St John's Town of Dalry
St. John's Town of Dalry, usually referred to simply as Dalry, is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, formerly in Kirkcudbrightshire. It is located sixteen miles (26 km) from Castle Douglas along the A713 road, and is at the southern terminus of the A702 road (to Edinburgh). It is located on an old pilgrimage route to Whithorn and St Ninian's Cave and named after the Knights of St John.[1] The town was the centre of the 1666 Pentland Rising [2] The village is sited on a bend of the Water of Ken,[3] about three miles (5 km) from the northern edge of Loch Ken.[4]
St. Johns Town makes a good base for exploring the surrounding region, the Southern Upland Way, and the nearby Galloway Hills, including the peaks of Corserine and Cairnsmore of Carsphairn. St. Johns Town of Dalry was recently named 'Bird Town', to celebrate the work of renowned bird artist and writer Donald Watson who resided in the Dalry for many years. [5]
Notable people from Dalry
- John Johnston, a farmer born in nearby Knocknalling, is credited with introducing agricultural drainage to the United States.
- Cathy Cassidy, children's author.
- Cowan Dobson, artist and portrait painter.
- Donald Watson, bird artist and writer, lived here for over 50 years. [6]
- Neil Gunn, novelist, lived here from the age of 12.[7]
Climate
In common with the rest of the country, Dalry benefits from a climate classified as Oceanic (Köppen Cfb), encompassing cool summers and mild winters with year round rainfall. Temperature extremes at Glenlee, under 1 mile to the South West, have ranged from 31.0 °C (87.8 °F) during July 2005[8] to −18.3 °C (−0.9 °F) in both January 1940[9] and December 1995.[10]
| Climate data for Glenlee 55m asl, 1971-2000, extremes 1960- (Weather station 1 mile (2 km) to the SW of Dalry) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.3 (55.9) |
14.1 (57.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
24.0 (75.2) |
27.0 (80.6) |
28.9 (84.0) |
31.0 (87.8) |
29.3 (84.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
21.8 (71.2) |
15.7 (60.3) |
13.9 (57.0) |
31.0 (87.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.4 (43.5) |
6.8 (44.2) |
8.9 (48.0) |
11.8 (53.2) |
15.5 (59.9) |
17.6 (63.7) |
19.4 (66.9) |
18.9 (66.0) |
15.8 (60.4) |
12.6 (54.7) |
8.9 (48.0) |
7.0 (44.6) |
12.5 (54.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | -0.0 (32.0) |
0.2 (32.4) |
1.5 (34.7) |
2.5 (36.5) |
4.8 (40.6) |
7.8 (46.0) |
9.9 (49.8) |
9.5 (49.1) |
7.4 (45.3) |
4.9 (40.8) |
1.8 (35.2) |
0.5 (32.9) |
4.2 (39.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −18.3 (−0.9) |
−15.6 (3.9) |
−13.9 (7.0) |
−6.7 (19.9) |
−5.3 (22.5) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
1.1 (34.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−11.3 (11.7) |
−18.3 (−0.9) |
−18.3 (−0.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 206.96 (8.15) |
145.79 (5.74) |
144.68 (5.70) |
87.37 (3.44) |
80.86 (3.18) |
78.64 (3.10) |
81.66 (3.21) |
104.24 (4.10) |
139.27 (5.48) |
183.65 (7.23) |
183.11 (7.21) |
207.33 (8.16) |
1,643.56 (64.7) |
| Source: Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KNMI[11] | |||||||||||||
See also
References
- ^ http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst
- ^ Jack Hunter, The Upper Glenkens. Stenlake Publishing 2001
- ^ Fullarton, A. (1845) The Topographical, Statistical, and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland, Vol 1: A-H, p.304. A.Fullarton. Retrieved January 2012.
- ^ St John's Town of Dalry Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland
- ^ http://www.sup.org.uk/pdf/wbc-final-report-24-dec-09.pdf
- ^ http://www.watsonbirds.org/donald-jeff-watson
- ^ Bold, A.N. (1989) Scotland: a literary guide p.76 Routledge. ISBN 0-415-00731-3 Retrieved January 2012.
- ^ "2005 temperature". KNMI.
- ^ "1940 temperature". UKMO.
- ^ "1995 temperature". KNMI.
- ^ "Glenlee Climate". KNMI. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
External links
