page_title: Dalgarven Mill – Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume
section_title: Riverside walk
hierarchical_section_title: Dalgarven Mill – Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume / Other features of interest / Riverside walk
caption_attribution_description: Whin / Gorse in full flower. Ayrshire. Scotland.
context_page_description: Dalgarven Mill is near Kilwinning, in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland and it is home to the Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume. The watermill has been completely restored over a number of years and is run by the independent Dalgarven Mill Trust.
  The village of Dalgarven was largely destroyed by the construction of the main A737 road, but the mill buildings survive and are open as a tourist attraction and educational resource, interpreting local history in addition to its role as a museum of Ayrshire country life. Very few mills remain in Ayrshire and this is an example which has been preserved due to the foresight of the family of the last miller who saw a modern role for an ancient industrial site and traditional social meeting-place. Some of the outbuildings have been converted for use as an antique shop, others are still occupied as dwellings and some are in the process of being converted to uses which will enhance the quality of the experience of visitors to the mill complex.
  The Ferguson family, descendants of the last miller, are still involved with the running of the museum, working with a board of trustees who are all volunteers.
context_section_description: Visitors should leave time to wander through the unspoilt landscape formed by the gently flowing River Garnock. In spring, the wild flower meadow is at its best, in summer, sit by the riverbank and watch the heron, swallows, kingfisher and other wildlife. A Community Woodland has been established and the site is open access.
  The gravel bed of the river was an important source of income for the millers, for through the estate they had sole right to the extraction of the gravel here, which was sold for various farm and horticultural purposes.
  The meadows are particularly rich in pignut (Conopodium majus), a relative of parsley, which formed a breaktime snack for children in former times. If the plant is dug up a small potato-like structure is found which when eaten raw has a slightly nutty taste. It is available commercially for salads, etc.
  Hemlock water dropwort grows well in the wetter areas and is best left alone as the name hemlock suggests. The large leaves of the butterbur (Petasites hybridus) are found in several areas; its name harkens back to the days before clingfilm or cheap paper when the leaves were used to wrap butter destined for the market. Water ragwort (or Saracen's ragwort) (a species of Senecio) is an introduced plant which grows along the riverside in tall stands. It is common on the Garnock and at present quite rare elsewhere. Himalayan balsam or policemen's helmets is another introduction, but a common one. Giant hogweed is beginning to make its presence felt. It is another plant which should never be handled as the sap can cause severe blistering and scarring of the skin. Ayrshire Rivers Trust are a local conservation charity that have been highly effective controlling invasive weeds in Ayrshire and are soon to tackle Giant Hogweed on the Garnock and other rivers in North Ayrshire. More information on the work of the Trust is available through their website at www.ayrshireriverstrust.org
  The Stewarton Flower or pink purslane (Claytonia sibirica) is common in wetter areas. It has white or pink flowers at this site, but closer to Stewarton it is almost always white. It seems that it was first introduced as a white variety in the Stewarton area in Victorian times and the common pink variety, introduced later, spread to other areas. Dalgarven, it seems, is on the edge of the white flower zone of dominance. Dalgarven is the only known site for the Pocket Plum gall Taphrina padi which develops on Bird Cherry.
  Coppicing of the riverside alder trees is still carried out. Alders grow well in wet soils and are specially adapted for the low nutrient conditions through having large root nodules containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria which enrich the soil in the same way as clover plants and other legumes.
  The many hedgerow trees in the vicinity of the mill were not planted by farmers for 'visual effect', they were crops and the wood was used for building and fencing. The miller needed beech or hornbeam wood for mill machinery, in particular the cogs on the drive wheels from the waterwheel.
  It is not generally appreciated how much the Ayrshire landscape has changed its character over the last few hundred years, for even in the 1760-70 Statistical Account it is stated that "there was no such thing to be seen as trees or hedges in the parish; all was naked and open".
caption: Gorse or Whin in full flower in Dalgarven Meadows.
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