Moffat Area

Moffat

Annan

Gretna Green

Area Main Page

The most southerly part of the English/Scottish border meets the Solway Firth a few miles north of Carlisle. Most people simply stay on the M74 and aim to cross the intervening landscape to the Central Belt or beyond as quickly as possible.

This means that those parts of Scotland closest to most of England are amongst the least known and least visited by people from either side of the border or beyond: truly Undiscovered Scotland!

Taking a left at the Scottish border brings you first to Gretna with, a little north of it, Gretna Green. It is a little bizarre to find villages whose economy revolves around the act of marriage: but here they are. This all came about because of disparities in marriage law in England and Scotland from the 1750s until the latter half of the 1800s, which made it much easier to get married north of the border than south of it. Gretna Green. became the centre of the industry because it was the first settlement eloping couples found in Scotland. The legal anomalies have largely been ironed out, but the tradition of a Gretna wedding retains a strong attraction.

West of Gretna is Annan, a town built of remarkably red stone on the east side of the River Annan, a mile or so north of where it flows into the Solway Firth.

Travelling north along the M74 you pass the village of Ecclefechan en route to Lockerbie, sadly best known because of the disaster that took place here on Wednesday 21 December 1988.

In Lockerbie you find Dryfesdale Parish Church. The name of the Parish of Dryfesdale comes from the local river, the Dryfe Water, which flows south towards Lockerbie before joining the River Annan a little to the west.

Lochmaben is an ancient town lying four miles west of Lockerbie on the main road between it and Dumfries. Its location is unusual as it is hemmed in by three separate lochs: Castle Loch to the south, Kirk Loch to the south west, and Mill Loch to the north west. On a promontory projecting north from the southern shore of Castle Loch are the remains of Lochmaben Castle.

Further north and just to the east of the A74 is Moffat an exceptionally attractive market town once famous for its healing spring waters, and now better known for its large choice of hotels. It is also home to South West Scotland's largest parish church, St Andrew's.