Walking Holidays in Scotland - Galloway - Five Red Herrings Murder Mystery

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Five Red Herrings Murder Mystery Tour

Based on a novel by Dorothy L Sayers - who said about the book, "all the places are real places and all the landscapes are correct"

To add an extra dimension to your holiday, we have decided to arrange a walking break with a unique murder mystery theme. We have used the Five Red Herrings book, set in Galloway featuring many real places still in existence.

The fiction novel was first published in 1931 and written the celebrated novelist Dorothy L. Sayers, who lived in Gatehouse and Kirkcudbright for many years. The book was also serialised in television in1974 with the lead role being taken by the actor Ian Carmichael. We have notified and obtained permission from the Dorothy L. Sayers Society to operate this tour and acknowledge the information found in the Society’s ‘Tour of Galloway By Car’ booklet.

The tour has accommodation bases in the towns of Kirkcudbright, Gatehouse of Fleet and Newton Stewart – all of which have many other attractions. This coincides with the book largely being set in Kirkcudbright and Gatehouse of Fleet with Newton Stewart being central to other significant locations.

As most of the places written about in the book are still here, reading the book either before or during your break will bring it to life. We can supply a copy of the re-printed book on arrival or you can easily obtain a copy from Amazon beforehand.

Some of the places mentioned in the book which you can see are:

Kirkcudbright

The Stewartry museum in Kirkcudbright often has a display of items relating to Dorothy L. Sayers and the Five Red Herrings. It is a good place to start your tour to get immersed in the history of the area.

The Tolbooth, now with an art centre, see below, has a short film presentation which also gives a good introduction to the artistic life in Kirkcudbright – which is prevalent in the book.

The McClellan Arms – known by another name.
The Tolbooth
Blue Gate Close – where the sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey stayed.
Gowan’s house in the High Street
Maclellan’s castle
Waters’ Lodgings and Studio

Gatehouse of Fleet

The Mill on the Fleet visitor centre has a display which shows former life in the town.

Anwoth Hotel now the Ship Inn
Murray Arms Hotel
Ferguson’s house and Strachan’s house – apparent locations.
Gatehouse station – 6 miles out of town.

Newton Stewart

Ellangowan Hotel, Creetown
The railway line route
The lead mines
The Galloway Arms, Newton Stewart
The murder scene!
Bargrennan near Loch trool.

There are more places mentioned but you can see already that it will be fascinating to re-live the goings-on of this fictional novel.

The Walks

The walking tour has been designed to be 4 or 7 days in duration. Extra days walks are available. The daily self-led walks comprising each tour
a) incorporate places mentioned in the book
b) include popular local walks in the same area.

The 4 day tour has accommodation based in Kirkcudbright or Gatehouse of Fleet areas – 4 days at one accommodation or 2 days each - indeed you can stay in the hotels mentioned in the book, or possibly the former Room 10 in one hotel where she is reputed to have written molst of the book.

The 7 day tour has an extra night in Kirkcudbright at the beginning with 2 nights accommodation in Newton Stewart as well as Gatehouse.
Accommodation is provided on the night prior to the tour start and the next 3 nights. An extra night’s accommodation can be arranged after Day 4 if you wish. A car is necessary to visit some of the locations

4 Day Five Red Herrings Walking Tour

Places of Interest - Galloway Conservation Park; Galloway Hydros Visitor Centre; David Coulthard museum; Kirkcudbright artists town; Cardoness Castle; Cream o' Galloway ice cream farm; Kilt making centre; Mill on the Fleet; Cally Gardens Galloway Gem Museum; Creetown Heritage Centre; Newton Stewart museum; Glentrool beauty spot; Kirroughtree forest walking and mountainbiking centre.Tea Rooms, Pubs and Restaurants recommended. Places of Interest List.
Price -

Day 1: Five Red Herrings Walk Around Kirkcudbright and River Dee Walk - 1 and 4.5 miles – Town and Riverside.
We provide a booklet which leads you on a tour around the town visiting around a dozen places mentioned in the book – some only significant to readers e.g. a tap where Wimsey;s butler cleaned fish and protruding house steps on the pavement which caused him to trip and lose sight of a disappearing car in the distance!
Along with the visits to the museum and Tolbooth, this tour could easily take you around 3 hours.
In addition, to give you a decent country walk today, possibly in the afternoon after lunch, we suggest the River Dee Walk as a pleasant flat walk.You begin this walk from the harbour in Kirkcudbright. It is an easy terrain with a short more rugged part at a loop around Tongland. The meandering walk follows the line of the River Dee, partly on top of the flood banking. The Galloway Hydros visitor centre at Tongland is worth a visit when open. Return the same way or more directly by the road footpath.

