Dumfries and Galloway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dumfries and Galloway The natural place
Logo Coat of arms
Location
Geography
Area	Ranked 3rd
- Total	6,426 km²
- % Water	?
Admin HQ	Dumfries
ISO 3166-2	GB-DGY
ONS code	00QH
Demographics
Population	Ranked 12th
- Total (2006 )	148,000
- Density	23 /km² (60 /sq mi)
Politics
Dumfries and Galloway Council http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/
Control	Conservative/Liberal Democrat (minority control)
MPs	Russell Brown David Mundell
MSPs	Dr Elaine Murray Alex Fergusson

Dumfries and Galloway (Gaelic: Dùn Phris agus an Gall-Ghaidhealaibh, pronounced [d̪̊unˈfɾʲiʃ aɡ̊əs̪ əŋ ɡ̊auɫ̪ɣəɫ̪əv]) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. To the north, it borders onto South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire; in the east the Borders; and to the south the county of Cumbria in England. It lies to the north of the Solway Firth and to the east of the Irish Sea. The region is well-known for its many artists and writers.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Governance 3 Transport 3.1 Rail 3.2 Bus & Coach 3.3 Sea 3.4 Air 3.5 Roads 4 Emergency Services 5 Education 5.1 Nurseries and Primary schools 5.2 Secondary schools 6 Wildlife 7 Towns and villages 8 Places Of Interest 9 Council political composition 9.1 2003-2007 9.2 2007-2011 9.3 Current Councillors 9.3.1 Scottish Conservative & Unionist 9.3.2 Scottish Labour Party 9.3.3 Scottish National Party 9.3.4 Scottish Liberal Democrats 9.3.5 Independent 10 Gallery 11 References 12 See also

[edit] Geography

The Dumfries and Galloway region is composed of several sub areas and former counties.
From west to east:

• Wigtownshire
  • Rhins of Galloway  • Machars
• Kirkcudbrightshire
  • Stewartry
• Dumfriesshire
  • Nithsdale  • Annandale  • Eskdale

The term 'Dumfries and Galloway' has been used since at latest the 19th century - by 1911 the three counties had a united Sheriffdom under that name. Dumfries and Galloway covers the majority of the Western area of the Southern Uplands [1], it also hosts Scotland's most Southerly point, at the Mull of Galloway^[1] in the west of the region.

[edit] Governance

The region was created in 1975, by merging the former counties of Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire as a two-tier region with the districts of Wigtownshire, Stewartry, Nithsdale and Annandale and Eskdale within it. In 1996 the region became a unitary authority area and the districts were wound up. After 1996 the unitary authority became known as Dumfries and Galloway Council, instead of Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council.

[edit] Transport

Local transport strategy is co-ordinated on behalf of the council and Transport Scotland by SWESTRANS (The South West of Scotland Transport Partnership).

[edit] Rail

The region has 6 working railway stations. All are on the Glasgow South Western Line, except Lockerbie which is on the West Coast Main Line

• Stranraer railway station
• Kirkconnel railway station
• Sanquhar railway station
• Dumfries railway station
• Annan railway station
• Gretna Green railway station
• Lockerbie railway station

[edit] Bus & Coach

The area is served by buses which connect the main population centres. Express bus services link the main towns with Glasgow, Ayr, Edinburgh and Carlisle. Local bus services are also operated across the region.

[edit] Sea

Dumfries and Galloway is home to two ports which have services to Northern Ireland, both are in the West of the region. Stena Line have a port in the town of Stranraer, and P&O Irish Sea in the village of Cairnryan.

[edit] Air

The region also has no commercial airports; the nearest are Glasgow Prestwick Airport and Carlisle Airport. The region does host a number of private airfields. The town of Lockerbie was the scene of the Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist attack on December 21, 1988.

