Welcome to October
Autumn is here and with it comes that special magic of the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.
It’s always a blessed time in Dumfries & Galloway when we can reap the rewards of a rich harvest of events and activities, including Wigtown Book Festival. Lovingly nurtured over the last 21 years by a devoted team passionate about Scotland’s Book Town and the power of reading, it is loved all over the world and we’re looking forward to what new things we can learn from the literary icon as it comes of age this September.
Having previously urged you to make the summer your ‘season of positivity’, how about making autumn your season of gratitude? We have so much to be grateful for in the region and I’d encourage you to say thank you to everyone working in, or for Dumfries & Galloway, doing their best to make this the most wonderful region.
In this issue we say thank you to everyone who has helped shape Scotland’s most exotic garden: Logan Botanic Garden, near Stranraer, into a world-class attraction over the last 50 years. We say thank you to the bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, without whom life as we know it would collapse. We salute the team behind Stranraer RNLI Parkfest for its first 10 years of fun and fundraising. Like so many events around this region this summer, the August festival was hit by bad weather, but as the lifeboat crew rallied round to ensure that “the show goes on”, it was a timely reminder that the lifesaving work of the RNLI volunteers goes on in all weathers…
We also salute the inspirers, the doers and the visionaries, including art specialist Philip Parkhouse, for his Celebration of Art at St Andrew’s Primary (my favourite piece was Robert the Bruce by P6 pupil Emily McIntyre, below); Mark Jardine and The People’s Project, for their sterling work to improve the town they love; Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church and their team for transforming and preserving Robert Burns’ ‘favourite howff’ (and one of Scotland’s oldest pubs), The Globe Inn, in Dumfries, and the team working to save the fascinating Ukrainian Prisoner of War Chapel at Hallmuir.
Next month we’ll be saying thank you to your local heroes as we reveal the finalists in the 2019 Dumfries & Galloway Life Awards, and we’ll celebrate further royal recognition for the region with the visit of The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay to Bladnoch Distillery near Wigtown, Garlieston, and Moat Brae in Dumfries.
Finally, as we celebrate our 13th birthday, let me thank you, dear readers, for continuing to help us share the love for Dumfries & Galloway
- Andrea Thompson, Editor
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