East Gallaberry

Explorer Tom St Blane's Cemetery in Dumfries and Galloway is a 20th-century burial ground that makes a weird humming sound at night, probably just the wind but still spooky. I reckon it’s trying to sing along to whatever music is playing from your phone, which is both adorable and terrifying. It’s got that whole 'I’m new here but I mean business' energy. Walk past slowly like you're in a film.

Explorer Tom Kirkton’s church is so old the Vikings got lost looking for it, which means they must have been really bad at reading maps or really good at getting drunk. It’s standing there with its medieval graveyard and 19th-century building, looking like a confused time traveler. Tell the next person you meet it's haunted. It might be.

Explorer Tom Wellington Bridge is a road bridge from the nineteenth century that thinks it can take shortcuts through time if you just walk on it fast enough. It’s got no date, which means it’s been there since before we invented clocks to measure how long it’s been standing. I bet it dreams of being a famous landmark instead of a local shortcut. Have a wander and a wonder.

Explorer Tom Locharbriggs is where a lead seal matrix was found in Dumfries and Galloway, basically ancient postage stamps from hell. On the day it was nearly sold for a horse, I swear the ground shifted just to spite the buyer. It’s a findspot that refuses to be pinned down by modern logic or sensible pricing structures. Give it a pat on the way past, it's had a long life.

Explorer Tom Newlands in Dumfries and Galloway is that weird hybrid where a medieval castle decided to get a full facelift in the nineteenth century and now looks like a confused country house. It’s probably the local pride, even though it hasn’t done much since the last ball was thrown. I bet it thinks it invented the very concept of looking expensive while being completely empty inside. Bring a camera and

Explorer Tom An airfield can go quiet without forgetting how to roar. At Heathhall near Dumfries, the runways of a former Royal Air Force station have become a place to meet the aircraft, people and local stories left behind. There is enough metal here to make a shed look nervous, but the human work behind every machine is the real reason to stay. Royal Air Force Dumfries operated during the Second World War, training crews and serving the region's wartime flying needs. The museum occupies part of that former airfield. Its hangars and outdoor displays hold historic aircraft, engines, photographs and equipment gathered by volunteers who did not want the site's working history to disappear beneath new uses. Walk from one exhibit to another and imagine the different jobs involved in keeping a plane aloft: mechanics, ground crews, navigators and the people who waited at home. An aircraft may draw you through the gate, but it should not get all the credit. The museum opens on selected days during its season, usually Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, with admission charged. It is outside Dumfries town centre at Heathhall, so check the museum's current hours before setting off. Some displays are outdoors and the airfield can make its own weather. Give the volunteers' explanations time; a preserved plane is impressive, but the stories that landed with it make this old airfield feel busy again.

Explorer Tom Dumfries, Castle Street took about four hundred cups of tea to build, mostly because someone kept spilling the mortar mix. It’s a fortified house with no assigned period, which basically means it’s been around since the concept of tea existed. Go now, before it gets famous.