasn't long till I was in Castle Douglas. Soon spotted the Bike Rally and caught up with quite a few GS owners. Tales of woe were shared. Seems like everybody is riding around wondering when their bike is going to break down. Not good news for BMW.
Some shots taken on the run home from Castle Douglas
Journey home was via the A713 from Castle Douglas towards New Galloway. However instead of turning onto the A702 I turned onto the A712. However it was a good mistake as the A712 turned out a stonking road on the GS and no traffic. However after a while I realised that the sun wasn't quite where it should be if I was heading North so at Corsock I turned onto back roads heading North for the A702 to Monlaive. Great back roads and the surface was surprisingly good. Made far better time across them than I had anticipated when looking at them on the map. Once at Monlaive I followed the A702 towards Thornhill and turned onto an excellent back road heading for Sanguhar. From there I took the B740 down to Crawfordjohn. This was a bit wider than some of the roads I had just been on and with a good surface and loads of great corners. Did have to keep an eye out for sheep on this stretch though. Noticed a lot of people wild camping along this road. Next I went East along the A70 to Muirkirk and then up the fantastic biker's road, the B743 to Strathaven. This is a great road about 10 miles long and well worth a go in either direction if in the area. From Strathaven it was back along the A71 to join the M74 for a few miles to a reached home. Couldn't believe how empty the roads were today and can certainly recommend the South West of Scotland for some excellent biking roads catering for all preferences.
