For many visitors to Scotland, Dumfriesshire is the first county they come across. This is because the M6 from England enters Scotland through Dumfriesshire at Gretna, a name well known to elopers of the past! Dumfriesshire lies on the north shore of the Solway Firth and is, in a simplistic sense, is made up of three 'dales' - Nithsdale, Annandale and Eskdale to the east. Nithsdale stretches from Dumfries northwards through Thornhill and Sanquhar and the passes of Dalveen, Mennock and Enterkin en route to the hills of South Lanarkshire. Annandale conveniently follows the A/M74 stretching from Annan on the Solway Coast up the to Lochmaben, Lockerbie and Moffat and past the Devil's Beef Tub, a famous local 'hollow'. Eskdale lies to the east and stretches from Longtown in Cumbria, just over the border through the ancient 'debatable land' to Langholm and beyond into the Ettrick Hills. Dumfries is the main city and is closely associated with Robert Burns who was once a 'Cust ... < more >