Newton Stewart walking festival. Straiton to Loch Doon via Ness Glen. May 2015

One of many fences that were crossed

Craigengillan house and gardens.

Group listening to the history of the gardens

Your two leaders today.

On the summit of Monument Hill.

On Tuesday May 12th along with the teacher we were privileged to lead a group from the Newton Stewart Annual walking festival. On a clear dry windy morning 21 of us set out from Straiton to climb Monument hill with myself as leader to take us over the moors towards Dalmellington. It was extremely windy and in places soft underfoot but this was a hardy group and after a couple of hours we reached the summit of Auchenroy Hill overlooking Dalmellington. This was where lunch was plannned for but due to the high winds we carried on to lower slopes where we found some shelter and took our break there.On entering Craigengillan Estate passed the site of my infamous accident in 2012 a trip round the gardens had been arranged for the group where we had a very interesting tour with the lady of the house explaining all the history attached to the estate and the work that had been carried out since taking possession of the property back in 2000.The last part of the walk was through the wonderful Ness Glen with its high sided gorges allowing some  sunlight to come
through the trees made this a very memorable end to a very interesting walk. Your leaders hope you all enjoyed the day and  look forward to seeing you all again next year.