Wig Bay Airbase and Stranraer Parkrun

We’re often asked how we choose where we’re going on our motorhome tours. We tend to pick a country or area, then we usually end up going to places that have a nice looking place to stay. Or a nearby Parkrun.

Kirkcudbright was one of these stops – it wouldn’t have been on our radar if the campsite we stayed at didn’t have such great reviews. So, after a couple of nights camping there we’d scoped out our next stop based on it’s closeness to a Parkrun.

We’re big fans of Parkrun, having done over a 100 each, we love the positive Saturday morning vibes that you get from all the volunteers and other participants. It’s not really a race (although some of the speedy feet up front may disagree), for me it’s more of a social run and one where you can try to beat your previous time.

We had a choice of two Parkruns on this stretch of the west coast – Stranraer or Girvan. What swayed us to Stranraer? A nearby motorhome aire on an old flying boat base.

RAF Wig Bay, located on Loch Ryan, served as a base for flying boats / sea planes during the second world war. The base was established in 1942 and played a vital role in maintaining and storing these specialist aircraft, in particular Short Sunderlands and Consolidated Catalinas (so the information board said!).  After the war, it was used for servicing and scrapping flying boats until its closure in 1957.

The base is now Scar Park Motorhome Aire, and it is only allowed to host five vans per night. Fortunately Jay got in touch with them and booked the last spot for us. It’s £10 for overnight stops, or £5 just to empty the loo and fill up with water.

After a bit of a hold up due to a lorry shedding it’s load of hay on the one road to Stranraer, we pottered through the town (like others we’ve driven through, there’s a 20 mph speed limit) and up the west coast of Loch Ryan.

Arriving at the gate, I jumped out and let us through, onto the concrete road the planes would have been transported along into their stands. The airbase had no runway because all the planes took off from the loch.

Our pitch had a cone marking it as reserved, and we rolled in waving to our distant neighbours. That’s because the place is comedy HUGE, they wouldn’t have heard us say hello. It’s a lot easier to get planning permission a five van site than anything bigger – so I totally understand when they’ve kept it small, but let’s just say the Camping and Caravan Club 6 metre rule has nothing on this place.

Across the loch are the two ferry ports for P&O and StenaLine to Northern Ireland. These used to run out of Stranraer town, but in 2011 the ferry company moved operations further up the loch to save money on fuel and speed up crossing times (the bottom end of the loch has a much lower speed limit, due to the wash the huge ferries create).

As we ate lunch we watched the ferries load up with lorries and set off. It usually makes we want to head off on a ferry somewhere – but not this time, I was quite happy to sit in the sun and watch them sail.

We set off for a walk along the coastal path, which ended up being much longer than planned and taking in a beautiful woodland filled with bluebells, so it was worth the extra mile or two.

Back at the van we just sat and looked out at the views, then as night fell the lights from the houses, lorries and ferries twinkled like stars along the shore.

After a very peaceful night’s sleep, we were up early for Parkrun. Far too early in reality as they don’t start until 9.30am in Scotland. We drove back along the coast to Stranraer and parked up in a huge car park next to Agnew Park. There were already several motorhomes in there, as you can stay overnight for free, but I’m glad we paid the tenner for our peaceful night’s sleep.

Just under 60 runners and walkers took part this morning on a fantastic three lap course along the promenade, up and down the west pier and around the park. The support was great and Jay managed to bag first place – all that marathon training has paid off. I finished in under 30 minutes for the first time in ages, which I was really pleased about too.

After the run we got talking to one of the marshals who told us her son had set up this Parkrun (as the nearest one was 30 miles away in Girvan). She felt so proud watching everyone take part in something her son had started.

It’s also people like her and the thousands of weekly volunteers that keep Parkrun going and free to take part, so a huge thank you to both her and her son. When we’re at home we volunteer at our local events from time to time, but while we’re touring we love to run the courses and todays was a beauty.

We both took a quick shower in the van in the car park – yes, it’s all glamour in van life – before going for a walk around the town. I popped into the tourist office and got a walking guide to Stranraer, along with a map for the South West 300 road trip. We’re not going to do it this time, but it’s certainly an idea for a future trip.

The town has lots of shops and cafes, but you can see it has lost a bit of its seaside shine since the ferrys left. Like many high streets there were several empty shops and quite a few charity shops, but the place was buzzing on this sunny Saturday morning. There are also signs of investment too, the Parkrun finish was moved a little due to the building of a new watersports centre on the harbour.

Our next stop was supposed to be a free beach side parking, but as we drove through the coastal town of Girvan, we spotted several motorhomes in a car park, so turned around and joined them.

It’s £10 a night to stop overnight from 6pm to 9am, and free at other times. We’ve no idea if the other motorhomes will clear out at 6pm, or if they are here for the night (we couldn’t pay using the machine, so had to do it online instead), but I’m happy spending a few quid for another great view for the night.

Tomorrow we have the ferry booked over to the Isle of Arran. Reviews say the internet coverage on the island ranges from patchy to nonexistent, so we may be out of contact for a while. See you on the other side!

Ju x