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“In 1870 a post office serving the district was opened at the Scaur in a house near the Anchor Inn. This post office was called Kippford and the name gradually replaced the Scaur as the village’s name. Writing in the Kirkcudbrightshire Advertiser & Galloway News in 1923 under the pen-name ‘Scauronian’, Samuel Murdoch Crosbie wrote that: Within living memory the Scaur has changed from an out of the world little hamlet of some eighteen cottages (most of them thatched) to a thriving little village of more than double the number of dwellings. In those earlier days the Scaur was cut off from the outside world by the tide for a portion of each day as the only road into it was along the beach which was covered twice every 24 hours. There was no post office, there were three public houses, there was no shop worthy of the name and, generally speaking, the village was considered to be quite a century behind the times.”
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Mother and dad latched on to the charms of Kippford back in 1971 when dad had the ear of one of his workmates at the Metal Box company, who kept talking about this little gem of a fishing village that not many people knew about, “located somewhere just over the border in Scotland around the Solway Firth”. Acting as a latter-day Peter Falk “Columbo” he eventually found the place which had stationary caravans for rent and purchase and that was the start of a beautiful romance. Every opportunity they got would be spent with weekends at Kippford, eventually with “weeks” at Kippford. Sister Diane and brother-in-law John took up the tradition with their own children, and now their children are bringing their children into the tradition. Rather than the confines of stationary caravans, today’s accommodations are available in beautiful luxurious “holiday homes” which is what we enjoyed this past week in a favorite known simply as Brackenbank.
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The Old Statistical Account of 1794 records that: “The great staple is cod, of which large quantities, and some of excellent quality, are taken here and carried to Dumfries and neighboring smaller towns and sold at from 1d to 3d (ie pennies) per pound. Of shellfish large quantities of cockles and mussels are found on the coast; also shrimps, whelks and other smaller kinds of little value.”
Nowadays the old industries have long since gone and have been replaced by the leisure industry which began in the 1900s and has steadily developed ever since. Kippford is now a popular yachting center and the afore-mentioned holiday chalets, caravan parks, and holiday homes have proliferated in many parts of the district. Nevertheless, most of the countryside remains unspoilt (as you will see on the carousel) and its beauty can be easily enjoyed by the holidaymaker, while the villages themselves still remain recognizable from many historical photographs, some of which are over a century old.
Coastal Kippford Video Introduction from Kevin Ashcroft on Vimeo.
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Source: H/T Bernard Byrom and Old Rockcliffe, Colvend, and Kippford from Stenlake Publishing Ltd .. www.stenlake.co.uk
See what Brackenbank looks like inside and out…
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Soli Deo Gloria!
Link To DennisGHurst.com
