page_title: Rhins of Galloway
section_title: Geography and climate
hierarchical_section_title: Rhins of Galloway / Geography and climate
caption_attribution_description: English: Cliffs by Gallie Craig, Mull of Galloway
context_page_description: The Rhins of Galloway, otherwise known as the Rhins of Wigtownshire, is a hammer-head peninsula in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Stretching more than 25 miles from north to south, its southern tip is the Mull of Galloway, the southernmost point of Scotland.
  The principal settlements are Stranraer at the head of Loch Ryan and the small tourist village of Portpatrick on the west coast, other villages are dotted up and down the peninsula, including Kirkcolm, Leswalt, Lochans, and in the South Rhins; Stoneykirk, Sandhead, Ardwell and Drummore.
  Herbert Maxwell defines "Rhinns" as rionn, rinn, meaning a point or promontory.
context_section_description: The peninsula is bounded on its west coast by the North Channel and by Loch Ryan and Luce Bay in the east.  With around 50 miles (80 km) of coastline running from Stranraer in the north to Torrs Warren in the south, the land is heavily influenced by the sea. The coastal landscape varies: the west coast has steep rugged cliffs and occasional inlets, but the calmer eastern coast has sandy beaches and a softer landscape.
  The Rhins are exposed to the westerlies from the Atlantic, and thus receives a lot of rainfall (around 1,000 millimetres or 40 inches per year); this has led to the peninsula being principally used for farming, with the relatively flat land offering good dairy and beef production. As the land is almost surrounded by sea, its temperature is significantly stabilised by the North Atlantic drift, which cools the land in summer and warms it in winter. Thus there are few severe frosts. This allows the survival of numerous tropical palms and flora which otherwise could not exist this far north. Examples of these tropical plants can be seen at the Logan Botanic Garden.
  The natural geography of the Rhins has led directly to the use of the area for development: the entire peninsula acts as a huge breakwater against the currents of the North Channel and to a lesser extent the Atlantic. This creates relatively calm and safe navigable waters in Loch Ryan and Luce Bay. They are notably used by the ferries that sail to Belfast and Larne, which were originally based at Portpatrick. As the ships became larger they required larger protective harbours, and the exposed Portpatrick was no longer suitable, so they moved to the shelter of Loch Ryan from where they still sail today.
  The southernmost point of the Rhinns is also the southernmost point in Scotland, the Mull of Galloway. Here the land and rocky cliffs support a diverse range of animals and plants, with the Mull area designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and also a RSPB nature reserve. Razorbills, guillemots and puffins are three of the bird species which nest on the steep cliffs.
  Just north of the Mull, south Rhins, the land narrows significantly, forming an isthmus dividing two bays (the East and West Tarbets). In ancient times boats were brought ashore and moved across the isthmus by manpower, with the aid of log rollers and lubrication. This purpose of all this effort was to avoid navigating around the Mull with its dangerous currents.
  The Southern Upland Way begins in the Rhins at Portpatrick and winds its way through the area on its long journey east across Scotland to its finish at Cockburnspath.
caption: Cliffs at the Mull of Galloway
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS CORPORATION", "Image Model": "X-3,C-60Z", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "314", "Image YResolution": "314", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Version 1.1", "Image DateTime": "2005:05:27 11:55:33", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "266", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 20, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8212", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7725", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "33/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:05:27 11:55:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:05:27 11:55:33", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "1099/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2112", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "722", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}