Terry Hamill is a volunteer tour guide determined to defend one of Scotland's best kept secrets - the Galloway coastline
Galloway is Britain’s best kept secret. That might sound like a cliché but I truly believe it. Visitors to the area are often astonished at how beautiful it is – and why they hadn’t been before.
Work brought me here 20 years ago and the living was so good I decided to stay. I wanted to tell everyone how amazing Galloway is so I started a walking and historic society to showcase the best the area has to offer.
Walter Scott, John Buchan and Dorothy L Sayers make honourable mentions of Galloway in their literature. But part of its charm is that it hasn’t become downtrodden by tourism; it retains much of its natural beauty.
Alongside Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB, I lead free walking tours on a number of routes. They’re popular and I work alongside four other volunteers. We make the walks and talks engaging, fun and interactive.
One part of me doesn’t want Galloway to become a massive tourism success because I fear what it would do the natural habitats and unspoiled areas
Terry Hamill
They last up to three hours and involve a fair bit of walking, the longest route being eight miles. In January we were awarded funding of £5,000 which enabled us to buy audio route guides. It means everyone can get accurate information as they walk along pre-programmed routes. And it has made the walks far more popular.
Last year we got quite a few positive reviews on Trip Advisor and via social media. It meant we got a lot more enquiries from tourists, especially in the USA and Canada. That made my work a whole lot busier and time consuming, but that’s a good problem to have as far as I’m concerned.
I reckon people from abroad are more inclined to come to Galloway than indigenous Scots because we really don’t sell it well enough to our own people. That’s a frustration but also an opportunity. One part of me doesn’t want Galloway to become a massive tourism success because I fear what it would do the natural habitats and unspoiled areas.
One big issue currently facing Galloway is windfarm developments. It’s a tough one because we all want the same thing – to save our environment. But many don’t want to see huge turbines on the unspoiled landscape. I don’t – but at the same time I’m sympathetic to the cause. I just reconcile myself to the fact that they are only temporary: one day technology will perhaps move towards tidal power, and the landscape can be returned to normal.
Two of our most popular tours are along the Solway coast and Mull of Galloway – Scotland’s most southerly point. Here you can see both sides of the country east and west, and on its own, it has spectacular scenery.
It is also home to sizeable seabird colonies and other wildlife. If you’re lucky enough it’s a great vantage from which to view basking sharks, dolphins and whales. We take telescopes and viewfinders with us because on particularly clear days both the mainland and sea are teaming with life.
I’m a Londoner by birth but I now call myself a proud Gallovidian and can’t ever imagine returning to city life. That’s not to say we don’t have our issues: we are, after all, pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. But that’s also why I love it.
