Wigtownshire Ramblers. Maidens to Dunure. April 2012

Todays start was in the village of Maidens.

Tulips in the walled garden

Walkers admiring the plants.

Culzean Castle.

The Gas House

I thought there were only "three craws sat upon a wall"

A wee bit tricky on the rocks.

Croy shore.

Farmer had left a track for walkers.

Looking down on a bevvi of beauties.

Today's group at the lookout tower.

Our leader.

Today Saturday April 21 I travelled to Maidens to meet up with the Wigtownshire Ramblers (my mother group) for a 6 mile coastal walk to the lovely village of Dunure.20 of us left the car park to head into Culzean Estate where we met up with three other members ,why they were  not at the start is a long story and one I am not prepared to go into in any detail. Firstly we visited the swan pond before going to see a heronary which one of the group knew about and is well worth a visit as several pairs are nesting at present. On to the Cat Gates which once formed the main entrance to the castle some 200 years ago. The walled garden provided some wonderful colours especially the tulips which in the sunshine were quite spectacular.After a quick visit to the castle ramparts to admire the sea views we made our way down onto the shore at the the old Gas House which was once used to provide power to the castle. Lunch was taken on a very sunny  Croy shore overlooking Arran waiting on the tide to recede to enable us to get round a tricky rocky area. All made it safely and we had a wonderful cliff walk into Dunure passing a world war 2 lookout tower on the way to end a super day in the warm sun with some great scenery. Mention was made of the Newton Stewart Blogger who unfortunately had to call off today due to an illness. All walkers wish you a speedy recovery sir your company and humour were sadly missed today.Thanks must go to the leader who had worked so hard to make the day  a success and apart from the wee blip at the start everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.