[edit] Roads

The main roads to and from the region are:

• M74
• A75
• A76
• A77
• A701

[edit] Emergency Services

The Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the police force for the region, and is the smallest in the United Kingdom. Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service provide firefighting services across the region. The Coastguard, Lifeboats and Galloway Mountain Rescue also offer emergency services across Dumfries and Galloway.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway provide healthcare services across the region, the two main hospitals are the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in Dumfries and Galloway Community Hospital in Stranraer.

[edit] Education

Dumfries & Galloway Council provides nursery, primary and secondary education across the region.

[edit] Nurseries and Primary schools

For a list of nurseries and primary schools see this page.

[edit] Secondary schools

• Annan Academy
• Castle Douglas High School
• Dalbeattie High School
• Douglas Ewart High School, Newton Stewart
• Dalry Secondary School
• Dumfries Academy
• Dumfries High School
• Kirkcudbright Academy
• Langholm Academy
• Lockerbie Academy
• Maxwelltown High School, Dumfries
• Moffat Academy
• Sanquhar Academy
• St Joseph's College
• Stranraer Academy
• Wallace Hall Academy, Thornhill

[edit] Wildlife

The region is known as a stronghold for several rare and protected species of amphibian, such as the Natterjack toad and the Great crested newt.^[2] There are also RSPB Nature Reserves at the Mull of Galloway^[3], Wood of Cree (Galloway Forest Park)^[4], Ken Dee Marshes (near Loch Ken)^[5] and Mereshead (near Dalbeattie on the Solway Firth)^[6].

[edit] Towns and villages

Main settlements in bold text.

• Ae, Airieland, Airds of Kells, Annan, Anwoth, Ardwell
• Beattock, Beeswing, Borgue, Brydekirk
• Caerlaverock, Cairngaan, Cairnryan, Cargenbridge, Carsphairn, Castle Douglas, Castle Kennedy, Clarencefield, Corsock, Creetown
• Dalbeattie, Dalton, Dornock, Drumlanrig, Drummore, Dumfries, Dundrennan, Dunscore
• Eastriggs, Ecclefechan, Eskdalemuir
• Garlieston, Gatehouse of Fleet, Glenluce, Gretna Green, Gretna
• Haugh of Urr, Hoddom
• Johnstonebridge
• Keir, Kippford, Kirkcolm, Kirkcudbright
• Langholm, Lochmaben, Lockerbie
• Millhousebridge, Moffat, Moniaive, Mull of Galloway
• New Abbey, New Galloway, New Luce, Newton Stewart, Newton Wamphray
• Parton, Penpont, Portpatrick
• Robgill Tower, Ringford
• Rigg, Ruthwell
• Sandhead, Sanquhar, St. John's Town of Dalry, Stranraer
• Terregles, Thornhill, Twynholm,Templand
• Unthank
• Wanlockhead, Whithorn, Wigtown

[edit] Places Of Interest

• Caerlaverock Castle - Historic Scotland
• Caerlaverock NNR - National Nature Reserve
• Cardoness Castle
• Corsewall Lighthouse, privately owned
• HM Factory, Gretna, Eastriggs - site of a munitions factory[2] during the World War I
• Drumlanrig Castle
• Galloway Forest Park, Forestry Commission
• |Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme, Scottish Power
• Kenmure Castle - a seat of the Clan Gordon
• Loch Ken
• MacLellan's Castle, Kirkcudbright
• Mull of Galloway - RSPB/South Rhins Community Development Trust
• Motte of Urr
• Ruthwell Cross
• Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery
• Southern Upland Way - long distance footpath
• Sweetheart Abbey, New Abbey
• Threave Castle
• WWT Caerlaverock - a reserve of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

[edit] Council political composition

The council consists of 47 councillors elected for a four-year term from 13 wards. These wards were introduced for the 2007 election and each returns three or four members by the single transferable vote system of election. This system was introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004,^[7] as a means of ensuring a reasonably proportionately representative outcome.

