Galloway Forest Park is a
forest park
A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment.
Examples Chile
* Forest Park, Santiago
China
* Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai
* Mufushan National Forest ...
operated by
Forestry and Land Scotland
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. ...
, principally covering woodland in
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkc ...
. It is claimed to be the largest forest in the UK. The park was granted
Dark Sky Park status ("Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park") in November 2009, being the first area in the UK to be so designated.
[
The park, established in 1947, covers ]Glen Trool
Glen Trool ( gd, Gleann an t-Sruthail) is a glen in the Southern Uplands, Galloway, Scotland. It contains Loch Trool
Loch Trool is a narrow, freshwater loch in Galloway, in the Southern Uplands in south-west Scotland. It lies in an elevated p ...
, Kirroughtree, and Clatteringshaws receive around 150,000 each year. Much of the Galloway Hills
The Galloway Hills are part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, and form the northern boundary of western Galloway. They lie within the bounds of the Galloway Forest Park, an area of some of largely uninhabited wild land, managed by Forestry an ...
lie within the boundaries of the park and there is good but rough hillwalking and also some rock climbing and ice-climbing within the park. Within or near the boundaries of the park are several well developed mountain bike tracks, forming part of the 7stanes project.
As well as catering for recreation, the park includes economically valuable woodland, producing 500,000 tons of timber per year.
Galloway Forest Park and the people who visit it and work in it were the subject of a six-part BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
documentary series aired in early 2018 entitled "The Forest".
Dark sky
In November 2009 the International Dark-Sky Association
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is " ...
conferred Dark Sky Park status on the Galloway Forest Park, the first area in the UK to be so designated.[
]
The Scottish Dark Sky Observatory
The Scottish Dark Sky Observatory was an astronomical observatory located near Loch Doon Loch Doon, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It was situated on a hilltop site overlooking the Craigengillan Estate and Dalmellington
Dalmellington ( sco, Dawmel ...
, near Dalmellington
Dalmellington ( sco, Dawmellinton, gd, Dail M'Fhaolain) is a market town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2001 the village had a population of 1,407. The town owes its origins to the fault line separating the Southern Uplands of ...
, is located within the northern edge of the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park. The observatory was partly funded by the Scottish Government and opened in 2012. It suffered a devastating fire during the early hours of 23 June 2021, resulting in complete destruction of the observatory. The fire is currently being treated as suspicious.
Alexander Murray
The park is also home to the ruins of the birthplace of Alexander Murray, the son of a shepherd and farm labourer. Murray was self-taught on multiple languages, and eventually went on to become professor of Oriental languages at University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...
. A short distance away, high on a hillside, is Murray's Monument, which was erected in his memory in 1835.
Typhoon crash
On 18 March 1944, 22-year-old Canadian pilot Kenneth Mitchell crashed his Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...
aircraft in the forest (locatio
here
. The impact killed him instantly. Mitchell was in training in preparation for his squadron's role fighting the German V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany ...
s in the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. On 18 March 2009, 65 years to the day since the crash, a commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
was installed on a mortared cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehi ...
at the crash site, where pieces of the aircraft still remain. Mitchell was buried in Ayr Cemetery, Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
.Kenneth Osborne Mitchell
at FindAGrave.com
See also
*
Loch Macaterick
References
External links
Recreation at Galloway Forest Parkat the Forestry and Land Scotland website
'Activity Tourism'from the Countryside Recreation Network
Rock and Ice climbing in the Galloway Hills7 Stanes
{{Authority control
Forests and woodlands of Scotland
Country parks in Scotland
Dark-sky preserves in the United Kingdom
Parks in Dumfries and Galloway
Forest parks of Scotland