Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
Alloway
Ayr KA7 4PO
Why We Should Visit
Threaded through the small village of Alloway in South Ayrshire are a number of sites associated with Robert Burns, whose birthday is celebrated on Wednesday. Standing on the Brig O’Doon or exploring the graveyard surrounding the Auld Kirk brings the Bard’s poetry vividly to life.
Fittingly for a poet whose work was infused with a love of nature, many of the visitor attractions are set amongst gardens where the plants that flourish today would have been familiar to Burns himself.
Story of the Garden
From the red rose of passion to the poppies, whose petals reminded him of spent pleasures, Burns was a keen observer of the natural world and his introduction to it came at an early age in the garden of the thatched cottage where he was born. Today a vegetable patch recreates the kale yard where the young Robert was taught by his father to grow vegetables, while a wildflower meadow contains some of the plants that feature in his work. There’s an orchard too, all presided over by a giant willow sculpture of the Bard.
Highlights
The 500m pedestrian walkway that leads from the cottage to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, is known as the ‘Poet’s Path’ and in early spring the hawthorn hedges that line it are flushed with green. Later, cowslips appear amongst the grass while sculptures inspired by Burns’ poetry, including scenes from Tam O’Shanter, a giant Mouse and Twa Dogs are permanent features.
Don’t Miss
Behind the Museum lies the Scot’s Wa-Hey garden, where the children’s play area includes a scaled-down replica of the cottage and a roundabout shaped like a witch’s cauldron. These are set amongst birch trees and firs, underplanted with heather, which provide year-round interest. Massed plants of winter-flowering honeysuckle provide fragrant hedging in front of the building.
Anything Else to Look Out For
From the Museum it is a short stroll to the Monument Gardens, where the 21m high Grecian temple centrepiece has recently been restored. This is a sloping, south-facing site overlooking the Brig O’Doon and its sheltered paths and seating areas are inviting even in the midst of winter. Roses feature heavily amongst the planting while box hedging, yew and mature phormiums provide year-round structure.
Best Time to Visit
Burns’ Night is celebrated on 25 January and the planting around the museum in particular has been designed to look good even at this bleak time of year, with scented shrubs, birch bark and evergreens providing structure and interest.
Any Recommendations in the Area
Twelve miles southeast of Alloway lies the picturesque village of Straiton. This is the heart of Ayrshire’s rambling country and a 6km path heads from the village to the top of Bennan Hill and the Straiton Monument, which commemorates the life of Lt Col James Hunter Blair, who fell at the battle of Inkerman in 1854. It is a steep scramble to the top of this 232m hill, but the views are worth the effort and a circular path leads walkers back to the village.
Directions
The museum is two and a half miles south of Ayr. It is signposted from the A77.
Details
The Museum is open daily, 10am - 16.30
Entry to the cafe and museum gardens, along with the monument gardens, is free.
Entry to the exhibits and cottage: £11.50/£8.50
T: 01292 443700
burns@nts.org.uk
www.nts.org.uk
If there’s one plant that is as synonymous with Scotland as Robert Burns, then it is the heather that covers our hillsides.
Both heathers, which are members of the Calluna genus, and their close cousins the heaths (Erica) are invaluable for their hardiness, evergreen foliage and ability to cope with all different kinds of growing conditions.
Perthshire Heathers, which is based near Cupar in Fife, holds a collection of more than 100 different varieties of Calluna; Erica and also of Daboecia, which is the Irish heath, and amongst them there is something in flower at all times of the year, including both Erica x darleyensis and Erica carnea, which are currently providing welcome colour, as well as nectar for any bees which come out of hibernation during mild spells.
The nursery, which is open to visitors by appointment, can offer expert advice on which plants to choose for different situations and for year-round displays. Heaths and heathers are tough plants that can grow in difficult conditions and they have the added benefit of being unappetising to deer and tolerant of salt spray.
Perthshire Heathers
Starr Farm
Cupar KY15 4NP
In association with Discover Scottish Gardens.
www.discoverscottishgardens.org.
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