Benutzer:Bahnmoeller/Moffat

Moffat ist ein burgh und ehemalige Kurstadt in Dumfries and Galloway, Schottland, gelegen am River Annan, mit rund 2.500 EInwohnern. Das bekannteste Gebäude ist das Moffat House Hotel, entworfen durch John Adam. Das nahegelegene Star Hotel, ist mit einer Breite von nur 20' (ca. 6,10 m) als schmalstes Hotel der Erde im Guinness Book of Records eingetragen.

The Devil's Beef Tub near Moffat was used by the Johnstones to hoard cattle stolen in predatory raids.

It was during the 17th century that Moffat began to grow from a small back-water village into a popular spa town. The sulphurous waters of Moffat Spa were believed to have healing properties and during the Victorian era the high demand led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall). Luxurious hotels sprang up to accommodate the increasing numbers of tourists. One such hotel opened during Moffat's heyday in 1878, the Moffat Hydropathic Hotel was unfortunately destroyed in a fire in 1921.

The old well was refurbished in the mid 1990s, and is still accessible by vehicle and foot. The water smells very strongly of sulfur, with deposits on the walls and well itself. At the grand reopening of the well people visiting it were encouraged to drink a glass of it.

The current Well Road does not follow the old path, for that you need to go up Haywood Road before getting there and climb up Tank Wood (on the right at the top) - the path at the end was the original road from when the people went to the water. When the water was first piped into town for the baths it was pumped uphill to a tank in the appropriately named Tank Wood, before travelling back downhill to the bath house.

Moffat war ein bedeutender Platz für den Wollhandel, eine Statue eines Schafbocks (William Brodie) auf dem Marktplatz erinnert daran. Die Statue wurde 1875 durch William Colvin, einen ortsansässigen Geschaftsmann gestiftet. Der Bock hat keine Ohren und es geh die Legende, das der Künstler Selbstmord beging, als er diesen Fehler bemerkte. Tatsache ist, das er Selbstmord beging, allerdings ist der Zusammenhang nicht wahrscheinlich.

Robert Burns kam wegen des Wassers und besuchte die Kneipen.

Der Mörder und angebliche Grabräuber William Hare übernachtete im Black Bull Hotel auf seiner Flucht nach Irland.

1935 wurden die sterblichen Überreste des Lancaster Mörders, Dr Buck Ruxton, in einem Bach in der Nähe des Devil's Beef Tub gefunden. daraus entwickelte sich ein meilenstein in der Justizgeschichte, da zum ersten Mal ein Mörder im Vereinigten Königreich aufgrund von naturwissenschaftlichen Beweisen und Fingerabdrücken verurteilt wurde.

The town attracts many tourists all year round, both as visitors and as walkers in the surrounding hills. Notable shops include the Moffat Toffee Shop and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, while its restaurants and cafes include The Limetree, Claudio's, Arietes, The Rumblin' Tum, The Balmoral and the Buccleuch.

It also has a recreation park with a boating pond and a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, who was born in Moffat in 1882.

There is an official Camping and Caravanning Club campsite (for tents, caravans and motorhomes) that is open from 17 March to 31 October. This is situated next to the Hammerlands Center - a combination garden centre, gift shop, restaurant, fish farm and childrens' play area with farmyard animals.

For walkers there is also the Gallow Hill. Despite its name it has never been used for hanging anybody, and is more likely to have been named thus due to the shape of a tree near the top. Moffat is also situated only a few miles from the Southern Upland Way where it passes through Beattock.

• Official Tourist Information Website

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Category:Towns in Dumfries and Galloway