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Dumfries and Galloway

Garlieston Mulberry Harbour

Where the D-Day harbours were tested, and what the sea has left of them.

Welcome

In May 1943 the army requisitioned this quiet stretch of the Wigtownshire coast, and for the next year the harbour at Garlieston, Rigg Bay and Portyerrock Bay were used to test the floating harbours that would be towed to Normandy.

The place was chosen for two reasons: it is remote enough to keep a secret, and the rise and fall of the tide here is close to what the landing beaches would give. Prototype roadways were run out across the bay, and the trials found the faults in time - a floating road called the Swiss Roll turned out to carry men but not lorries, and was dropped. The concrete caisson that lay in Rigg Bay for sixty years was broken up by a storm in March 2006. What remains is smaller and easier to miss: seven pontoons beached on the rocks, five of them in a cove called Port Whapple, and a stone plinth on the shore at Rigg Bay.

A short drive awayThe Open BookA bookshop in Wigtown with a holiday flat above, where guests run the shop for the length of their stay.13 min by roadSee itWhite corner building with green trim on a street corner, signed The Open Book
Before you go
How long
An hour to two and a half
Cost
Free
Getting there
Park in the village; the pontoons are along the shore at Port Whapple and east of the harbour.
Where it is

On the Wigtownshire coast, seven miles south of Wigtown; the remains are on the shore either side.

Close byThe rest of Dumfries and Galloway, near at hand.
  1. WhithornWhithornA small town on the Machars where St Ninian founded Scotland's first Christian church, with a long main street, the Pend and the priory.5 miles 8 min by road
  2. Whithorn Priory and MuseumWhithorn Priory and Museum5 miles 9 min by road
  3. WigtownWigtownScotland's National Book Town, a small town on the Machars with bookshops around its square and a book festival every autumn.8 miles 13 min by road
  4. Whitewashed cottage row with green doors and hanging flower baskets on a village streetWell-Read Books of WigtownA secondhand bookshop in Wigtown, opened in 2018 in the old Grapes Bar by Ruth Anderson, a retired QC, with a crime book club.8 miles 13 min by road
  5. Stone cottage with a green Celtic knot sign, seen through a leafy tunnelByre Books, Wigtown8 miles 13 min by road
Directions
White corner building with green trim on a street corner, signed The Open BookShoppingThe Open Book7.8 miles
Vintage typewriter and stacked leather books beside a tartan-cushioned armchair in a libraryShoppingThe Book Shop, Wigtown7.9 miles
Carved stone slab with cup and ring marks set among grassAttractionsDrumtroddan Cup and Ring Marked Rocks11 miles

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The collections it is in and more in Dumfries and Galloway.

CollectionHarbour Towns Worth a Wander
More in Dumfries and Galloway
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