The Flat at 3 Church Street in Glencaple offers very comfortable ground floor accommodation for one or two in the heart of this historic village. Built in the early 19th century, the Flat has been recently renovated to a high standard.
We are situated on the Burns and Solway Coast Heritage Trail. Only 4 miles from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Reserve and a 40 minute drive from the RSPB Reserve at Mersehead.
Glencaple is a small settlement situated on the banks of the River Nith and served as a port for Dumfries from the mid-18th century until after WW1. The name means “Glen of the Mare” and is part of the parish of Caerlaverock.
The first ship, the “Success” brought in American tobacco followed by timber from the Baltic, coal from Cumberland and dried fruit and port wine from Spain. Later passenger ships and steamers ran regularly between Glencaple and Liverpool.
The early 1800s saw many emigrants leaving for the colonies from the area, especially to Canada.
The Quayside is still the centre of the village. Here you’ll find The Boathouse café and shop serving a Bistro style menu and Afternoon Teas. Sit by the window for wonderful views out over the river and towards Criffel, the highest peak in the area. The shop sells groceries and gifts, products from local designers/artists, books, greetings cards and traditional children’s toys.
Across the road overlooking the Quay is the popular Nith Hotel – just round the corner from the Flat – which serves lunches and dinners as well as take-aways. A fish and chip van parks up on the Quay one evening a month and a mobile Post Office arrives in the Barbour Hall in Church Street twice a week.
Over the bridge across the burn is “Vintage on the Nith” a treasure trove packed full of a wide variety of retro and mid 20th century pieces including art glass, pottery, pictures, furniture, mirrors and books.
The village has a Primary school at the top of Church Street and, opposite the school is an Allotment Site established in April 2020 and open to anyone who’d like to have a nosey at the plots.
A couple of hundred metres upstream you’ll find Nith Inshore Rescue (NIR), an independent (non-RNLI) lifeboat facility. NIR began in the winter of 1981/82.
A man was trapped on a sandbank in the River just south of Glencaple. The tide was rising fast around him and local people watched in horror as the rising water overcame him and the Nith claimed yet another life. The villagers decided to help so set up NIR.
From small beginnings (one small rigid inflatable boat), it has become an integral part of Dumfries & Galloway’s rescue response.
Glencaple is famous for the bore which can reach a height of nearly a metre. The bore travels at speeds of up to six miles an hour between its mouth on the north side of the Solway Firth through to the village – a distance of about three miles.
Sadly tidal bores are not easy to predict and depend on wind, rainfall, moon cycles and often a bit of luck so ask the locals for their advice. Very roughly speaking, you can see the bore 1-2 hours before high tide, though it has to be said sometimes they are barely noticeable.
Other times they can be spectacular and you can often hear them before you can see them – sounds like the rumble of a distant train. A tide timetable is left in the Flat and is essential if you want to catch the bore but also to ensure you don’t get caught out while walking along the coast!
The area’s bird life is one of the reasons people visit Glencaple. The mud exposed at low tide attracts large numbers of wildfowl and waders in autumn and winter. In winter flocks of many thousands of Barnacle geese fly past the Flat window in the morning and evening and regularly settle on the merse (saltmarsh) across the river. They make an enormous racket when they lift off!
Other geese visiting here are Pinkfoot and Greylag. Whooper swan fly from Iceland in large numbers. It used to be that a sighting of a Little Egret caused much excitement but the other day I saw a flock of 12 across the river. Add to the mix – wigeon, redshank, goosander, goldeneye, curlew, shelduck, dunlin, oystercatchers, lapwing, cormorant, heron, mallard and lots of gulls (which I am rubbish at identifying). Skylarks in the summer.
Glencaple is only 4 miles from the Caerlaverock Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), once host to Autumnwatch. Over a dozen hides are scattered across an expansive area of wetland enabling wonderful sights of birds but also butterflies, dragonflies and badgers in the summer.
In winter months there is a Swan Feed once a day (with a talk by a warden) when you can get up close to swans and other wildfowl. WWT also hosts the annual Puddle Jumping Championships.
RSPB Mersehead Reserve is only 40 minutes away – westwards along the coast towards Dalbeattie. Wildlife hides, an information centre and sandy beach walks.
Otters have been spotted near Glencaple and occasionally we’ve even seen porpoises and seals in the river in the summer. The Nith Estuary is one of Scotland’s National Scenic Areas and is a nature lover’s paradise.
The area is well-placed for gentle walking with plenty of footpaths leading along the river and through the fields above the village, all well signposted – although you could tackle Criffel if you are looking for something more strenuous.
It may only be 569 metres high, but its modest altitude belies its prominence, rising as the highest hill for miles around and dominating the Solway.
A path has recently been built which makes the climb a little easier and less muddy and when you reach the top the views over the Solway and down the Nith are spectacular.
Mountain bikers shouldn’t miss a visit to the 7 Stanes site near Dalbeattie if cycling round Caerlaverock gets a little tame.
Golfing: There are plenty of golf courses nearby which are open to visitors including the Crichton Golf Course 15 minutes away and Powfoot towards Annan.
Just beyond Glencaple is Caerlaverock Castle, meaning “fort of the skylark”. Caerlaverock is a moated triangular castle – unique among British castles – and once the home to Clan Maxwell.
Inside the castle walls is the remarkable Nithsdale Lodging built in the 1630s by the 1st Earl of Nithsdale. Its attractive façade, with its ornate Renaissance stone carvings, is a sharp contrast to the severe castle walls.
The Castle was besieged and rebuilt several times but eventually abandoned in the 17th century. Many rare animals and plants are found in the castle grounds which include semi-natural ancient woodland, swamp and ponds and unimproved grassland. There’s a playground, a life-size catapult, lovely walks round the castle grounds and gift shop.
Lovely beaches are nearby including Sandyhills, Southerness, Rockcliffe and Powfoot.
There are loads of leaflets about local attractions left for you in the Flat including ideas of where to go if the weather isn’t so good.
And for more information about what’s going on in the immediate area visit www.caerlaverock.org.uk/things-to-do
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