Galloway Rivers Trust

07/10/2026

Last week Kacie represented Stanctuary and Solway Coast and Marine Project at a networking event in Glenrothes which was organised by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The event involved visiting river restoration sites on the Back Burn and in Balbirnie Park which were delivered by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, SEPA, Fife Council, cbec eco-engineering, and McGowan Environmental Engineering.

The event was attended by over 40 people from various organisations who are involved in urban restoration projects to discuss the processes, challenges, and successes of delivering projects within an urban environment. Completed restoration works that were shown included barrier removals, river re-alignment, bank profiling, and access path improvements.

04/10/2026

Last week, Luke and Kacie were flying the drone over the Loch Moan Peatland Restoration site (headwaters of the High Cree). The restoration works were completed in March 2026 with drone surveys undertaken every 2 months to monitor the site recovery.

The site has shown some vegetation growth and is very wet which is great to see, especially after the summer droughts. Full peatland recovery can take upwards of 30 years however some changes can be seen very quickly such as the rising of the water table which is evident at Loch Moan with the volume of surface water on the site. The attached images are from May, July and September 2026.

Currently the vegetation growth is almost entirely rushes which is to be expected so soon after restoration works. While rushes are not an indicator species for a healthy bog, the quick growth of them helps to stabilise the peat which allows for more important species to establish over time as the bog recovers. Late spring/early summer is best for vegetation surveys and we will hopefully know then if any indicator species have started to establish on the site.

For more information on the project see - https://www.gallowayfisheriestrust.org/news.php?nID=1346

The Project is part of the ‘Flowing Forward: Restoring Galloway’s Rivers’ programme, one of the exemplar landscape scale nature restoration programmes identified by NatureScot. The peatland restoration was managed by us, working closely with Forestry and Land Scotland and Crichton Carbon Centre. The project was funded by SP Energy Networks as part of their Action for Nature Plan.

02/10/2026

Thank you Stranraer Oyster Festival We had a great time at the festival. Thanks to everyone who came to our netting demo. We hope to be back next year!

🎉 SOF 2026 Thank You List 🎉

As we reflect on the 2026 edition of the festival, we want to say a huge thanks to all those involved with putting on an amazing weekend in Stranraer.

As you will see from the very lengthy list below, there are so many people, businesses and community groups involved in pulling everything together. It's a fantastic testament of what can happen when a community comes together for a shared goal. A goal to celebrate our fantastic part of the world, to instill pride in our local people and to provide a platform for our great produce, people, knowledge and skillsets.

The long list below demonstrates that we have so many great, talented individuals and groups in our little corner of Scotland. It also shows that people further afield, from not only the rest of Scotland but now also globally, have come to believe in supporting Stranraer and Stranraer Oyster Festival.

The festival has grown to what it is today because of all of these wonderful people behind it. Old, familiar faces that return year on year and have taken pride and ownership of a little section of the festival. Their skills and dedication are what keeps making it better and better. Also all of the new faces that we see join year on year - volunteers that have just recently moved to the area and feel it's a great way to get involved with the local community, new sponsors who see benefits in taking part. These new ideas and smiling faces coming forward contribute hugely towards ensuring the festival remains fresh and exciting.

We sincerely apologise if there is someone we have missed from the list. Please understand it is not deliberate. Send us a message to ensure you are added.

Note there are some people that have graciously helped us in more than one area. We have not repeated their name if they have already been listed under another section.

