On the west side of the Machars peninsula in Dumfries & Galloway lies Port William, a small but pretty fishing village with beautiful views over Luce Bay to the Mull of Galloway and beyond.
I’ve been wanting to add more ‘short’ walks to the blog (as I’m aware not everyone can do distance hikes or mountains) and I recently discovered this walk on WalkHighlands which sounded perfect. Short, a pretty village and lovely views.
With the exceptional temperatures in the UK recently, I wanted something that wouldn’t cause exhaustion or require exertion! So on a warm summer day, my dad and I headed to Port William for what we hoped would be a lovely walk that wasn’t too strenuous.
The Harbour
One of my favourite things about walking in Dumfries & Galloway is the free parking and Port William is no exception. Double-yellow lines are absent in the little village, which offers parking on the high street or on the surrounding roads. I would suggest parking at the harbour, specifically at the little cafe ‘The View‘ (quite aptly named!), which has spaces for about 20 cars and is completely free.
Being a harbour in Dumfries & Galloway, the views are typically wonderful. We had hardly gotten out of the car before we were talking about how lovely the harbour was. The Mull of Galloway Lighthouse was visible in the distance over Luce Bay, seagulls were flying overhead and I couldn’t help but notice the huge amount of benches scatted along the shorefront.
There is also the lovely fisherman statue, gazing out over the sea with a little plaque in front of him. I saw multiple people stopping to take a picture with him.
The plaque reads:
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
W.H. Davies
My immediate priority had been to get my dad and myself a sour skittle from the drivers cubby of my car (you HAVE to have a sweet of some kind in the car: it’s the rules) but we were both distracted by the lovely views and the small fishing boat that was approaching the harbour. Perfect timing. It really is an idyllic Scottish coastal village spot, one that is the opposite of the fast-paced hustle and bustle of the cities.
Maxwell Park
Leaving the harbour car park brought us out on to the main street of Port William. It’s a lovely, clean and quiet little village with a few cars heading through it on their way somewhere else.
A real highlight of the walk is Maxwell Park, which sits at the north side of the village above the roundabout (which has a big anchor in the middle of it!) and is something you must see. A small path snakes uphill, passing a war memorial and a British flag, which was fluttering in the wind.
A small row of benches sit alongside a stone wall, with a little gate that opens in to the park. The park has one swing set for kids but is otherwise a very well kept field, which we surmised could be used for walking your dog at night if you lived locally, or for a variety of ball games.
Regardless, the views over the town to the Mull of Galloway are fantastic and it is not only a wonderful spot to just sit and enjoy the scenery but it’s a credit to this little village how well kept it all is.
Even if you have no intention of doing Garnets Walk, I’d suggest strolling up to the top of Maxwell Park.
Garnets Walk
We descended back down and, just below the flag pole, a small track leads to the start of Garnets Walk, a 2.5 mile walk on a narrow track that separates the farm fields above the town.
The walk itself is quite rectangular, if you imagine the start and end being the bottom left point of a vertical rectangle. The uphill is gentle (and doesn’t last) and soon we found ourselves on the very straight track above the town. The views are lovely over the rolling fields, with farmhouses dotted about and the Galloway hills towering in the distance.
One pleasant surprise was the brambles! Huge bushes line the entire track and were full of thick, juicy brambles. We couldn’t resists picking a few and they dominated our conversation for quite a bit. We’ve both seen people picking them at the side of roads or in other far less pleasant spots than this. It’s definitely a spot where one could fill a small tub quite easily with fresh, clean brambles.
We weren’t the only ones enjoying them. Butterflies fluttered all along the track: white ones and orange ones were abundant, landing on the lovely flowers and just about everywhere else too!
The route has an early option to take a left turn and double back towards Port William if you want an even shorter version of this walk (taking you out just to the north of Maxwell Park) but we pressed on and came to the point where the path takes a 90° turn to the right, slinking through a dense, gorse-strewn little alley before arriving at a small road that travels back towards Port William.
Back to the Harbour
On the return we encountered one of the most ‘country-side’ scenes imaginable. One farm worker was standing, watching a seemingly endless parade of cows who were strolling out of barns, down through one field, across the road, and into another.
Clearly something the cows had done a thousand times at this point, their slow yet orderly march to a lower field was lovely to watch and we slowed down as we approached their convoy.
The farm worker waited for a pause in the ‘traffic’, closed a little wire over the top field and signalled us to resume our walk. We smiled at him, he smiled back and once we had gotten past him he undid the little wire and the cow-crossing resumed.
I’ve lived in the countryside for a long time now at this point in my life, and these slow-motion moments are what makes it so wonderful.
We eventually found ourselves back in Port William and it wasn’t long before we arrived at the harbour car park. As luck would have it, the fishing boat from earlier was heading back out to sea, bobbing in the waves as ourselves and a few others enjoyed seeing it off.
There was also one lucky seagull, who had managed to acquire a small fish (I assume a freebie from the fisherman!) and was struggling to scoff it down.
For such a short walk, we had a fantastic day at Port William and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.
This is a perfect walk in Dumfries & Galloway if you want that wonderful mix of coastal and farmland that Dumfries & Galloway is so known for. At just 2.5 miles, this walk should be possible for almost all abilities and ages. It’s never steep, there are plenty of point to stop for a breather (frequently on one of the many well-placed benches) and the views are ample rewards for such little effort.
Port William is one of those ‘drive through it’ villages in Dumfries and Galloway and I suspect not many take the time to stop in it. Hopefully this walk inspires you to discover this charming little fishing village in Dumfries & Galloway.
Walk Information
Route Length: 2.5 miles
Parking: FREE
Starting Post Code: DG8 9QF