Day 2:‘The Fight’ location, with Barrhill Wood or Torr Point walk options – from 2 to 6 miles – Woodland; Countryside and Coast.
Some 4 miles from Kirkcudbright on the way to Gatehouse of Fleet is a significant location where a fight occurred between characters in the book. We suggest you drive the short distance there to see the location and return to Kirkcudbright via the coast. This can be done at any time today.
In addition, and not connected with the book, we suggest two walks which you might wish to take today. We can advise on the merits of each at your welcome meeting.
Walk 1: Barrhill Wood – 2 miles – Woodland.
This is a fairly short woodland walk near Kirkcudbright with occasional views over the town and River Dee estuary beyond. There are various footpaths in the wood giving several route options to explore. Depart from the town centre and walk uphill by road for a mile to enter the Barrhill Wood. You can leave the wood at its opposite end emerging onto Silvercraigs Road and park giving panoramic views over the roofs of the town, the harbour and River Dee estuary.
Walk 2: Torrs Point and Lady Bay – 2 to 6 miles – Countryside, Woodland and Coast.
This is a popular walk with locals with several distance options. You can start your walk from the end of Manxman’s Lake or Kirkcudbright. A circular route takes along a quiet road to Torrs Point from where a new longer walk has recently been constructed. From Torrs Point you have expansive views over Kirkcudbright Bay and Ross Island with lighthouse near the opposite shore. The path follows the side of the cliffs through a field and wood to the secluded Lady Bay – a small bay good for swimming. Passing the interesting lifeboat station with its traditional slipway you return to your start point. Another shorter option is a linear walk to the station or beyond and return the same way.

Day 3: Gatehouse of Fleet and Cally Woods Walk – 2 and 3 miles – Town and Woodland.
The booklet again mentions places in the town visiting around half a dozen places mentioned in the Book. Follow a walk in and around the town to see the places mentioned in the book. In addition, the following Forestry Commission walk provides extra walking distance if you wish.
Cally Woods - 3 miles – Woodland.
This walk several extra distance options. The relatively easy paths lead you through the deciduous woods to the sumptuous Cally Palace Hotel - an accommodation option or a stop for tea during the walk. Walk beside the hotel’s 18 hole golf course and back into Gatehouse.

Day 4: Gatehouse Station, the Lead Mines and Murder scene – from 2 to 8 miles – Moorland, Woodland and Riverside.
You need your car today to visit these outlying locations in the Galloway Hills. Gatehouse Station, unusually 6 miles from the town, is significant to the story and a peaceful location to have a 2 miles there and back walk along the old railway line to a majestic viaduct. With the towering granite Clints of Dromore and a small Scottish Heritage nature reserve and visitor centre, you could easily spend some time at this location.
As you make your way towards the Ellangowan Hotel, Creetown, you pass the entrance to the Lead Mines and Moneypool Burn. As an aside, the Hotel was also used for the filming of another classic story – The Wickerman – now a cult film and celebrated with an annual music festival.
Passing Newton Stewart you come to the scene of the murder. – don’t worry this information does not give the game away! You can park up and walk a short distance to the murder scene location. From here, again to get some walking miles in today, you can take an excellent walk for 5 miles visiting Glentrool visitor centre.
The Minnoch – 5 miles – Riverside and Woodland.
This is a little known walk popular with locals. It follows the River Minnoch upstream with the option of linking to Stroan Bridge and Glentrool visitor centre. The return route joins part of the well known Southern Upland Way cross Scotland walking route.

7 Day Five Red Herrings Walking Tour

Places of Interest - Galloway Conservation Park; Galloway Hydros Visitor Centre; David Coulthard museum; Kirkcudbright artists town; Cardoness Castle; Cream o' Galloway ice cream farm; Kilt making centre; Mill on the Fleet; Cally Gardens Galloway Gem Museum; Creetown Heritage Centre; Newton Stewart museum; Glentrool beauty spot; Kirroughtree forest walking and mountainbiking centre. Tea Rooms, Pubs and Restaurants recommended. Places of Interest.
Price -

