The B741 leaves Girvan eastwards up the Water of Girvan through a green valley of farms, policies and old woodland — a road most visitors never take, and one of the best quiet cycling routes in Carrick. Dailly, six miles up, was a coal-mining village into the 1960s and is now simply a quiet place to pass through, with a shop and a pub.
Old Dailly and the Blue Stones
A mile before the present village, Old Dailly has a ruined church in a kirkyard worth stopping for. Lying by the church are the Blue Stones — two heavy boulders that young men of the parish once lifted to prove their strength, a tradition of the kind that survives in only a handful of places in Scotland. The kirkyard also holds Covenanter graves, including a martyr's stone, and is a quiet, atmospheric spot.
Castles of the valley
- Penkill Castle, on the hill above Dailly, is a 15th-century tower restored in the 1850s by the artist Alice Boyd. Under her it became a Pre-Raphaelite retreat: Dante Gabriel Rossetti stayed and worked here, and William Bell Scott painted a staircase mural. It is privately owned and not normally open, but visible from the road.
- Killochan Castle, downstream towards Girvan, is a fine 16th-century Cathcart tower house, also private, with holiday cottages in its grounds.
- Dalquharran, the roofless Robert Adam mansion above the village, is a melancholy sight from the road and thoroughly unsafe to approach.
Bargany
The Bargany estate between Dailly and Old Dailly has long-famous woodland gardens — rhododendrons, azaleas and mature trees around a lily pond, at their best in late spring. Opening has historically been occasional, sometimes under Scotland's Gardens Scheme, so check current arrangements before setting out rather than turning up hopefully.
Cycling and driving on
The valley road is the draw: quiet, undulating, with the river alongside and almost no traffic. From Dailly it continues over the hill to Straiton and the edge of the Galloway Forest Park, making a fine half-day ride or drive from Girvan. See cycling.
Beside the river, the former Brunston Castle golf course has closed, though the holiday lodges on the estate continue to operate — they now trade under the Landal name as well as through cottage agencies. See where to stay.
