Last updated at 16:36, Wednesday, 04 February 2009

It may be famous for its granite, but there's nothing grey about Dalbeattie. In fact thanks to its silly hats, moreish liqueurs and vibrant music, it's a place to have fun, says Gilly Fraser

Dalbeattie

Have you ever, in a moment of high jinks, slapped on that very distinctive carroty ginger wig and tartan tammy ensemble known to one and all as the ‘See You Jimmy’ hat? Chances are high it came from Dalbeattie.
Have you ever sipped appreciatively
on a delicious and particularly creamy and fruity liqueur? Chances are high it came
from Dalbeattie.
Have you ever stumbled over a cobblestone? Chances are... Okay, so you’re getting the picture. This particular corner of Dumfries & Galloway is responsible for an amazing – and definitely eclectic – range of things.
I’ve always felt a strong affinity with Dalbeattie and it’s not hard to figure out why. As an Aberdonian, born and raised among the silver city’s characteristic glinting stone, I can’t help but be drawn to Dalbeattie’s wealth of granite. I feel at home there in a way I never could among red brick or sandstone, no matter how attractive.
Dalbeattie has the last Ice Age to thank for its grey legacy, because it basically sculpted the Urr Water valley, and left behind granite cliffs. In the late 1700s, the first of several quarries was opened and at the height of their business, around 70,000 tons of granite were being shipped out of the town every year. In its quiet and unassuming way, this south-west Scotland town has made a significant mark on many prime edifices: Liverpool Docks, the Thames Embankment in London and the Eddystone Lighthouse off Cornwall were all made from its granite. It’s also been used to cobble the streets of many major cities, including Manchester, Liverpool and London.
Dalbeattie’s port was an important part of the town for many years and in one respect at least it was way ahead of its time – because ships used to offload all manner of cargoes there, articles such as rags and scrap metal which were deemed by others to be rubbish, but which were then turned into something useable like fertiliser and brown paper by the mills at Dalbeattie. An early form of recycling.
Sadly the port pretty much fell into disuse in the mid-Sixties, but moves are now well under way to restore it, perhaps not to its former glory, but certainly to something the town can once again be proud of.
“The restoration of the old port is one of the most important tasks facing Dalbeattie Initiative,” says the group’s Brian Atwell. “We’ve successfully completed stage one of the project, which was to uncover the old stone capstains, to make good the walls and to landscape part of the surrounding ground. Phase two will see that work continued, plus the erection of some sort of statue to mark the area’s rich history.”
The initiative was set up around 10 years ago, when the town was going through a difficult phase, and needed a boost both to its fortunes and to its morale. Originally it was made up of volunteers, then in 2002 the group achieved charitable status and still derives a considerable portion of its funding from a charity shop, run by volunteers.
“Dalbeattie has come through some bad times,” says Brian, “but it’s a vibrant and thriving community and a great place to live.”
Great community spirit the town certainly has – and it’s fortunate in having residents who enjoy doing things together – at the last count the town had no less than 92 societies, covering just about every interest and cause you could care to name. And then there’s the Civic Week. Once upon a time just about every town and village had its own special week, looked forward to all year long, when there were games and competitions, concerts and sports, and very often a parade of gaily decorated floats carrying passengers in just about every form of fancy dress you
could imagine.
Terrific community events without a doubt – but also very demanding on those volunteers who had to do all the organising. So perhaps it’s not surprising that so many have fallen by the wayside in recent years.
However in 2007, Dalbeattie bucked that trend very decisively by bringing its own festival back to life, thanks to the determination of a small band of enthusiasts, who renamed it Civic Daze. It was held during atrocious weather, which could well have put the kybosh on it all over again before it even got started – but instead, it proved so popular that this year the organisers really pulled all the stops out – and brought the circus to town.
“We decided to think big and you can’t get bigger than a Big Top, so that’s what we went for,” organiser Colin Neville says. “We wanted to really get the whole town buzzing and actively involved. The circus let us use the big marquee during the day, either for entertainments we’d organised ourselves or for workshops by their performers. It was a fantastic success.”
Work is already underway on next year’s Civic Daze, and several successful fund-raising events have been held.
“We had a great Hallowee’en party for the youngsters,” says Jim Dingwall, the event’s chairman, “and a party after the town’s Christmas lights were switched on. Both were very well supported, and that’s the most important thing really, to keep people interested and involved.”

