Isle of Whithorn

Pliny the Elder died in AD 79 and in his Natural History he describes Britain, Ireland and the smaller islands off the coast, one being vectis and this has been identified with the Isle of Whithorn. The name Lucopibia as used by Ptolemy has also been linked with Whithorn. This was a haunt for smugglers and a principal harbour for legitimate trade and transport; here you caught the Countess of Galloway, the steam packet which would take you to Liverpool and maybe a passage on an emigrant ship to the New World or Australia.

The Isle's most familiar landmark is the square, white tower known locally as 'The Cairn', that has been a navigational aid for hundreds of years. From here there are views of the Kirkcudbright coast, the whole of the northern range of the English Lake District mountains, and to the south the rounded, mountainous form of the Isle of Man. During the Second World War it was the site of a tracking station for anti-aircraft gunnery practice. The set-up was that an aircraft flew up and down in front of the guns, which would try to bring it down. Initially, radio-controlled 'Queen Bee' aircraft were used, and the flat concrete foundation by the white tower on the cairn, now the location of the…