No groundworker listed in Kirkcudbright yet.

A groundworker handles the unseen work that supports a building - excavation, foundations, drainage runs, sub-bases, site clearance and grading - everything below ground level before the bricklayers and joiners arrive.

Get a soil and ground-conditions check on any site you don't already know - clay, made-up ground or peat each call for different foundation strategies and ignoring this is the most expensive mistake on a build.

Make sure any drainage work is signed off in writing - groundworks that fail building control later are a nightmare to retrofit once a slab has been poured.

Kirkcudbright is a small harbour town on the River Dee estuary, known as the Artists' Town for the colony of painters who settled here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The town has a beautifully preserved centre of colour-washed Georgian houses, a ruined castle and the Tolbooth Art Centre which houses a permanent collection of works by the Kirkcudbright artists.

Broughton House, the former home of artist E.A. Hornel, is now a National Trust for Scotland property with a Japanese-influenced garden running down to the river.

Kirkcudbright has a working harbour, a strong community of artists and makers and a quiet charm that draws visitors and residents who value its character and setting.

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Dumfries and Galloway is the most south-westerly council area in Scotland, stretching from the English border at Gretna to the Mull of Galloway - the southernmost point in Scotland - and from the Solway Firth coast inland to the hills of the Southern Uplands.

Dumfries is the largest town and administrative centre, a handsome red sandstone burgh on the River Nith where Robert Burns spent the last years of his life and is buried in St Michael's Kirkyard.

The region divides naturally into three historic areas: Dumfriesshire to the east, Kirkcudbrightshire (the Stewartry) in the centre and Wigtownshire to the west - each with its own character, landscape and loyalties.

The Galloway coast and countryside have a mild climate influenced by the Gulf Stream, fertile farmland, dark-sky reserves and a string of small harbour towns that attract artists, writers and visitors drawn to the quiet and the landscape.

Despite its size, the region is one of the most sparsely populated in Scotland - a place where community is strong, the pace is slower and the landscape ranges from river valleys and rolling farmland to wild moorland and rocky coastline.