Dalbeattie is also now finding ways to make more of the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside. The town’s first Walking Festival was held in the autumn, and those taking part had everything from gentle strolls to serious hikes to choose from.
But if walking sounds a little too pedestrian for your tastes – then how about pitting yourself against the Hardrock Challenge? Run in October, this definitely isn’t one for the faint-hearted. It’s a ‘duathlon’ staged over the traditional marathon distance of 26 miles within Dalbeattie forest. Contestants have to do a 10-mile run, of which eight miles are on good forest road and the rest on woodland track. They then have to complete a 16-mile bike run over the 7Stanes red route – 10 miles on forest road and six on rough and steep single mountain bike track. If that’s making you feel a little footsore, just add in the fact that the route is very hilly in places. To delight thrill-seekers, a highlight of the route is the so-called ‘slab’ – a slice of sheer granite lying at a steep angle, which you have to bike down.
If the very thought has you reaching for a medicinal tincture, then you might well find yourself drinking a beverage produced in Dalbeattie: the Cream Cutie Liqueur. This particular delicacy was created by Anne Hempstock and her husband John, and if the names sound familiar it could well be because they braved the terrors of television’s Dragons Den in pursuit of recognition.
“We’ve been involved in the drinks world for about the past 15 years,” says Anne, who works as the company’s sales director. “We were very successful with our first product, MacB sugar-free drinks, and then with Wee Beastie alcopops. We wanted to get back into the mass market with something that was totally different and totally natural, a drink with no artificial ingredients. Actually we came up with the name of our product before we had the drink itself, but after a great deal of research and testing, we developed a beautiful wine-based liqueur.
“We had enormous difficulty finding somewhere in Britain that could fulfil all our very stringent requirements, so the liqueur is made in Holland to our recipe. Supermarkets weren’t too sure about us at first, but after we’d been to a few speciality fairs and sold out, they started to take us seriously.
“When we were first approached by Dragons Den, I said ‘no way’,” Anne laughs. “I couldn’t face the prospect of being on TV. Then I realised that the publicity could only be good for us, so I said yes.
“When it came to the filming, I had to be physically shoved up the steps, and I actually lost my voice, but somehow managed to keep going. We didn’t get the money, but we have had loads of recognition and success since we’ve been on the programme, and ironically we’ve had a lot of goodwill shown to us because we didn’t win!”
Success can indeed come in many guises – but who could have predicted that a daft hat would become an iconic and instantly recognisable part of Scotland’s image? Can there be anyone the world over who doesn’t know what a ‘See You Jimmy’ hat is
all about?
It was the brainchild of Jim Boardman, who started the Dalbeattie-based gifts company Thistle Products 28 years ago. Determined to come up with new ideas for Scotland’s gift market, he started his business with a Wild Hairy Haggis cuddly toy – an item that’s still popular today – but he really hit the jackpot when he dreamed up the Jimmy hat, a fashion statement adopted with delight by scores of Scotland football supporters, partygoers and many, many more.
The business was taken over in a management buy-out three years ago when Jim retired and its fortunes have continued to soar – thanks in great measure to another brilliant idea, this one coming from an ex-pat Scot now living in Toronto.
“James Buchanan was home visiting his mum who lives in Fort William, and he happened to mention to the owner of a gift shop there that he had an idea for a novelty gift,” explains managing director Ernie Parkinson. “The gift shop owner told him about Thistle Products and James interrupted his holiday to come down and see us.”
It turned out to be a fortuitous meeting, because from it came the Instakilt – basically a beach towel printed to look like a kilt complete with sporran. Ernie and his team of 15 staff are accustomed to marketing successful products – but even they were astonished by the explosion of interest in the Instakilt.
“It just went daft! It really caught us on the hop, but in a very nice way,” says Ernie. “And although we were in any case a very successful company, the Instakilt has helped to cement us and will see us through the recession, so we’re very fortunate.”
Sadly the credit crunch has led to job losses in Dalbeattie – Howie Forest Products, the most advanced sawmill in the UK, has been forced to lay off staff because of the slump in the construction industry. Management hope they’ve slimmed down the operation sufficiently to ride out the rest of the economic storm.

Perhaps the best way to really get to know the character of an area is to listen to its music. Folk-singer Phyllis Martin, who was with the well-known a-cappella group Stravaig for more than 20 years, can testify to that. She’s made it her lifetime’s work to collect songs and music from Dumfries & Galloway – and she says the collection isn’t finished yet.
“When I first started singing, most of the songs were from the north-east of Scotland, where they have wonderful bothy ballads. I really wanted to sing songs from my own area of south-west Scotland, but they weren’t nearly so well-known for some reason. It’s a very musical area, so I knew they existed,
but I’ve had to search very hard to find some of them.”
Phyllis quickly discovered that old people were a wonderful source of songs and music, and she says it’s always a thrilling moment when she finds a song she hadn’t heard before. Now she’s determined to ensure those songs aren’t lost to another generation.
“Since I left Stravaig four years ago, my husband and I have been singing together as Linkum Doddie and we often go into schools to teach the youngsters traditional songs. Next year we’re planning to produce a CD featuring a selection of those songs, all sung by children from schools in the Machar.”
A great way indeed to bring south-west Scotland’s musical riches from the past into the present – and to keep them safe for children of the future.

First published at 16:31, Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Published by http://www.dgblife.co.uk