Vogrie – Victorian Parkland and Lunch at Dalhousie Castle
A few hours.
The route
Vogrie Country Park is a Victorian estate in the Midlothian countryside, with lawns and tall old trees round Vogrie House and woodland paths beyond.
Lunch is a short drive west, inside the red stone walls of Dalhousie Castle, the old seat of the Ramsays and now a hotel.
The day
Vogrie
A morning on Vogrie's paths, as short or as long as you like, then lunch in a castle.
About four hours, with lunch
Vogrie Country Park
Vogrie Country Park is on the B6372 between Gorebridge and Pathhead, and parking costs £3 a visit, paid by card at the pay station or the exit barrier. Vogrie House dates from 1876, and the parkland round it still has its Victorian carriage drives, open lawns and old western red cedars and sequoias. Signed paths lead into the woods and down to the River Tyne valley, some of them steep and uneven. Dogs can be off the lead where you can keep them under control, and on a lead in the car park. The Tree Top Café in the house serves coffee and cake, and welcomes dogs in its conservatory.
17 min by car
Dalhousie Castle
Lunch
Dalhousie Castle is about 17 minutes' drive west, outside Bonnyrigg. The castle was first built in the 13th century, and what you see today took shape around 1450. The dry moat is still there, with the holes for the old drawbridge's beams above the main door. Lunch is in the Ramsay, the restaurant in the castle's old ballroom, which is open to visitors every day for grill and seafood dishes and has a children's menu. Afternoon tea is served between 1pm and 4pm and costs from £40 a head, with a festive version in December.
If it rains
On a wet day keep to the main paths, which suit everyone, and warm up in the Tree Top Café; lunch is indoors.
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Photographs by Carol Capaldi, Maciej Bania and Dalhousie Castle Hotel And Spa via Google