The Southern Upland Way. Alan Castle

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      Portpatrick

      No more splendid starting place for the SUW can be imagined than pretty little Portpatrick on the rocky west coast of the Rhins peninsula. Portpatrick is a lovely small coastal town with its brightly painted blue, white and cream buildings huddled around an attractive horseshoe shaped bay and neat harbour. It makes a very pleasant place to spend the evening before venturing out on your long walk. There is plenty of accommodation on offer in the town, from harbourside hotels to B&Bs, but note that booking is well advised, particularly during the main summer season, as Portpatrick is a popular place for a holiday or short break.

      You could be forgiven for thinking that you were in the Scottish Highlands or Islands from the surrounding landscape. Indeed the BBC in the early 2000s conned its viewers into believing that this area was one of the Hebridean Islands in a popular TV series, Two Thousand Acres of Sky (photographs of the cast of this series can be viewed by clients of one of the harbourside café/restaurants). Portpatrick and its harbour also wouldn’t be out of place on the Cornish coast. If you are arriving here on the midday bus from Stranraer then there are several cafes and restaurants awaiting you, for lunch or tea and coffee before setting out on the Way. Although today the town is mainly of interest to tourists and television directors, in former times it was a major port to Ireland. Indeed the very name of the town, after the Irish patron saint, indicates its importance for communications and trade with Ireland. In its heyday in 1812, 20,000 horses and cattle were imported here from the Irish port of Donaghadee, a mere 21 miles away across the North Channel. Troops were sent to Ireland from Britain via Portpatrick, the town having a large and permanent barracks, and many Covenanters sailed from here to safety in Ireland. It was also the Gretna Green for Ireland, offering a quick and easy marriage with few questions asked. Even Peter the Great is said to have spent a night here on his visit to Britain in 1698. But by the 1840s, with the invention of the large and faster steamship that soon superseded sail, Portpatrick fell rapidly into decline as Stranraer was developed.

      To start the SUW, head for the north-west end of Portpatrick harbour (toilets) to reach a SUW information board, the first of many encountered along the Way, and the very first SUW wooden fingerpost, situated at the foot of a long flight of concrete steps heading up the coastal cliff. These mark the start of your 347km epic journey eastwards to Cockburnspath. But for the first few miles you stay with the west coast, enjoying an excellent coastal path. Note the various dates from historic, prehistoric and geological times marked on these steps. Head up to the huge Portpatrick Hotel with its Scottish Baronial architecture.

      Sea cliff north of Portpatrick

      Take the good path at the top of the steps, heading, ironically, westwards at first and pulling away from Portpatrick. Special care is required on this first section of the SUW, along this rocky coastline, particularly in wet, windy or icy conditions. There are benches here if you wish to linger awhile to admire the view, which in clear conditions includes the Irish coastline as far south as the Mourne Mountains. The path at this point is protected from the steep drop down to the cliffs below by a sturdy wooden fence. Walk to the left of the British Telecom Radio Station, still on the good coastal path above the cliffs. When Portpatrick Golf Course comes into view, walk up a short flight of wooden steps then turn left along an asphalted drive alongside the golf course before soon leaving the hard surface for the continuing coastal path. The route descends over rocks to reach a sandy and shingle beach. Cross this to turn left around the next peninsula headland, soon dropping again to cross a wooden footbridge. Pass around the shoreline to pick up the path again as it passes behind two tall rock stacks, and so up steep rocky, chain-assisted steps, back onto the grassy coastal path, which is met at a stile. An excellent section follows where it is possible to stride out on green springy turf. Soon Killantringan Lighthouse (private) at Black Head will come into view.

      Killantringan Lighthouse, which was built in 1900, marks the point where the SUW, having followed the coast northwards from Portpatrick for about 3.5km, leaves the sea to start its long journey to the east coast. The lighthouse apparently did not do its job too well; in 1982 a cargo ship ran aground on the nearby rocks spilling toxic waste into the sea and polluting the nearby coast. Note that the lighthouse is private property and the occupants should not be disturbed.

      Killantringan Lighthouse

      Head to the right of the lighthouse to join its tarmac access track at a SUW fingerpost that will direct you to the right and inland. At last you are on your long journey to the east coast! As you turn inland be sure to enjoy the grand view of Knock Bay and the coastal cliffs to the north.

      Knock Bay from Killantringan Lighthouse (photo: Alan Castle)

      The narrow asphalted lane climbs gradually eastwards away from the coast, passing first Killantringan Farmhouse and then Killantringan Cottage, after which it levels and continues to a main road, the B738. Go left on this usually fairly quiet road then after about 400m turn right onto a narrow lane that rises gently over a rounded green hill. Remain on this lane as it bends first to the left and then to the right to pass to the right of large Knockniemoak House. About 100m later, turn sharply right off this lane at a SUW fingerpost onto a gravel track by a pair of houses (Three Acres). Follow this track to the left of another solitary house and garage. Here the main track bends right, but keep ahead into a grassy one (a box formerly holding free SUW leaflets will be passed on your left). Go through a combination gate (a field gate with a smaller walkers’ gate set into it) to enter pasture and climb to a SUW marker post at the top of a grassy hill. From this point, Mulloch Hill at 156m (512ft), the tip of the steep-sided volcanic island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde to the north can just be seen on a clear day.

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