Moffat May 2023

Given the journey to Moffat was little over an hour we decided to have a relaxed morning to avoid having to wait for the 1.00pm check in time at the site. We had an uneventful trip up the M74, and soon after leaving the motorway were in Moffat, following the detailed instructions on how to find the site. Every thing went to plan until bad signage led us to overshoot the entrance, and in turning around to go back Sue nearly scraped the motorhome on a bollard.

The checkin went smoothly and we were soon on our pitch, shortly after 2.00pm, and whilst I set about connecting the electricity and switching on the gas I attached Finn’s lead to a hook by the door so that he could access the outside. He quickly took to that arrangement, but given the placement of the fly screen we decided we needed another hook. We then spent a little time tuning in the TV as we planned to watched the end of a serial we had been watching that would end that night.

After that our thoughts turned to Moffat, and we set off to walk the short distance to the town. Luckily the first shop we came across was a hardware store so I was able to purchase the much needed hook. We then went in search of a delicatessen that had been recommended to us. Unfortunately when we found the shop it was shut, but we were impressed at the range of independent quirky shops that there were in Moffat. After we explored the town a little more, surprisingly, we found ourselves in the Balmoral Hotel enjoying a snack comprising of cider and cheese and onion crisps. Finn was in seventh heaven here as he was spoilt rotten by the staff and given a juicy snack to chew on. Sue was concerned at the size and sharp edges of the snack as Finn chomped away, and she ultimately took it from him. 

We then returned to the motorhome where I rolled out the awning, to protect us from the sun, and we enjoyed a glass of white wine and relaxed in our camping chairs. Our thoughts then turned to our evening meal, which had been booked at the Black Bull Inn, and again I had been fortunate to book one of the best places to eat in Moffat, in my internet search. I chose the spare ribs dish, and it turned out to be the best rib dish I’d ever eaten. Sue was equally pleased with her fish dish. As normal Finn was spoilt rotten by the staff, this pub has won awards for being one of the most dog friendly in Scotland, and has won a number of other prestigious awards. The food was so good that on the way back to the motorhome we decided that we wanted to alter our plans for our last nights meal, booked at the Allandale Arms Hotel, in order that we could eat at the Black Bull Inn again. 

Whilst at the Black Bull one of the barmen told us that the best place for breakfast was the Ariete Café, so we made plans to go there the next morning.

After a busy first day we settled down for the night. 

The next morning broke again to brilliant sunshine and we made our way into town to the Ariete Café. We were lucky that it was a fine day as Finn wasn’t welcome in the café so we took our breakfast rolls at a table outside. Sue was very impressed with her fried egg butty and coffee, and I was equally satisfied with my bacon roll, orange juice and tea. Sue found a money spider on her, said it was her lucky day and went next door to the newsagents to buy a lottery ticket for that nights draw, which unfortunately didn’t win.

Whilst she was in the newsagents I noticed a sign on the window advertising an exhibition in the Moffat museum for the ‘Moffat Ravine Murders – the birth of modern forensics’, and I decided to make that my next port of call, on the way to the Moffat Spitfire.

We then set off in the direction of the museum and on the way there Sue found a sign for a pottery, and agreed to visit there whilst I was in the museum. There was a very helpful attendant in the museum and he gave me a lot of information on how in 1935 Dr. Buck Ruxton from Lancaster had murdered both his wife and maid, dismembered their bodies and disposed of them from a bridge north of Moffat. The exhibition focussed on how the police used innovative forensic techniques to solve the murder, relying on the evidence of a leading entomologist regarding the ‘Ruxton maggots’ found on the body parts. Suitably educated I left the museum to find Sue waiting outside, the pottery she wished to visit was closed.

We then focussed on finding the Moffat Spitfire, not far from the town centre. Moffat has two connections with the Spitfire, the first being that Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding, who masterminded the Battle of Britain in 1940, was born in Moffat. It is the second connection that we were about to explore. Hamish McLeod, a retired GP and former pilot has built a replica Spitfire in his garden, and it’s on display for everyone to admire it. It has attracted many visitors over the years and raised thousands of pounds for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund and other good causes. He has left it to the people of Moffat and the residents of Dowding House in his will, and it will most likely spend its final days in the grounds of Dowding House, a retirement home for ex RAF personnel.

We then headed back into town, but first called in at the Moffat Mill to buy a much needed hat to protect my head from the sun. Whilst we were there I also took the opportunity to buy a couple of belts, and Sue bought a new top. Not wanting to be weighed down with our shopping whilst we spent the rest of the day in Moffat we decided to return to the motorhome where we lightened our load, and spent a short while under the awning.

We then decided to explore Moffat further and walk again into town. We first came across the Famous Star Hotel, it being famous for being the Worlds narrowest hotel in the Guinness Book of Records. It is only 20 feet wide and 162 feet long. We decided to take respite from the sun in the bar there. Other than an older man watching the horse racing on the TV we were the only ones there, we were not impressed with this record breaking hotel. After a refreshing cider and crisp snack we decided to see if the recommended delicatessen was open, and we set off out in the sun again.

