Moffat - Dumfries and Galloway is a small township of only about 2, 500 citizens. It was a popular stopping off point on the journey from London and Edinburgh or Glasgow. Before them the Romans came through as did the Knights Templar on the way to or from the Crusades.
Moffat emerged as a spa destination after the water was tasted by the daughter of the bishop and she knew the water contained sulphur. Water was transported down to a specially built bath house in Moffat town centre. Over the next one hundred years Moffat became one of Europe's most fashionable spa towns. A number of prestigious hotels were built and the rich and famous came to take the waters.
Sheep were important in the history and economic prosperity of Moffat. A local businessman thought the sheep industry was so important to Moffat he decided to donate a statue to the town 1875. The state was a ram standing on a pile of boulders. The statue is sculpted from bronze.
The ram has never had ears and there are some stories that the sculptor, William Brodie, was so distressed when he realised he had forgotten the ears that he committed suicide. The ram statue and fountain was restored in the early 2000's as time had not been kind to it and the restoration was a major community fundraising undertaking.
The area around Moffat attracts many visitor for the walking opportunities. 10 miles out of Moffat is one of Scotland's highest waterfalls - Grey Mare's Tail. In winter is can freeze over and climbers do climb it with ice climbing equipment. There is also a corral called the Devils Beef Tub. This is a place where cattle thieves would temporarily hide their stolen cattle. And it had some use holding prisoners from the battle of Culloden.
For accommodation in Moffat check this list of Moffat hotels.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Haughtone
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