Dalry Station Garden Open Day including unveiling of three fantastical white hares, staring skywards. Afterwards cake and folk music in the Greenbank Inn then a couple of hours exploring a mile or so downstream along the River Garnock.
Previous Dalry blogs one (Lynn Glen) and two (Blair Estate) for other local walks and more about my mural involvement with Dalry Station.
Dalry Station Garden Group - website.
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Station Garden hares
Funded by Dalry Parish Boundary Trust and North Ayrshire Council three beautiful white station hares were commissioned from artist Wayne Darnell. After the unveiling we were treated to hare cakes and bakes in the Greenbank Inn and folk songs and stories from James Dippie and John Hodgart.
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| unveiling the hares |
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| hawthorn and compost |
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| micro pond - try one of these in your garden, easy and quick and one of the best things for nature |
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| new planter thanks to Dalry Burns Club |
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| more speeches in the Greenbank Inn |
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| James and John |
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River Garnock walk,
A short and sometimes uncertain walk with lots of bird and plantlife to stop for.
I walked from the town downstream on the west side of the River Garnock until a little beyond a high-fenced auction ground on the other side of the water. Turned around at a point where I discovered snipe. Frightened them off before I spotted them unfortunately, as is almost always the case. Have you ever seen snipe holes though? Look at the photos...
Retraced my steps as far as the auction ground bridge, crossed the bridge over the river and through a gate in the high fence. From there it's close alongside the fence until a more substantial track winds you back towards the town with railway on the right and river on the left.
After a while you're nearly at houses when there's a footbridge over the river on your left - don't take it, turn right and walk with field on either side until you emerge at the station.
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| starting the walk, River Garnock on the left, Dalry houses behind me |
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| Dalry's Maes Howe? |
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| looking back to Dalry, Garnock on the right |
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| butterbur - www.plantlife.org.uk |
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| butterbur |
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| wind farm - http://dcdh.btck.co.uk/Projects/WindFarmCommunityBenefits |
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| orange water outlet and auctions cross the water. They could do with some hedgerow |
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| snipe holes! All over the muddy ground here where they'd been probing for insects |
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| more snipe holes |
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| where I flushed the group of snipe |
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| now returning to Dalry, looking back along the auction ground fence |
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| woodland then river on my left, railway on right |
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| Dalry in the distance |
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| fields on either side, Dalry station ahead |
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| my Garnock River walk - the red-ringed, white-arrowed bit |
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How to get there
Trains to Dalry take half an hour from Glasgow Central. Mon-Sat there are 3 per hour from Glasgow - 2 going to Ayr, the other to Ardrossan Harbour. Hourly on Sundays.
Double check 'Ayrshire, Inverclyde & Stranraer Timetable' and 'Buy Tickets' on ScotRail website.
Many thanks to ScotRail for enabling my Scotland by Rail work.