We hope you will all join us in thanking every single person that contributed towards Stranraer Oyster Festival 2026:

Our Funders, Sponsors and In Kind Support
Lactalis UK and Ireland (Headline)
Dumfries and Galloway Council
South of Scotland Enterprise
The Scottish Government
Stranraer Skills Station
Loch Ryan Oyster Company
Galloway Distillery
Rock Island / Douglas Laing
The Holywood Trust
Seafood from Scotland
SP Energy Networks
AMEY
Stena Line UKIE
Sally Murray at Tesco Superstore (Charlotte St, Stranraer)
Lorna at Morrisons (London Road,, Stranraer)
Jewson (Stranraer) in particular Brian Mears
Howdens (Stranraer)
Solway Coast and Marine Project
Cate Consultancy
William Loch Stranraer
McKenzies Stranraer
Tigh Na Mara Hotel & Restaurant
Coffee bean at cafe Pizzeria
Bespoke Home Finance Ltd
South West Property Centre
Smith & Valentine
Galloway and Ayrshire Properties
Biocell Agri Ltd
Green Valley
Whitecairn Holiday Park
Auchtralure Eggs
Kitchen Coos & Ewes
H Thomson & Son Ltd
Arkhouse 3.0
Flowers by Lesley Strachan
Knockinaam Lodge Hotel for the brilliant auction prize
Albert White for his generosity in providing the majority of our auction prizes
Carpet Co
Michael at Soleburn Garden Centre

All traders and stall holders across the site
From our bustling market marquee, our outdoor traders to our food offerings in the Entertainment Marquee. Thank you all for providing your amazing produce over the weekend and keeping us all fed
And to all those that provided a raffle prize

People
Tristan Hugh-Jones
Ben Wallace and Family
Sam Heughan and Team
Robert Anderson and Kirsty Magee from Dumfries & Galloway Council for their relentless hard work to implement our recycling system
Allan Jenkins
Gail Pickett Harbour Master
Ilaria Petrucci
Christine Casey at Stranraer Millennium Centre
Hugh Aitken for van use

Marketing and Digital Media
Lorna Young at Indigo Words
Ian and Rachel Findlay of Findlay Design
Cat Thomson writes
wbssigns
J&B Print Ltd
Miss Anderson and Youth Media Team Students
Colin Hattersley Photography
Ross Fisher The Video Creator
Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press
Andrea at Dumfries and Galloway Life Mag
Helen Cross

Kitchen
Our line up of celebrity chefs and local chefs
Don Sloan of The Oxford Cultural Collective
Marie-Clare James
Ian McColm
The Cookery Theatre Co.
Penninghame Estate
Sally Hair, T***s & Co, Cedar Cottage Country Foods and Five Kingdoms Brewery for providing chef demo food and drink

Speaker’s Marquee
SCAMP
Galloway Fisheries/Rivers Trust
The Roslin Institute
Heriot-Watt University
Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere
Ironside Farrar Ltd
Lianne Brown & volunteers
Wild Science
Episcopal Church Stranraer, St. John the Evangelist
D&G Climate Hub
Elaine and Julia Barton of Stranraer and District Local History Trust
Dumfries and Galloway Libraries

Music and Entertainment
All of the fantastic bands/performers over the weekend
Euan and Ross Alexander for putting the music programme together
John Dinning at Sound Travels
Blackie
Kenzie Robinson
Stranraer Drumming Group
Andy Cummings
Our Shucking Championship Participants
Shucking Judges Pauline zu Ermgasen and Donald Sloan
Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival
Our Oyster Eating Competition Participants

Opening Ceremony
John and Jordan of the Vital Spark Oyster Boat
Stranraer Coastal Rowing Club
Portpatrick Coastal Rowing Club
Wigtown Bay Coastal Rowing Club
John Ross
Alec Ross
Our Piper John Harvey
Ocean Echoes Choir
The UK Firework Company

Volunteers
SDT Board Members
Our finance team
All of our 150+ volunteers - you are all shuckin’ awesome!!
Our brilliant Team Leaders
Our VIP hosts
Our Cheese and W**e Stall servers
Lorna Scott for management of our chef demos
The team that pulled our site together and took it down again - Paul Kyle, Iain McDowall, Michael Sherry, Andrew Giusti, John Hitchcock, Gary McCutcheon, Allan Jenkins Sr, Shelley Jenkins. Thank you for taking pride in our site
Mark Mulally
ON US South West Scotland
Allan Smith
Lyndsay Gibb and Robin Gibb
The guys at McKenzies
PSYV
Stranraer Community Crafters

