Annan

Lying on the Solway Firth at the mouth of the River Annan, 17 miles southeast of Dumfries, this is the third largest town in Dumfries and Galloway, with a population of approximately 10,000. Since 1989 Annan has been bypassed by the A75, so this thriving market town is now off the beaten track. Its wide main street is lined with predominantly red sandstone buildings, including the Town Hall (1878), Erskine Church (1835), Old Annan Academy and Annan Bridge, built by Robert Stevenson (better known for his lighthouses) in 1824-26. The Bruce family, who were Lords of Annandale, elevated Annan to a burgh of barony in the 12th century and built the castle. They took a very active role in the struggle for Scottish independence and the lands on both sides of the border suffered from the conflict between England and Scotland. The many fortified tower houses and other structures are a dismal memento of the turbulent past.

In 1532, Annan became a royal burgh. Each year in July, Annan celebrates the Royal Charter and the boundaries of the Royal Burgh are confirmed when a mounting cavalcade enacts the Riding of the Marches. There are also massed pipe bands, field displays, sports and a procession.

In spite of its early history, however, most of Annan was built within the past 200 years. It developed as a port during the 19th century when it forged links with North America and local shipbuilders graduated from building coastal brigs and schooners to building 1000-ton tea clippers. Engineering and whisky distilling also developed as did sandstone quarrying, which is reflected in the many fine buildings so characteristic of the area. Catch them on a sunny day – they are beautiful.

Between 1869 and 1934 a railway viaduct linked Annan with Bowness on the English side of the Solway Firth. In the 18th century, the two towns were joined by a perilous route across the estuary at low tide.
During the 20th century pharmaceuticals, knitwear, chipboard and food-processing industries developed. There is now no shipbuilding and just a few fishing boats. Engineering still exists. Chapelcross nuclear power station, one of the oldest in the UK, opened in 1959 three miles out of the town. In the upland areas, forestry is currently replacing the traditional sheep and hill cattle farming.

The African explorer Hugh Clapperton and the evangelist Edward Irving were born in Annan; Thomas Carlyle, the writer, went to the Academy.