Ten distinctive properties in Dumfriesshire are opening for free to the public in for the Doors Open Days scheme this weekend - offering the chance to "be a tourist on your own doorstep".
A couple of properties from Dumfries to Gretna Green are joining in the special September event - which is nationally co-ordinated by Scottish Civic Trust, is supported by Historic Environment Scotland, and is part of European Heritage Days - for the first time.
Some are also laying on extra events including tours.
They are among 21 properties in total across Dumfries and Galloway joining in the Scotland-wide scheme running this month and full details of all are available online.
The Cruck Cottage, Shieldhill Road, Torthorwald, is open tomorrow and Sunday from 11am to 3pm.
This atmospheric thatched cottage with its cruck construction and unique hanging lum chimney is now presented to show a past way of Dumfriesshire life.
It has been carefully restored and maintained by volunteers and is the last survivor of a building type which would once have been a common sight in Torthorwald village and across southern Scotland and thought to date to the late 18th century.
Guides will show visitors around this architectural gem of south west Scotland and families can make their own tattie bogle scarecrow to take away.
Alongside the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial and Garden of Remembrance in Dryfesdale Cemetery, the volunteer-run Dryfesdale Lodge Visitor Centre creates a lasting memorial to the 270 lives lost as a result of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on December 21, 1988.
It pays tribute to the community of Lockerbie and the enduring links developed with groups around the world in the aftermath of the Lockerbie Air Disaster.
The Lodge also hails the town's past with a local history room which includes information about the importance of Lockerbie and the surrounding area in trade and transport routes from the Roman period to the present day.
It will be open for Doors Open Days tomorrow and Sunday from 11am to 3pm and trustees will greeting visitors and showing them the extensive repair and restoration work that has been done over the last few years at the Lodge.
The Famous Blacksmiths Shop at Headless Cross, Gretna Green, has been a popular tourist destination for more than 130 years, with people travelling from around the world to marry or visit the home of the anvil weddings, since 1754.
For Doors Open Days there will be free museum entry tomorrow and Sunday from 9am to 5pm, with guides around to provide more information.
THE ROSEFIELD MILLS BUILDINGS, DUMFRIES
The Rosefield Mills buildings on Troqueer Road are the last surviving large-scale Victorian industrial buildings in Dumfries and are of key cultural and historic importance to the town.
The former mill buildings are listed Category B and are located in the Dumfries Conservation Area but, mostly derelict, are now included in the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.
However, Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust acquired the most prominent and significant buildings on the site - including the iconic riverfront building on the Nith which was designed by Dumfries architect, Alan Burgess Crombie, to look like a grand Venetian palace and completed in 1886 - and is gradually repairing the main building, and developing plans to find sustainable new uses for it.
For Doors Open Days visitors will be able to access the safe part of the main building tomorrow from 11am to 3pm, when volunteers from DHBT will be on hand to give short tours and talk with visitors about the history of the mills and the ambitious plans for its sustainable future.
Access will be at the north end of the riverfront building, which faces Halfords and St Michael's Bridge.
A striking red sandstone Gothic church, which opened for worship in 1868, it is a stunning piece of architecture, beautifully displayed by recently installed modern lighting.
It also has interesting artefacts - many memorials, in glass, stone and other materials, commemorating individuals and the roles they have played in the town and as part of this community - and is a living place of Christian worship, used week in, week out by a congregation of friendly people.
It will open from 10am to 5pm tomorrow and 1pm to 5pm on Sunday, with members of the congregation there to answer any questions. There will also be information leaflets.
A main service will be held at 11am and there will be choral evensong at 6pm on Sunday - all are welcome to join.
In addition, tomorrow from 2.15pm to 3.15pm, there will be an interactive and immersive storytelling session inspired by the church windows of St John's which is suitable for all ages and led by Simon Lidwell of the Quartz Partnership.
St John's also has a team of bell-ringers and they will be emphasising the opportunity for young people (aged 11+ and upwards) to learn to ring. They meet in the tower of St John's on a Thursday night to practice from 7.30pm to 9pm.