It was not far to the delicatessen and we there in minutes where Sue went inside to sample the wares whilst I waited outside with Finn. From inside the shop Sue didn’t miss me talking to an attractive blonde who had stopped to fuss Finn, she had a dog herself, which was wearing a Batman suit. Once Sue had purchased what she wanted from the shop we set off in search for the Allandale Arms Hotel to tell them that we wanted to cancel our meal booking for the Saturday night. On the way there Finn disgraced himself on the steps outside a shop, with his ‘doings’ being more sloppy than normal due the amount of treats he had been given over the time we had been in Moffat. Whilst I entertained Finn Sue set to in a major cleaning exercise.

Once the step had been returned to it’s former condition we crossed the road to enter the hotel, where we were greeted by the receptionist just inside the door. She accepted our cancellation and showed us to the bar where we had another cider. We were the only customers in the bar. Again Finn was fussed over and given another treat.

We then decided to stop at the bakers on the Main Street to buy bread rolls and a cheese scone so we could enjoy a snack with our white wine under the awning. That’s where we relaxed until dinner time, this time booked at the dog friendly Brodies restaurant within an easy walk from the pitch. 

Again Finn was spoilt rotten, given treats and a lot of fuss. The food there was excellent, of a standard that you would expect from a top flight restaurant, and the service was very good.

Suitably sated we return to the motorhome for the night.

The next morning was sunny again, we had been very lucky on this break, and chose a time when there was a big high over the U.K. Sue had risen early and taken Finn for a walk to the nearby park, where she had seen a sign for a putting green, and we agreed that it would be good entertainment to have a putting competition. After breakfast we set off to the park in search of the putting green. The park was set out around a large boating lake, which we walked around looking for the putting green, which we failed to find. There was a gardener mowing a large grass area, and luck would have it that it was the putting green, out of use for the day. We would have to change our plans. The lake had a number of pedalos tethered to an island in the centre of it, and water was being pumped into it from the river alongside, so a boat ride was not not an option. We decided to walk back into town which meant passing the pottery, which Sue had not been able to access on her earlier visit. This time it was open, and the potter, Sandy Cosen, was very accommodating, and even happy to let Finn into the studio. After a long chat we learnt that she was to visit our local town for a pottery exhibition a few weeks later. Sue was given free reign to examine the goods on offer whilst I sat on a welcome leather sofa in charge of Finn, as she purchased a couple more mugs for her collection. From there we decided to carry on further into town which entailed passing the Black Bull Inn, where we decided to call in for a light lunch. Fortunately the service was not too quick as we sat at a table outside enjoying the sunshine. On the table next to us was a group of Dutch motorbikers who had landed from the ferry in Newcastle that morning, they were going to ride the North Coast 500, a route that, one day, we wish to enjoy. Sue did not enjoy her Cullenskink as the cream had been curdled and was lumpy on top of the dish, we complained to the waitress who took our comments to the chef. A while later she returned with a message from the chef telling us “that’s the way it’s meant to be”. We know for a fact, given the Cullenskink we have enjoyed elsewhere in Scotland, that he was wrong, and given that he did not have to decency to come out and examine the dish himself I left a strongly worded review on Tripadvisor. Given that the food was of such a high standard on our earlier visit we concluded that our food had been prepared by someone else that night, and we hoped he would be working again on our next visit.

After a brief walk into town we returned to sit under the awning with some wine to enjoy the rest of the sunny day. Later we prepared for our evening meal at the Allandale Arms Hotel and strolled into town. The food was quite acceptable but not of the standard that we had enjoyed on our first night in the Black Bull Inn, and we were happy that we had altered our plans. On the next table to us in the restaurant was a group of English motorbikers on their way home after enjoying the delights of the Scottish roads. After our meal we returned to the motorhome for an early night.

We arose on our final full day in Moffat to another sunny day and decided to breakfast at the Ariete Café again hoping that we would be lucky enough to secure one of the outside tables, which we did.

After our breakfast we returned to the motorhome to sit under the awning and while away the day. Rather than waste the day loafing about we decided to undertake the river walk that Sandy Cosen had told us of the previous day, and coincidentally we met her in town as we were nearing the river.

She had closed up early as her daughter had returned from University.

The river walk passes the sports field out of town, and there was a rather noisy football match in progress as we past, and we were pleased to leave the noise behind as we ventured further away from town. The section of the path we took was not an onerous walk as we opted to leave the river where the main road crosses the river North of the town over the bridge which, presumably, Dr. Ruxton had disposed of his corpses all those years before. From there it was a short walk back into town. As chance would have it, at one of the first houses back into town we again encountered Sandy Cosen, and her husband, preparing to leave for a shopping trip.

I was given the option as to which pub we would stop at for a post walk cider, and we walked the length of the High Street until we reached the Coachman Bar, which was dog friendly and Finn was spoilt rotten. We then decided to return to the motorhome for more wine under the awning to make the best of the weather. As the day ended we made our way to the Black Bull Inn for our final dinner of the holiday. Again the food was excellent, and unfortunately Finn missed out on the Dog Menu as we had fed him before we left for the evening. It is the first time I have ever seen a separate menu for dogs given out in a restaurant. It included such delights as fish fingers, a trio of sausages, dog food, ice cream and various other items. We set off back to the motorhome pleased with our break, which had been made all the better by the excellent weather.

The next day the sun was still shining, and after breakfast we concentrated on  disconnecting the electricity, switching off the gas, emptying the bin, washing up, ensuring everything onboard was secure and winding in the awning.

We left the pitch at approximately 10.30am and we’re home before noon. By far our best trip yet, they just keep getting better.