Eglinton Park and Montgreenan Woods

Our walk starts at the Visitor Centre of Eglinton Park, where there is ample free parking. There is also a cafe and toilet facilities. The walk is mostly flat, with only a few minor uphill sections, using a roughly 50/50 blend of minor roads and earth tracks through parkland and mature woods. These may be slightly boggy or rough in places. The road section has no pavement, is not busy and the usual care should be taken with single file walking recommended. There are two low fences to be stepped over, with no actual climbing involved.

The walk comprises two linked country estate/woodland walks: one of Eglinton Country Park; the other of Montgreenan Estate. These are joined by a road through the small, former mining village of Benslie.

We walk through Eglinton Park by the castle, through Benslie to the woods of Montgreenan Estate, where we will follow Lugton Water to the ruins of Montgreenan Castle/Bishop's Palace, which lie in a loop of the Lugton Water at its confluence with the Cowlinn Burn. Here, we will see an interesting memorial stone. There, we will stop for lunch before continuing to follow the river, then walk up from the woods and onto open farmland. We will walk the formal paths of Montgreenan Estate where the old woodland has recently been tended to restore health and provide a blend of landscaping and ancient woods. Then we walk back through Benslie and in the 'back way' to Eglinton Park and return to the car park.

We will have a first break either at Benslie or at the start of the woods, depending on what the group prefers.