Services
Green Field Marquees
Machars Marquees
Arkwright and Wills
ACR Cash Registers
Sizzle, Sheepy and all bar staff
Citizen Ticket
Pat and Barry Hamill for the bar
Dreams to Themes
Annie's Aiders
Security Team
WC In Fields
Craig, Simon and Brian at McClymont Electrical Services
Lotus Electrical Services
Roger Donnan
Wilson Electricals
S.A.K Security Services

Children’s Marquee
Our fantastic Youth Volunteers and the amazing Caroline Forster
Stranraer Water Sports Association
Jennifer and Emily at Creative Stranraer
Shaun Smith and team
Face Painters / Artists Danielle and Lauren
Diane and Katie from Stranraer Development Trust
Special mention to Festival Volunteer John Hitchcock who checked in everyday and helped in any way he could
Heather Gibb and Christina Johnston from Stranraer Development Trust
DJ Paul Challis
The Road Runner
Blue Bombshells
Envy Cheerleading
Gareth the Magician
Pop the Balloon Man
Tracy and the team at Owl Magic
Emily at Dumfries and Galloway Council for the ‘Coorie Intae Ceol’ sessions
Leigh Milne
Douglas and Tammy - Double Trouble Clowns
Think Circus
Natasha Siobhan
Ant Durkin at ssssilentdisco.co.uk
Daffy Dill - we missed you a lot this year Daffy, but we want to thank you for bringing your bubble magic over the years. Get better soon

And to every single visitor that came along, bought a ticket, supported local businesses. We hope you had a great weekend! 🎉

02/10/2026

The INNS team are approaching the end of the Japanese knotweed control season. This year we have controlled a total of 36 populations (population defined as an area of INNS of known source to end point treated as one) over 7 local river catchments, taking over 480 hours of work to deliver between GRT employees and contractors.

Populations vary in size; from a few strands to patches reaching approximately 1000 square meters. Populations can be found condensed in one site or along a whole river system such as 9km of the Water of Fleet and 7km of the Water of Luce.

This work is delivered as part of the GRT 'Scottish Solway INNS Control & Knowledge Programme' which is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland

30/09/2026

Adam has been out this week supporting a landowner with a new riparian tree planting proposal by the Gabsnout Burn (Luce catchment).

We were approached recently to see if we could help advise on how to increase biodiversity on some privately owned land around the burn. Wetland creation, improved management of existing woodland and some new planting of native trees were all suitable for this site.

The wetland creation has started already. Adam is writing up a D&G Tree Planting Grant Scheme (run by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands ) to plant 150 native trees near the burn which will increase connectivity between habitats and improve conditions for nature. This is a great local grant for planting up small areas, with up to £1,000 available to plant areas up to 0.25 hectares. Adam is hoping to get these trees planted before the end of the year.

Please get in touch if you want any assistance to develop up riparian woodland and wetland plans.

27/09/2026

Its World Rivers Day!

In Dumfries and Galloway we have some stunning rivers and their habitats support a diverse and wonderful mix of nature including otters, lampreys, herons, dragonflies, water voles, Atlantic salmon, mayflies, kingfishers, Brown trout, dippers, sparling - the list goes on and on!

But these important rivers are not as good as they could be - they have many pressures on them that degrade habitats, deteriorate water quality, impact water flows and reduce their ability to cope with climate change impacts.

There is so much that can be done to improve rivers though for the benefit of wildlife, fisheries and local communities.

We work with various partners to deliver habitat restoration through 'Flowing Forward: Restoring Galloway Rivers' - works this year include:

Luce - river realignment work (Dalnigap) and developing up riparian tree planting proposals (Riverwoods).

Bladnoch - reconnecting the Barhoise Burn to previous meanders (rewiggling) and riparian tree planting.

Cree - peatland restoration by Loch Moan, riparian tree planting and increasing water flows down the Glenhead Burn.

