Last year we visited Dalbeattie in Dumfries and Galloway.

I was surprised when we got there to find the buildings are mostly made of granite but it turned out there was a granite quarry very close by so naturally the locals made full use of it back in the day.

In fact the B&B we stayed in – the best such we have ever been in – was right beside the now disused quarry.

I also wasn’t expecting Art Deco, but it’s there.

T H Carson Butcher. It’s really only the stepped roof-line here:-

Then there was the Co-op. Full deco style:-

Roof-line detail.

More likely 1960s?:-

Former bank. Possible deco style round the doors:-

Garage/car sale room. Stepped roof-line, but windows’ “eyes” poked out:-

Former Picture House, Dalbeattie, now Bryan Gowan’s Furniture Store. Horizontals, verticals, stepped roof-line. Rule of three above window over the doors. Shame about the replaced windows.

Photographs of the cinema as it appeared in 1985 are here on the Scottish Cinemas website. It still had the original windows, then. Much more appropriate looking.

Side View:-

The bunkering finished and the Black Watch eventually set off some hours late.

Ferrol harbour outlet:-

On the starboard side was this collection of houses:-

This was a different (small) harbour on the port side as we sailed. Mugardos?:-

The estuary narrowed for a bit on the way out and there were old fortifications on each side of the estuary.

To port side:-

To starboard was the Castle San Felipe (Castelo San Felipe):-

Castle San Felipe slipway:-

If you look carefully at this photo you should see some gunsmoke coming from the castle. As a “greeting” to the ship there was a guy in mediaeval costume firing a blunderbuss or some such thing:-

Castle San Felipe:-

Looking back to port side fortification, pilot boat following the ship:-

There was a third fortification on the starboard side a bit further out from Ferrol. Pleasure boat in foreground:-

The pilot boat zoomed a little closer after we’d made it past the narrows:-

This quarry was the last sign of human activity before the ocean:-