St Michael's on St Michael's Street is the oldest church in Dumfries and as the burgh church hosts many important services on behalf of the town and is open from 10.30am to 4pm tomorrow and 1pm to 4pm on Sunday.
The present church, built between 1740 and 46, is the third on this site and encompasses the medieval columns of its predecessor. Famed for its very fine stained-glass windows, and its associations with Scottish bard Robert Burns, it is a popular spot with visitors who can combine the church with a visit of Burns' Mausoleum in our graveyard. Both are A listed. Guides will be pleased to point out items of interest within the church.
For Doors Open Days there is a range of activities too.
Tomorrow: 11am to noon: Windows to the Past offers a guided chance to view the magnificent stained glass windows highlighting their biblical significance at the church led by Reverend Graham Finch; 2pm to 3.15pm: a photography workshop focusing on capturing the beauty of a church interior and colourful windows led by David Moyes. Take cameras or mobile phones along.
Sunday: 2.15pm to 3.15pm: An interactive and immersive storytelling session inspired by the church windows, suitable for all ages led by Simon Lidwell of Quartz Partnership.
There will also be a churchyard walk talk tour both days at 2pm, meeting at the church gates.
Scotland's oldest working theatre in Shakespeare Street opened in 1792 and has a long and rich history, undergoing several changes in its design and purpose, including roller rink and cinema.
It was saved from demolition in 1959 by the Guild of Players, becoming the home of Dumfries's amateur dramatic club.
From 10am to 4pm tomorrow, there's a chance to explore its architectural and cultural heritage with guided backstage tours and experience areas of the theatre not usually open to the public, and hear personal stories from the Guild of Players.
Tours run at 10.30am, noon, and 1.30pm. Book in advance for the tours as spaces are limited.
The volunteer-led organisation is dedicated to preserving the historic Tundergarth Church and its surrounding heritage site in Lockerbie, which includes a 1900 Grade-B-listed church and the ruins of the original 1771 kirk, and a Remembrance Room for the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie Disaster.
It will open tomorrow and Sunday for Doors Open Days from 10am to 4pm, offering the chance to see how the trust is developing plans to create a museum and educational space within the 1771 ruins. This includes digital storytelling, community involvement, and accessible heritage learning.
Trustees will be welcoming visitors and showing the extensive repair and renovation works that have been undertaken in the church, as well as development ideas for the educational museum.
In addition, there will be local artwork and sculptures on display with local artists Fiona Riviere and Sean Watson; a showcase of memorabilia kindly donated to the trust by first responder organisations involved in the PanAm103 terrorist attack; a family friendly scavenger hunt for visitors young and old to enjoy, and home baking.
Friends of the Trust local historian George Trudt and vexillologist Phil Tibbetts will be popping by to speak to visitors about the history of the church, kirkyard and parish.
A church service will be held on Sunday at 10am. All are welcome to join.
Built in 1942, the Ukrainian POW chapel is a single storey, pitched roof, prefabricated hut. The interior is adapted from barracks to a place of Eastern rite worship with a simple screen (Iconostas) enclosing the altar and tabernacle of a Ukrainian type cathedral.
A second barrack has been upgraded to provide a new museum collection of historic photos.
Located off a minor road, a mile and a half south of Lockerbie, it is open from 11am to 5pm tomorrow and Sunday.
One of the oldest lending libraries in Scotland, founded at the end of the eighteenth century for antimony miners, is opening for Doors Open Day tomorrow and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
It was set up in the parish where civil engineer Thomas Telford was born and, when he died, he left a bequest in his will to the library.
It dates to 1863 and was designed to the specification of the London architect, J Habershon, in the Gothic revival style. It is in a purpose-built building next to the former Westerkirk school at Bentpath and houses a large collection of books. The trustees continue to buy and lend books. The library is on the Thomas Telford Trail.
As a treat, all the documents pertaining to the library's history will be available for the public to peruse, along with the valuation rolls for other buildings in the vicinity and the full sale details of the 1912 sale of the Westerhall Estate. Visitors will also be able to browse Thomas Telford's atlas and his autobiography.
All visitors to the library will be given an introduction and an overview of the library prior to enjoying the building and its grounds.