Horses
Up to three horses can be stabled during your stay. Pasture access for grazing, use of the ménage and use of a stable for each horse is available. There are horse friendly routes requiring minimal use of main roads which are accessible from Tumbling Banks. If you wish to use this facility, please discuss it first with Mrs Sinclair.
Swimming
There is a safe, child friendly sea bathing from nearby Rockcliffe beach. Alternatively, there are indoor pools at Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright and Dumfries, or, by arrangement with Mrs Sinclair, you can use the Kirkland Farmhouse outdoor pool.
Tennis
The Kirkland Farmhouse tarmac tennis court is available by agreement.
Bird Watching and Wildlife
There are different species of bird on the farm, including several pairs of buzzards, sparrow hawks, herons, swallows, finches, woodpeckers, Canadian geese (at the relevant time of the year) and barn owls. Merse Head RSPB reserve is 10 minutes drive away; Carsethorn 15 minutes. The farm is also host to mammals including: red squirrels, hare, roe deer and badger.
Flora and Fauna
Kirkland farm has benefitted from a Rural Stewardship Scheme for some 25 years. There are several different habitats, ranging from bog land, herb rich pastures, lowland heath, to water margins. Each of these holds plants indigenous to the South West of Scotland.
Walking
Tumbling Banks can be used as a place to commence a range of nature walks on the farm, along the coastal path from Rockcliffe to Sandyhills, the Jubilee Path to Kippford, or a brief stroll to the iron age Mote of Mark in Rockcliffe.
Cycling
The cottage is situated within reach of the Seven Stanes Dalbeattie forest rides, which offer a choice of gentle or more challenging routes, all with marked signs. There is secure parking for bicycles in the barns.
Click here for more information about Seven Stanes – Dalbeattie
Gastronomical Interest
Colvend shop and vendors in Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie offer a range of local foods.
Live Feeds from Covent Garden
The Fullarton Theatre in Castle Douglas presents live feeds from Covent Garden. Prices are very reasonable. The Burns Theatre in Dumfries has a diverse and topical range of movies, someo of which are organised on a child friendly basis. There is a shop and a restraunt at the Burns Theatre which specialises in local foods. Well worth an expedition.
Colvend Parish Church
Services take place at 11.00 a.m. on alternative weeks led by the Reverend John Murdoch.
Gardens
Threave Gardens at Castle Douglas (10 miles) is well worth visiting. There is a National Trust shop and a restaurant which produces home made soup and cakes.
Other Amenities
There are three golf courses within easy reach (Colvend, Kippford and Southerness), sailing at Kippford, pony trekking at Sandy Hills, local craft centres, and sandy beaches at Rockcliffe and Sandyhills. Bainloch Deer Park is 2 miles away at Sandyhills, and offers accompanied tours of the Park where some 500 deer roam freely. This is a wildlife sanctuary, not a commercial deer farm. Bainloch has a Visitor Centre and a Restraunt.
Local Shops and Dining Out
Colvend Corner shop is 1 mile away and supplies a range of local and national products. The Stuffed Olive café at Colvend Corner serves paninis and other snacks. Rockcliffe has an antique / tea shop. The Clonyard has a popular bar and restaurant. Kippford has two main hostelries, the Anchor and the Mariner with views onto the tidal estuary. At Carsethorn there is the legendry “Steam Boat Inn”. There is an excellent bar and restraunt at Barend, Sandyhills. Castle Douglas has a good Indian Restaurant (Jewel in the Crown).
Local History
The south west of Scotland is rich in historical interest. The recently discovered Viking Galloway Hoard at Balmaghie has been of immense local and national interest. The well preserved remains of the Franciscan Abbey at New Abbey hark back to the times of “Queen Devorguilla”. More contemporaneously, and still relevant today, are the links of the region to the smuggling trade of the 18th Century, the rise and demise of railways, Covenanter history, the impact of the Irish Famine. The history of Carsethorn as a major port used for transport across the west of the country and by emigrants travelling to America in the 18th Centrury is a fascinating topic.
Cultural Assets
The region is host to an abundace of festivals and culture. Kirkcudbright stands out as an iconic “painters” outpost, being one of the sites where the “Glasgow Boys” developed their styles of paintings. Hornel, Guthrie, Henry, Lavery, Walton and MacGregor found solice in Kirkcudbright. Kirkcudbright Galleries is hosting the Scottish Landscapes Awards exhibition in 2025 and is host to regular exhibitions, one of which featured an impressionistic style old farmhouse on the original land of this farm (Barcloy Mill Farmhouse). A more recent innovation at Kirkcudbright is the the Jazz Festival. The internationally recognised “Wigtown Book Festival” draws hundreds of visitors to its festival every year. A town of momentous historical significance – Stranraer – now hosts the annual “Oyster Festival”. Stranraer is near Portpatrick which in its hayday was the primary departure point for mail to Northern Ireland, as well as offereing “quick” marriages for folk from Northern Ireland and elsewhere. Besides having a spectacular history, it also hosts good restraunts. The Burns Centre in Dumfries is housed in an old water mill near to the iconic Devorgilla bridge the initial structure built in 1270 by Devorgilla. There is a Robert Burns museam in the Burns Centre.