Dean Castle

Another nice day so another day out! 
This time we were in Dean Castle Country Park, which, under the name of Kilmarnock Castle, was the seat of the Boyd family in the C14, the land gifted to Sir Robert Boyd by King Robert I for his support in the battle of Bannockburn
 
The keep is a traditional Tower House design, with a  palace added in the C15. A gatehouse was not added until the C20.
James Boyd sold the castle in 1746 and subsequently the property changed hands many times. You can find the history here.

After visiting the castle we enjoyed one of the designated walks around the park, along the River Fenwick which divides the land. Extra 1 my first orange-tip butterfly of the season representing the wildlife - the songbirds, nuthatch, chiff-chaff, wren, thrush...the herd of fallow deer, the pond with waterfowl. Celandines, Ramsons, wood sorrel, spurges, windflower carpeted the ground beneath the trees.

Amazingly, there is no charge for the visitors, not even for the castle with its fine displays of armour and tapestries, the café is perfectly adequate, there is more than we wished to see and weather fine, making for an excellent visit.

Leaving the park and feeling adventurous, we drove up to Wemyss Bay to visit the station (featured on Michael Portillo's programme) to see the beautiful curved corridor and lines (see extra 2 of the corridor to the Bute ferry) before pottering on the shore at Gourock and pootling along the coast and River Clyde to the motorway and home.