Water of Fleet - removal of conifer regen from around the upper river.

Kirkcudbrightshire Dee - adding large woody debris to Black Water of Dee.

Urr - riparian tree planting, new bankside fencing and removal of conifer regen in the upper river.

Annan - preparing for the removal of Broom Weir.

Border Esk - working up river restoration and wetland creation options for Tarras Water.

Thanks to the wonderful funders and partners involved in all these projects including Drax Group UK NatureScot Glenkens & District Trust Crichton Carbon Centre Forestry and Land Scotland CBEC eco-engineering UK & EuropeLtd Tarras Valley Nature Reserve Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Kirkcowan Community Development Trust, Kirkcowan Angling Club, various landowners and local DSFBs.

25/09/2026

Yesterday Heather had a site visit to Barhoise Burn with members of Kirkcowan Angling Club (Alan (chair) and Kevin) and also Andrew (landowner).

Back in June the paleochannel here was dug out where the burn used to be back in the 1970's before the burn was moved and straightened (see image below). The channel is still not connected back to the burn yet as we wanted to leave it for a few months to settle down and for the bare soil near the banks to revegetate. The top end was left so that during floods some water would wash down the channel helping to gradually clean out the channel. Our plan had been to reconnect this new channel in the autumn and disconnect the straightened artificial channel (after removing any fish in a fish rescue) but the long period of dry weather means that we feel it is a bit early to do yet as there has been limited flows in the new channel and will be delayed until early summer 2027.

This restoration work is being delivered as part of the overarching 'Flowing Forward - Restoring Galloway's River's' Programme (one of 9 exemplar projects identified by NatureScot delivering landscape scale nature restoration). The appropriate SEPA permit is in place. The Barhoise Burn work and some further riparian tree planting on other Bladnoch burns is being funded by Kirkcowan Angling Club (from the Kirkcowan Community Development Trust) and The Wild Fisheries Fund.

19/09/2026

The freshwaters of Dumfries and Galloway support an amazing mix of fish species. Here are some we have recently come across when electrofishing burns in the Annan and Border Esk catchments.

18/09/2026

We are near the end of the electrofishing field work season now. We electrofish around 250 electrofishing sites annually for a range of purposes including understanding wild fish populations, directing and understanding the benefits of restoration programmes, sampling fish and monitoring impacts from developments such as windfarms.

Annually Rowan undertakes a timed survey to monitor numbers of wild salmon fry from 10 sites spread along the length of the river.

The Urr is a stunning river which flows for nearly 35 km from Loch Urr until it enters the Solway Firth. The land use around the upper catchment has changed significantly in recent years with many of the previously sheep grazed hills now afforested. Native hardwood bankside trees are important for river function but there are few upstream of Corsock. This is why GRT, are working closely with volunteers, to plant thousands of native trees by the river (supported by Glenkens & District Trust ). Further downstream extensive riparian woodlands gives cooling shade, provide habitats for many species and helps support a healthier, more resilient river. Juvenile salmon populations are healthy here - both in number and growth rates - due to the good instream and riparian habitats. Lower down the river instream habitats are lower quality, less complex and support less juvenile fish. We are presently considering, with the Urr DSFB, what realistically could be done to improve the habitat and functionality of the lower river.

17/09/2026

The new school term has started, which means that our INNS education programme is back and well underway. Last week, Sophie visited Langholm Academy to give a talk to the S2 science classes about invasive non-native species and their impact on river health. They learned all about some of the invasive species found along the waterways of Dumfries and Galloway, their impact on the local environment, and what they can do to help stop the spread and protect our rivers. The students then had a great time competing against one another to complete a series of INNS-related puzzles, with the winning team receiving some GRT prizes. Well done again!

Thank you very much once again to Langholm Academy for having us! We had a great time visiting.

This work is delivered as part of the GRT 'Scottish Solway INNS Control & Knowledge Programme' which is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland. Langholm and Canonbie Schools Cluster