Day 2:‘The Fight’ location, with Barrhill Wood or Torr Point walk options – from 2 to 6 miles – Woodland; Countryside and Coast.
Some 4 miles from Kirkcudbright on the way to Gatehouse of Fleet is a significant location where a fight occurred between characters in the book. We suggest you drive the short distance there to see the location and return to Kirkcudbright via the coast. This can be done at any time today.
In addition, and not connected with the book, we suggest two walks which you might wish to take today. We can advise on the merits of each at your welcome meeting.
Walk 1: Barrhill Wood – 2 miles – Woodland.
This is a fairly short woodland walk near Kirkcudbright with occasional views over the town and River Dee estuary beyond. There are various footpaths in the wood giving several route options to explore. Depart from the town centre and walk uphill by road for a mile to enter the Barrhill Wood. You can leave the wood at its opposite end emerging onto Silvercraigs Road and park giving panoramic views over the roofs of the town, the harbour and River Dee estuary.
Walk 2: Torrs Point and Lady Bay – 2 to 6 miles – Countryside, Woodland and Coast.
This is a popular walk with locals with several distance options. You can start your walk from the end of Manxman’s Lake or Kirkcudbright. A circular route takes along a quiet road to Torrs Point from where a new longer walk has recently been constructed. From Torrs Point you have expansive views over Kirkcudbright Bay and Ross Island with lighthouse near the opposite shore. The path follows the side of the cliffs through a field and wood to the secluded Lady Bay – a small bay good for swimming. Passing the interesting lifeboat station with its traditional slipway you return to your start point. Another shorter option is a linear walk to the station or beyond and return the same way.

Day 4: The Golf Course, Castramon and Lag walks – options from 2 to 10 miles.
Today is mainly a walking day, not particularly connected to the book, but still passes the golf course and the home of a character in the book.
Walk options include
Castramon Wood – 2.5 miles – Woodland.
Castramon Wood is the site of an ancient woodland with oak trees planted about 200 years ago. A large oak tree is known as ‘Parliament’ due to it being a meeting place for locals. The wood is known for its spectacular display of bluebells in May. The remains of charcoal burning platforms can be seen on the fairly steep circuit around the wood.
Lag and Castramont Burn Circuit – 5.5 miles – Countryside and two glens.
Two excellent way-marked walks in open countryside – with the option of another 2 miles there and back to Loch Whinyeon.
We can advise about the best options for you at our welcome meeting.

Day 5: Gatehouse Station, the Lead Mines and Kirroughtree – from 2 to 6 miles – Moorland and Woodland.
You need your car today to visit these outlying locations in the Galloway Hills. Gatehouse Station, unusually 6 miles from the town, is significant to the story and a peaceful location to have a 2 miles there and back walk along the old railway line to a majestic viaduct. With the towering granite Clints of Dromore and a small Scottish Heritage nature reserve and visitor centre, you could easily spend some time at this location.
As you make your way towards the Ellangowan Hotel, Creetown, you pass the entrance to the Lead Mines and Moneypool Burn. As an aside, the Hotel was also used for the filming of another classic story – The Wickerman – now a cult film and celebrated with an annual music festival.
Kirroughtree Visitor Centre near Newton Stewart has several popular walks as well as mountainbiking routes.

Day 6: The Minnoch and Glentrool – up to 15 miles – Riverside, Loch and Woodland.
North of Newton Stewart you come to the scene of the murder. – don’t worry this information does not give the game away! You can park up and walk a short distance to the murder scene location. From here you can take an excellent walk for 7 miles to Glentrool visitor centre, joining the Southern Upland Way walking route along the way. A circuit of Loch Trool can be done by continuing on Southern Upland Way.

Day 7: Drive to Girvan and Stinchar Walk – 65 miles circular drive/ walks up to 4 miles – Galloway Hills countryside.
Today, your last day, you have the option to take a car journey to Girvan, following a route mentioned in the Book. Girvan is near Turnberry and Culzean Castle which you may wish to travel a little further to visit. On then return journey loop, there are three relatively short walks to choose from at a beauty spot in the Galloway Hills.
Alternatively today, if it suits your departure route, you can travel eastwards back to Gatehouse or Kirkcudbright to check up on a location you had not previously read in the book, or take a separate picturesque tourist route towards the The Glenkens area of Galloway. A popular walk is
Murray’s Monument – ½ mile to 5 miles – Hill and Woodland.
The Murray’s Monument is a popular walk beside the A712 road. The surrounding area is full of natural beauty with a wild goat park and red deer range nearby. Although the monument walk is only ½ a mile, a detour gives you the option to walk a longer distance to the Old Edinburgh Road or further through the forest. The Grey Mare’s tail burn with dramatic waterfalls and nearby Black Loch sculpture all add to the spectacle.
As previously mentioned we can advise at your welcome meeting on the best options according to your preference.