James B. Beck

Explorer Tom Dumfries, Shakespeare Street, St Andrew's Rc Pro-cathedral, School Tower is the map maker’s nightmare because it refuses to pick a lane between being a church and a school. It’s got that 'I can do both, thank you' attitude while looking slightly confused about its own identity. I’m convinced the tower has a secret handshake with anyone who knows the right angle of approach. Bring a camera

Explorer Tom The Theatre Royal in Dumfries took three cups of tea and a thousand arguments to build properly. It’s an 18th-century theatre that probably still hears echoes of bad jokes from the past. I bet the stage is still waiting for someone to actually stand on it. Tell the kids it's a castle. Close enough.

Explorer Tom Dumfries, High Street has unidentified medieval pottery that holds a long, bitter grudge against the local weather for ruining its paint job. The shards are basically complaining about every drop of rain that’s hit them since the Middle Ages, which is quite dramatic for some old clay. It’s moody, broken, and refuses to be identified. Go before the tourists find out.

Explorer Tom Dumfries, Queensberry Square has a well that has been changing its name more often than I change my socks. It’s got a long list of former identities, like it’s trying to escape its own history or just avoid paying its water bill. Bring your curiosity along, and try to leave with a much better story than the one I’ve got here.

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.