SOMETHING FISHY: MORTIMER AND WHITEHOUSE IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY

 

National treasures Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse are achingly funny guys in their own right.  Put them together on a fishing trip and sit back and listen to the banter, and they become positively hilarious, especially when joined by the funny-looking but endearing Ted the Dog.  The duo are currently on season 6 of their popular Gone Fishing series on BBC.  Each episode features a river in a gorgeous part of the country, and a variety of fabulous accommodation offerings.  Episode 2 of series 6 features two striking properties in Dumfries and Galloway, where the pair head in search  of pike, this time without Ted in tow.

Their first overnight stay, following a fishing session in a secluded pike lake in which they fail to find any pike, is in a haunted castle, Spedlins Castle (aka Spedlins Tower).  The castle, a typical Scottish tower house dating from 1450, overlooks the River Annan, north-east of Dumfries and just off the A74(M).   The castle is available as holiday accommodation and sleeps 14, so heaven only knows how much it would have cost Bob and Paul for a 1-night stay.  As for the ghost, the story goes that a local miller called James Porteous, nickname ‘Dunty’, was left locked in the dungeon with no food or water when the castle’s 17^th-century owner Alexander Jardine had to leave for Edinburgh.  The Jardine family were so traumatised by the antics of Dunty’s ghost that they moved away from the castle to escape him.

Spedlins Tower 2011. Photo by Beshoffs, via Wikimedia Commons.

 The second property featured in the episode is Kinmount House, where Bob and Paul head to for their second day’s fishing.  This 19^th century country house 3 ½ miles west of Annan was designed by Sir Robert Smirke for the 6^th Marquess of Queensberry on land which was granted to the Carlyle family in the 13^th century.  Its extensive grounds include the lake used by Bob and Paul for their fishing, where they finally catch their elusive pike.  Kinmount House is today used as a luxury wedding venue.

Kinmount House. Photo by Barry Dale, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of Spedlins Castle and surrounding area.

Map of Kinmount House and surrounding area.

 

VIRGINIA SEES THE LIGHT: TO THE LIGHTHOUSE/GODREVY, CORNWALL

 The writer Virginia Woolf was born in London, the daughter of Leslie and Julia Stephens.  Although the family lived in London, during the 1880s and 1890s, for three months of every year, they would decamp to St Ives, staying at Talland House.  Anyone who has been to St Ives will be well aware of the magnificent views along the coastline.  One notable feature on the horizon is Godrevy Lighthouse, just offshore a few miles up the coast from St Ives at the eastern end of St Ives Bay.  The lighthouse was clearly visible from the family’s holiday home, which sat above Porthminster Beach.

Talland House, St Ives, Cornwall - May 2022. Photo by Mutney, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

The lighthouse formed the inspiration for the story Virginia considered her best, ‘To The Lighthouse’, which was actually set on Skye in a location visited by the Ramsay family, for whom the lighthouse was an ever-present draw.  Virginia describes the lighthouse as ‘hoary’ and ‘austere’, and she refers to the ‘green sand dunes with the wild flowing grasses on them’.  This is a good description of the coast surrounding Godrevy Lighthouse, which is dominated by the sand dunes of Gwithian, and which is managed by the National Trust..

Talland House is on Albert Road, above the railway station which forms the terminus of a delightful short branch line from St Erth.  The house is not open to visitors, but there is a  blue plaque commemorating its association with Woolf and her family.

Godrevy Lighthouse has an octagonal tower 26 metres high, designed by architect James Walker and opened on 1^st March 1859.  It was built on Godrevy Island,which lies 300 metres off Godrevy Head.  The lighthouse is well placed for protecting shipping from the hazardous Stones Reef.  The light was deactivated in 2012 and replaced with an LED light mounted on the rocks on a platform, but the lighthouse tower is still retained by Trinity House as a daymark.  There are boat trips out to the lighthouse from St Ives.

Map of St Ives.

Godrevy Lighthouse by Barbara Ashley.