Newton Stewart – Gateway to the Galloway Hills

Newton Stewart, on the banks of the River Cree is a bustling small town known as the Gateway to the Galloway Hills. Newton Stewart is a market town with a weekly sheep and cattle market held in a listed building in the town centre.

The River Cree is the dominating feature of Newton Stewart and the river is spanned by an attractive bridge in the middle of the town where it is delightful to sit by the weir and watch the river flow. Last time I visited, a hehttps://youtu.be/BS87JNOggA8ron was on the river bank and there were several swans in the water by the bridge.

Things to do in and around Newton Stewart

The main street has many interesting shops and cafes along with a beautiful art deco cinema building which is now community owned.

Between the main street and the river you will find The Belted Galloway which is a café and information centre.

Newton Stewart also has an intriguing museum with a multitude of diverse and eclectic artefacts and is well worth a visit.

Not far from Newton Stewart, at Glentrool, you enter Galloway Forest Park – the largest forest in the UK. There is a delightful café / visitor centre near Glentrool village and a few miles further along the road, at the top of the glen, you will find Bruce’s Stone with magnificent views over Loch Trool, a granite boulder celebrating Robert the Bruce’s victory in the Battle of Glentrool.

From here, the footpath to the summit of The Merrick,  which is a Corbett* starts. The Merrick is the highest Scottish mountain south of the Highlands and is more or less the same height as Blencathra in Cumbria,

Newton Stewart is an ideal base to explore the Glentrool area. As well as climbing the Merrick, there are many other walking opportunities such as the path round Loch Trool (5.5 miles) or one of the easier forest walks for the Visitor Centre. Glentrool is also one of the famous 7 Stanes Mountain Biking Centres. Kirroughtree, another of the 7 Stanes is also near Newton Stewart.

Newton Stewart holds an extremely popular Walking Festival in May each year and an equally popular Traditional Music Festival each July. Here’s a wee taster of what to expect at the Traditional Music Festival on this trailer from a previous year.

As you leave the town, just past the roundabout on the road to Wigtown, lies award winning Crafty Distillery famed for its Hills and Harbour Gin. Here you can book a tour of the distillery or stop by for a coffee.

For golfers, Newton Stewart Golf Club is an 18 hole parkland course which welcomes visitors.

• A Corbett is a mountain in Scotland between 2500 – 2999 feet.