Where have all the deer gone?

Rosehaugh Estate

The paths around the estate are varied and beautiful. There are wide, hard surfaced paths which are firm on the wettest of days, lovely leafy, winding paths where the mud is covered with fallen leaves, open views of distant mountains, a lake and a stream to cool the dogs off in the summer months, charming old, ruined estate buildings and restored holiday cottages like the Boat House and the old Dairy. The walls where the gardens once flourished are covered in moss and lichens. In the Spring there are so many bluebells and daffodils, enough to tempt you to use the term "carpets" of wildflowers.

We are allowed to just wander at will - the Scottish Right to Roam law. At the weekend care and respect is needed as the estate is used for shoots. They have to make it pay during the winter months when the holiday cottages are not in use. But that is a small sacrifice to pay when you think of the enormous benefit Rosehaugh is to the local dog walking community! The dogs and I love it. We walked for over 2 hours today and didn't touch half of it. We met no-one in the centre of the estate and a couple of fellow dog walkers as we got nearer to home. The dogs chased a few pheasants, had a grand game of who can run the fastest round the trees, played ball at the ramparts and Poppy swam in the stream. A good afternoon.