Dumfries and Galloway is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the north-east; the English county of Cumbria, the Solway Firth, and the Irish Sea to the south, and the North Channel to the west. The administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Dumfries. The second largest town is Stranraer, located 76 miles (122 km) to the west of Dumfries on the North Channel coast.
Sanquhar is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh.
The River Avon is a river in the Strathspey area of the Scottish Highlands, and a tributary of the River Spey. It drains the north-eastern area of the Cairngorm Mountains and is largely contained within the Cairngorms National Park
The River Nith is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, 4.4 miles (7.1 km) east of Dalmellington. For the majority of its 70 miles (110 km) course it flows in a south-easterly direction through Dumfries and Galloway and then into the Solway Firth at Airds Point.
The Siebe Gorman Salvus is a light oxygen rebreather for industrial use or in shallow diving. Its duration on a filling is 30 to 40 minutes. It was very common in Britain during World War II and for a long time afterwards. Underwater the Salvus is very compact and can be used where a diver with a bigger breathing set cannot get in, such as inside cockpits of ditched aircraft. It was made by Siebe Gorman & Company, LTD in London, England. It was designed in the early 1900s.
The A76 is a major trunk road in south west Scotland.
The River Garnock, the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of this starting point the untested stream tumbles over the Spout of Garnock, the highest waterfall in Ayrshire, once thought to be the river's origin. The river then continues, for a total length of 20 miles (32 km) or so, through the towns of Kilbirnie, Glengarnock, Dalry and Kilwinning to its confluence with the River Irvine at Irvine Harbour.
"Sweet Afton" is a lyrical poem describing the Afton Water in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was written by Robert Burns in 1791. The poem was first published as a song in the Scots Musical Museum (1787-1803) and this is the best known version as sung throughout Scotland. The poem is also known as a song set to music in 1837 in the USA by Jonathan E. Spilman; however, this is not the melody sung in Scotland.
New Cumnock is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It expanded during the coal-mining era from the late 18th century, and mining remained its key industry until its pits were shut in the 1960s. The village is 5+3⁄4 miles southeast of Cumnock, and 21 miles east of Ayr.
Connel Burn is a river in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which rises at Enoch Hill in the Southern Uplands and flows northwards through Laglaf and Connel Park before meeting the River Nith in New Cumnock.
Sweet Afton was an Irish brand of short, unfiltered cigarettes made with Virginia tobacco and produced by P.J. Carroll & Co., Dundalk, Ireland, now a subsidiary of British American Tobacco.
The Knockshinnoch disaster was a mining accident that occurred in September 1950 in the village of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. A glaciated lake filled with liquid peat and moss flooded pit workings, trapping more than a hundred miners underground. For several days rescue teams worked non-stop to reach the trapped men. Most were eventually rescued three days later, but 13 died. The disaster was an international media event.
The Carsphairn and Scaur Hills are the western and eastern hills respectively of a hill range in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Ordnance Survey maps don't have a general name for the hill area as a whole. Also, Ordnance Survey use "Scar" rather than the local spelling of "Scaur" - the word is pronounced as "Scar" however. In their Landranger Series of maps, it requires four separate sheets to cover the area.
Black Loch is a freshwater loch, named from its dark waters, situated in the East Ayrshire Council Area, between Cumnock and New Cumnock, lying in a glacial Kettle Hole mainly within the Parish of New Cumnock, with a small portion protruding into Old Cumnock Parish. It is said to be one of only two lochs or lakes in the world that have outflows running to two separate destinations. The 'Runner' is a deep and broad ditch that was dug many years ago to link the three lochs of Lowes, Black, and Creoch.
Creoch Loch, previously known as Little Creoch Loch, is a freshwater loch in the Parish of New Cumnock in the East Ayrshire Council Area between Cumnock and New Cumnock, Scotland. It is located in a glacial kettle hole and is one of three linked lochs.
Loch o' th' Lowes, Lochside or Meikle Creoch Loch is a freshwater loch in the Parish of New Cumnock in the East Ayrshire Council Area, Scotland. One of three linked lochs, it is overlooked by the A76 road and is located in a glacial kettle hole.
The Glaisnock Water is a tributary of the Lugar Water in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It passes under the Glaisnock Viaduct. The source is located south of the town of Cumnock, through which it flows.
Deil's Dyke, Pict's Dyke or Celt's Dyke in south-west lowland Scotland is a linear earthwork that roughly follows the contours that divide upland pasture from lowland arable land, effectively acting like the head-dykes of medieval and later times although its true purpose has not been settled. The Deil's Dyke, sometimes written as 'dike', is formed from an earthen berm of rounded form that varies from 2.0 to 4.0 m wide and a maximum of 0.7 m (2.3 ft) high, sometimes having a stone core. Where a fosse accompanies the bank it is usually an inconsequential 0.5 m (1.6 ft) or so in width on average and around 0.4 m (1.3 ft) deep, more often located on the uphill or outfield side. As a defensive structure the dyke has no obvious military value and its erratic route militates against it being a practical political boundary.
Looking south towards the River Nith at the point where it is joined by Afton Water just north of New Cumnock. The water entering from the bottom left of the picture is the River Nith and the water entering from the right is Afton Water. The hill in the background is Corsencon Hill (475 metres). Cumnock Castle stood on this site in the Middle Ages.
The Burns Cairn in Glen Afton. The inscription on the cairn says "Flow Gently Sweet Afton. Robert Burns 1759 - 1796. Erected by New Cumnock Burns Club (500) to mark its golden jubilee 1973."
Memorials to the miners who died in the Knockshinnoch mining disaster New Cumnock in 1950. The stone in the foreground tells of the sponsors of the memorials. The nearer conical memorial indicates where the events took place. The text on the third memorial says "To remember Knockshinnoch 1950. The peat valley ahead broke through into the pit killing 13 miners & trapping 116. Wearing oxygen masks the trapped miners were rescued on the 3rd day."
