No groundworker listed in New Galloway 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.

New Galloway is the smallest royal burgh in Scotland, a single-street village sitting at the northern end of Loch Ken in the heart of the Glenkens.

The village is a gateway to the Galloway Forest Park and sits within the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, a UNESCO-recognised area of outstanding natural heritage.

Loch Ken, stretching south from the village, is a popular destination for sailing, canoeing, fishing and birdwatching - ospreys nest in the area and red kites are a common sight.

New Galloway has a village shop, a town hall and the kind of quiet, unhurried character that comes from being small, remote and surrounded by some of the best scenery in southern Scotland.

(opens in new tab)

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.