[edit] 2003-2007

The result of the 2003 election returned a council with no party having overall control^[8]. A 'silver' coalition was first formed invovling all parties but Conservatives and Labour, after this coalition resigned^[9] Labour took minority control of the council. The following number of councillors were elected for each party as follows:

	Party	Councillors
	Scottish Labour	14
	Independent	12
	Scottish Conservative & Unionists	11
	Scottish National Party	5
	Scottish Liberal Democrats	5

[edit] 2007-2011

The result of the 2007 election returned the following number of councillors for each party as follows:

	Party	Councillors
	Scottish Conservative & Unionists	18
	Scottish Labour	14
	Scottish National Party	10
	Scottish Liberal Democrats	3
	Independent	2

The council is currently controlled by a Scottish Conservative & Unionist and Scottish Liberal Democrats minority coalition.

After the resignation of Bruce Hodgson (Scottish Conservative & Unionists), councillor for the Abbey ward a by-election was held on the 1st of May 2008, with Michael Thomson (Scottish Conservative & Unionists) being returned as the replacement councillor^[10]. On Tuesday the 20th of May 2008, Councillor Robert Higgins stood down as SNP Group Leader, after he received a triple driving ban for reckless driving^[11].

[edit] Current Councillors

By Political Groupings.

[edit] Scottish Conservative & Unionist

• Graham Bell
• Ian Blake
• Ian Carruthers
• John Charteris
• John Dougan
• Peter Duncan Business Leader
• Gillian Dykes
• Patsy Gilroy (Convener)
• Allan Graham
• Roger Grant
• Jack Groom (Provost)
• Ivor Hyslop (Leader) Group Leader
• Ian Lindsay
• Gail MacGregor
• Denis R Male
• Graham Nicol
• Mike Thomson
• Roberta Tuckfield

[edit] Scottish Labour Party

• Ted Brown
• James H Dempster
• Archie Dryburgh
• Grahame Forster
• Dr. Jeff Leaver Secretary
• Sean W Marshall
• John Martin
• David J McKie
• Ronnie Nicholson Group Leader
• Ronald E Ogilvie
• Willie Scobie
• Colin Smyth
• David Stitt
• John Syme

[edit] Scottish National Party

• Brian Collins
• Rob Davidson
• Iain Dick
• Alistair Geddes
• Robert J Higgins
• Thomas Jacques
• Lorna J McGowan Secretary
• Dr. Doug Snell
• Andrew S Wood
• Alastair Witts Acting Group Leader

[edit] Scottish Liberal Democrats

• Richard Brodie
• Michael Dickie Secretary
• Sandra McDowall Group Leader

[edit] Independent

• Jane S Maitland Group Leader
• George N Prentice Secretary

[edit] Gallery

Dalveen Pass from Comb Head summit, near Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.	Lowther Hill, somewhere near Dalveen Pass, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.	Sweetheart Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland)	Orchardton Tower, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. View across the Nith Estuary, close to the Solway Firth, Dumfries & Galloway.	Tongland Power station.	Mull of Galloway headland.	Mull of Galloway Lighthouse.
A Machars beach.	Machars Coastline looking south from Cruggleton Castle.	The remains of Cruggleton Castle.	The Machars, as viewed from Torrs Warren with Luce Bay standing between.
The Devil's Beef Tub.	Port William harbour.	Moffat.	River Nith Estuary.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Anglo-Scottish border

v • d • e Council areas of Scotland Aberdeen · Aberdeenshire · Angus · Argyll and Bute · Clackmannanshire · Dumfries and Galloway · Dundee · East Ayrshire · East Dunbartonshire · East Lothian · East Renfrewshire · Edinburgh · Falkirk · Fife · Glasgow · Highland · Inverclyde · Midlothian · Moray · Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) · North Ayrshire · North Lanarkshire · Orkney · Perth and Kinross · Renfrewshire · Scottish Borders · Shetland · South Ayrshire · South Lanarkshire · Stirling · West Dunbartonshire · West Lothian

v • d • e Former local government regions of Scotland Borders · Central · Dumfries and Galloway  · Fife · Grampian · Highland · Lothian · Strathclyde · Tayside