Glenlochar

Abbey Yard is a location in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Abbey Yard is near Glenlochar in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway area. The fort was built in 81 AD by the Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola and enclosed an area roughly 7 acres (28,000 m2). Abbey Yard is the local name for the area containing the fort remains; this reflects the incorrect identification on Ordnance Survey maps prior to the 1940s as the site of an abbey.

Crossmichael (Scottish Gaelic: Crois Mhìcheil) is a small village on the east side of Loch Ken in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Castle Douglas in Scotland. Crossmichael is also the name of the civil parish in Kirkcudbrightshire, in the district council region of Dumfries and Galloway.

Crossmichael railway station served the village of Crossmichael, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, from 1861 to 1965 on the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway.

Balmaghie ( bal-mə-GEE), from the Scottish Gaelic Baile Mhic Aoidh, is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and was the seat of the McGhee family. It is bordered by the River Dee to the north and east. Threave Castle stands on an island in the river. The River Dee is commonly known as the Black Water of Dee on the northern border, the name changes with the meeting of the Water of Ken to the north west and is then known as Loch Ken along the eastern border. Balmaghie parish borders Girthon to the west and Tongland and Twynholm to the south. The closest market town is Castle Douglas about 6 miles from Balmaghie Kirk. The ecclesiastical parish covers the same area as the civil parish and the two are generally not differentiated between. Balmaghie parish is mainly rural and contains only a handful of small settlements: Laurieston, Bridge of Dee, and Glenlochar as well as number of farms and houses scattered throughout the parish. Farming is the major industry of the area, although there is a large area of commercial forestation operated by the Forestry Commission to the west of Laurieston. Tourists and locals visit the area to watch wild birds at the RSPB Nature Reserve at Duchrae, the Ken-Dee Marshes. A number of red kite have been re-introduced to the area and can be seen near Laurieston at the Bellymack feeding station.The 2008 horror film Outpost and its 2012 sequel Outpost:Black Sun were filmed on the Balmaghie estate.The 2018 mystery novel The Shadow of the Black Earl by Charles E McGarry is set in a fictionalised version of Laurieston Hall and surrounding area.

Crossmichael Parish Church is an ecclesiastical building in Crossmichael, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies on a knoll, which was probably an ancient site of worship, at the north end of the village. Its tower may date from 1611, but the main block was built in 1749–1751, and there were additions and alterations in the nineteenth century. Its interior is an unusually complete example of Georgian church design. It was designated a Category A listed building in 1971. The church's burial grounds contain tombstones from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. One of its burial enclosures has on its east face an ornately carved memorial for William Gordon of Greenlaw, which is itself independently listed at Category A. As of 2022 the church is still in regular use as a place of worship, and its former hearse house is owned by a community group and used as an information centre.

Threave Castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) west of Castle Douglas in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. Built in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim, it was a stronghold of the "Black Douglases", Earls of Douglas and Lords of Galloway, until their fall in 1455. For part of this time, the castle and the lordship of Galloway were controlled by Princess Margaret, daughter of King Robert III and widow of the 4th Earl. In 1449 Threave was regained by the 8th earl, Scotland's most powerful magnate, who controlled extensive lands and numerous castles. He fortified Threave with an "artillery house", a sophisticated defence for its time. The excessive power of the Black Douglas lords led to their overthrow by King James II in 1455, after which Threave was besieged and captured by the King's men. It became a royal castle, and in the 16th century hereditary responsibility for Threave was given to the Lords Maxwell. It was briefly held by the English in the 1540s, but did not see serious action until the Bishops' Wars, when in 1640 a royalist garrison was besieged by a force of Covenanters. Partially dismantled, the castle remained largely unused until given into state care in 1913. The ruins, comprising the substantially complete tower house and the L-shaped artillery house, are today maintained by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.The castle complex is open to the public.

Bridge of Dee railway station served the settlement of Bridge of Dee, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland from 1864 to 1949 on the Kirkcudbright Railway.

Bridge of Dee, Galloway is a settlement on the River Dee, Galloway. It lies on the A75 just west of Castle Douglas, and north-east of Kirkcudbright. The former Kirkcudbright Railway, linking Kirkcudbright with Castle Douglas, passed through the village. The station is now a house.

Kirkcudbrightshire ( kur-KOO-brish-ər, -⁠eer; Scots: [kərˈku(d)brəʃər]), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975, the area has formed part of Dumfries and Galloway for local government purposes. Kirkcudbrightshire continues to be used as a registration county for land registration. A lower-tier district called Stewartry covered the majority of the historic county from 1975 to 1996. The area of Stewartry district is still used as a lieutenancy area. Dumfries and Galloway Council also has a Stewartry area committee. Ultimately meaning "shire of the church of Saint Cuthbert", Kirkcudbrightshire forms the eastern part of the medieval lordship of Galloway, which retained a degree of autonomy until it was fully absorbed by Scotland in the 13th century. In 1369, the part of Galloway east of the River Cree was placed under the control of a steward based in Kirkcudbright and so that area became known as the "Stewartry of Kirkcudbright". The rest of Galloway remained under the authority of a sheriff based in Wigtown, and so became known as Wigtownshire. Kirkcudbrightshire was occasionally referred to as East Galloway. It is bounded on the north by Ayrshire, on the west by Wigtownshire, on the south by the Irish Sea and Solway Firth, and on the east by Dumfriesshire. The county town is Kirkcudbright.

Threave Rovers Football Club are a football club from Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Formed in October 1953, the club plays its home games at Meadow Park and plays in the West of Scotland League Third Division.

Threave Garden and Estate is a series of gardens owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland, located near Castle Douglas in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. Covering 64 acres (26 ha), the gardens are part of the 1,500 acres (607 ha) Threave Estate originally developed by William Gordon who bought the estate in 1867. The garden is home to the Practical School of Horticulture. The gardens include a working walled garden, a rock garden, several ponds and water features. There is also a visitor centre and plant centre. The wider estate is managed as a nature reserve and is home to bats and ospreys, and includes part of the Loch Ken and River Dee Marshes Special Protection Area. Threave Castle is located on an island in the River Dee, at the north-west side of the estate. The garden is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens, which is maintained by National Trust for Scotland.

Carlingwark Loch is a small freshwater loch in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland lying just south of Castle Douglas and is roughly rectangular in shape, trending nearly north and south. The name of the loch comes from the Scots Gaelic word Caer meaning fort and wark the old Scots language word for work. There are four artificial islets in the loch showing evidence of fortification and settlement, Ash Island is thought to be a crannog. Several archaeological finds have been retrieved from the loch including a bronze cauldron, sword and pan and two dugout canoes.Carlingwark Lane is a 1.5 mile canal which opened between the loch and the River Dee, 1.5 miles away in 1765. It remained in use until its abandonment in about 1840, allowing flat-bottomed boats to transport shell-marl to farms along the route.There is a 5.25 km (3.26 mi) footpath around the loch and it is popular for bird watching and fishing. As of 5 March 2012 the loch and the land around it has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest on account of its varied birdlife and grassland.In 1903 the loch was surveyed by E.R. Watson and later charted as part of The Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897–1909.In 2009 an aerating fountain was installed at a cost of £10,000 to try to prevent the build-up of blue-green algae. The funding was provided by South West Scotland Environmental Action Trust. The installation of the fountain was part of a wider development of Carlingwark Outdoor Activity Centre by Dumfries and Galloway Council. However, further research showed that, owing to the relatively shallow depth of the loch, the fountain is ineffective and its use was discontinued. Barley straw, added twice a year, has been used very successfully up to 2019 to reduce the blue-green algae levels.