Walk the Southern Upland Way with a Cicerone guidebook

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Reviews
• Further Reading

1.    The Southern Uplands by K.M. Andrew. Scottish Mountaineering Club District Guide. Second Edition 1992. The authoritative SMC guide to hillwalking in southern Scotland.

2.    Scottish Hill Tracks. Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society. Fourth Edition (revised) 2004. The definite guide to over three hundred hill tracks, old roads and rights of way throughout Scotland.

3.    Walking the Galloway Hills by Paddy Dillon. Cicerone Press, 1995.

4.    Walking in the Lowther Hills by Ronald Turnbull. Cicerone Press, 1999.

5.    The Border Country, A Walker’s Guide by Alan Hall. Cicerone Press, 1993.

6.    Border Pubs and Inns, A Walker’s Guide by Alan Hall. Cicerone Press, 2004.

7.    Walks in the Lammermuirs by Alan Hall. Cicerone Press, 1996.

8.    Southern Upland Way, Western Section – Short Walks. Dumfries & Galloway Ranger Service. Free. Thirty walks are described ranging from 1.5 to 20 miles in length.

9.    Short Walks Guide to the Eastern Section of the Southern Upland Way. VisitScotland Borders. Free.

10.    Along the Southern Upland Way by Jimmie Macgregor. BBC Books, 1990. Now out of print this little book written by one of Scotland’s most popular celebrities is still to be found in many local libraries. Not a guide to the Way but a travelogue of the places visited and people encountered by Jimmie on the route.

11.    The Southern Uplands.  South of Scotland – Coast to Coast. Southern Uplands Partnership, 2005. A small nicely illustrated hardback book detailing the geology and geography of the hill country of southern Scotland and the human activities of those who live, work and visit there.

12.    Highways & Byways in Galloway & Carrick by C.H. Dick. Originally published in 1916. C.H. Dick Memorial edition 2001 (G.C. Book Publishers, Wigtown). If you only wish to own one book on the south-west of Scotland then this is the one to choose, even though it was researched by means of bicycle and written at the time of the First World War by a clergyman. The style and scholarship is of a bygone age and a joy to read, but much of the information on the history and archaeology and topography of the area is still as it was nearly a century ago. The work has been brought to a modern audience by a facsimile re-publication at the beginning of the 21st century, where the original atmospheric line drawings of Hugh Thomson have been faithfully reproduced.

13.    Writing the Way. A collection of articles to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the SUW, by people who have walked the Way since it was opened in 1984. Available from The Southern Uplands Way Partnership, GCAT, High Street, New Galloway DG7 3RN or online at www.southernuplandway.com

14.    From the Pennines to the Highlands, A walking route through the Scottish Borders by Hamish Brown, Lochar Publishing, 1992. Written by one of Scotland’s most well known hillwalkers this book, now sadly out of print, is a delight. Hamish has chosen an excellent route for this jaunt linking Byrness on the Pennine Way to Milngavie at the start of the West Highland Way. The book is packed with interesting snippets of information, told with an infectious enthusiasm by a man whose deep love for his country is plainly evident.

15.    A Way to Whithorn by Andrew Patterson. Saint Andrew Press (1991). Out of print.

16.    St Cuthbert’s Way – the Official Guide by Roger Smith & Ron Shaw (Mercat Press, 1997).

17.    Borders Abbeys Way. A series of five leaflets describe the route. Scottish Borders Council. Available from local Tourist Information Centres (see Appendix 3)