How Timmy Mallett became a tourism ambassador

One of television's most colourful characters of the 1980s and 1990s has become a somewhat surprising ambassador for the south of Scotland.

Timmy Mallett is probably best known for his role on the Wide Awake Club and its spin-off, Wacaday.

Nowadays, though, he is happiest getting out on his bicycle and touring around the country while stopping off to indulge his ion for painting.

It was his efforts to recreate a scene captured by his own father in Galloway that led - in a roundabout way - to him becoming a bit of a one-man promotional campaign for the area.

Back in 2018, Timmy came to the region on a mission to paint the same bridge his father had more than 50 years earlier.

That kindled a love for the area which has never gone away.

He returned last year on a bit of unfinished business - to cycle the Rhins of Galloway which he had been unable to complete due to bike issues on a previous coastal tour of Great Britain.

His videos on social media captured not only his journey but also his enthusiasm for the history and scenery.

That, in turn, prompted the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA) to ask him to give a talk at their annual conference to be held in Peebles in March.

The story, though, begins with the picture that his father painted which hung on the wall of the family home.

"My dad talked about this holiday that he and my mum had back in 1965 to Gatehouse of Fleet," he said.

"And there was this little bit in his diary about going in search of something to paint on the last day of his holiday on a sunny day."

They ended up at Skyreburn and scrambled their way to a little "secret" bridge.

"He painted this view with the sunlight coming through those autumn leaves and the trees giving lovely, beautiful reflections and shadows," said Timmy.

"My mum would have filled a little kettle and set up a wee fire and boiled herself a cup of tea.

"I can picture the picnic, you know, with fish paste and sandwich spread sandwiches that she'd have got that morning from the the little shop in Gatehouse where they were staying.

"It was such a wonderful moment of what holidays do for you and how you just recharge your batteries and I could just picture them."

No wonder, when he describes it that way, that he wanted to recreate the painting which he gave - along with his father's - to the nearby Kirkcubright Galleries.

Fast-forward to November last year and he was back in south-west Scotland in order to cycle the Rhins of Galloway - a vaguely mallett-shaped peninsula - which he had had to miss out previously.

Timmy said: "Isn't that a great name, The Rhins of Galloway?

"It's got something of the Tolkien or Lord of the Rings about it, hasn't it":[]}