Ayr - Dalmellington/Hillfoot Road (Ayrshire)

Giant Redwood - July 2011

Thanks to Peggy for letting us know about a Giant Sequoia in Ayr with these co-ordinates: N 55 26.891 W 004 36.845. Peggy says, "We found this tree while geocaching as there is a cache here marking the tree, an enormous Sequoiadendron with a trunk-like side branch, thus nicknamed The Mammoth. In 1804 Mr. Patrick Ballantine had a mansion house built on the site of an older mansion. Both buildings held commanding views of the Ayr coastline and of the Isle of Arran. In 1810 Patrick Ballantine died and the estate passed to his brother John who was responsible for the design of the new bridge over the river Ayr. Robert Burns subsequently dedicated the poem "The Brigs of Ayr" to John Ballantine. Castlehill Estate remained in the Ballantine family until 1909. In the 1960's the house was demolished. Ayrshire and Arran Health Board sold the lands to Kyle and Carrick Council in the early 1990's and they have been open to the general public ever since."