The walk can be extended by exploring Dumfries House Estate – I recommend this route which takes in all the best bits.
TERRAIN: Surfaced paths and gravel trails which can become muddy in places. Downhill most of the way there and uphill most of the way back.
Dog-friendly walk
Car parking at Barony A Frame. Local bus service stops on Barony Road a short walk from the start point. There is cycle parking on the Barony A Frame site, next to the pump track (see map on arrival).
View Full Route Description
From the parking area walk beneath the A Frame and veer left onto a red blaze footpath. This soon turns to concrete then gravel, leading downhill through a wooded area. Where the path splits into two, keep left. Continue to follow the path around the hillside with views starting to open up across the surrounding farmland. The route soon flattens out and follows the course of a small burn before bending sharp right and following a narrow trail between two fence lines. You will emerge into Dumfries House Estate a little east of the walled garden. Enjoy exploring the Estate then return to the A Frame via the same route.
Walk Report: 15th Feb & 28th July 2023
Believe it or not, the February visit was my very first time out at Barony A Frame! What an amazing place.
Before setting off on our walk to Dumfries House Estate we spent ages exploring and reading all the historical info boards. I really love when effort is made to preserve the heritage of an area and this site is a brilliant example of that.
Beneath the A Frame itself were at least a dozen information boards detailing everything from how coal is formed, the layout of Barony, what life was like for the miners and some important historical events which impacted the site. It was utterly fascinating.
Whilst I stood reading all of that my kids were in their element running around the pump track and climbing on the kids play equipment. There were even a handful of picnic benches. We’d definitely be back!
I could have spent longer there taking it all in, but there was a walk to be done and a deadline to be back for my son’s karate training and so we got going.
In my research for this route I had read several accounts of the path being muddy and my visit in February was no exception. Not only was it muddy, when we reached the lowest section the “path” was completely waterlogged and we had some trouble getting through with dry feet. I was delighted to learn that not long after work started on resurfacing the path all the way down to Dumfries House Estate. This encouraged me to return in July and what a difference! The path is now fine gravel all the way and some new drainage has been installed which is very much doing its job.
We didn’t meet a soul on this walk until we reached Dumfries House Estate. We went down to the pagoda to eat our packed lunches and a enjoyed quick wander around the walled garden and sadly had to head back already.
On the way back I realised how much of a hill we had come down. Why doesn’t it seem that steep and long when you are going down the way?! 🙂
My youngest kept finding lumps of coal along the path which he hadn’t seemed to notice on the way there. They intrigued him. Looking at the colour of his hands after touching it for a few seconds led us to chat about how dirty the miners must have got working with it for 7 hours a day. He wondered if they walked around all day like he had, looking for coal…. I’d taken it for granted that he understood they had to go underground for it and so that realisation opened up a whole other bunch of questions from him (most of which I could answer thanks to having read all those information boards earlier!) My mum told him that if he had a fire at home he would have been able to take some home and burn it….. “Oh is *that* what people used to burn in their houses?!“…. Isn’t it great how a short walk in the great outdoors can be so educational.
