Dean Ford

It’s difficult to know how to ‘rate’ this! As a road, you can drive across it much of the time but every time there’s some heavy rain the river, the Kilmarnock Water, overflows and blocks the road. Sometimes there’s only an inch or two and the majority of people drive through it, though several times people have got stuck midway! There is at least one video on YouTube showing the fire brigade rescuing people from the middle of the ford! I have heard that cars have been swept away by the force of the water. I confess that I nearly got stuck once myself last winter when I tried to drive through thinking it was only about an inch deep whereas it was quite a bit deeper. It gave me a fright and I wouldn’t dare to try that again when the road is flooded!
For pedestrians, there is a footbridge to one side, but motorists have to find another way around if the road is impassible.
Although a new £1m state-​of-​the-​art road bridge was promised by the council back in 2009, nothing has happened so far. It is to also incorporate a new pedestrian footway and even a fish pass. All residents in the area (including myself!) are still waiting to see this marvellous new bridge!

Fantastic place to visit often. The castle tours, animall park, ranger centre, visitor centre, free cinema, gift shop, café, ranger centre, all great.
Plenty of picnic areas and good walks in the park too.
Visit the horses & donkeys.
Private stables at the top of the park for treks through the park. Pony rides during holidays.
Loads of events on all through the year.
Free ranger led activities for families & kids during school holidays.
Look out for concerts, some free, some ticketed but all low cost.
Castle tours are good, ask questions and the guides will have all the answers, they are great. The main castle has a great new area for kids to try on real armour and medieval play costumes.Brilliant.
Yes there are ghosts too. If you are very lucky you might just bump into one.
Loads of good events on throughout the year, craft fayres, car shows, dog shows, family fun days, medieval weekends, etc.
I love this place.

Total geniale Burg. Der Eintritt ist umsonst und in der Halle können sich die Kinder verkleiden während sie auf die Führung warten. Leider kann man nicht gaaanz hoch. Im Palastteil saßen ein paar Frauen, die Vorhänge bestickt haben. Alles in allem sehr familiär.

Great place for a day out. Spend it at the Museum, the Country Park or the play park.
Great place to take the kids and let them run around. During the summer months the small animal park and Ranger station offer the kids something to do and see with demonstrations from the rangers and farm animals to pet.
The Dean Park also operate walks, nature trails and nigh walks during the summer.
The green at the front of the castle is ideal for picnics.
Wonderful in the summer when there are open air exhibitions and concerts.

Dean castle and country park is a great family day out.
The park is over 200 acres, and has beautiful woodland walks, an adventure playground, a pets corner, a fantastic visitor centre, a tearoom, shop and a fantastic 14^th century castle.
The castle has historic weapons, armour and musical instruments. The original keep dates from around 1350 with the Palace being added around 110 years late
They also have a full annual events programme for the whole family.

This on scale is one of the smaller castles in Scotland. It is heeped in local family history and a great place to visit to discover a little about our ancestors. Very small stair case inside, but the ‘great hall’ is a must see. Not at all disabled friendly. The shop is cheap and has lots for the children to spend their pocket money on.

Castle, although can only be accessed if on paying tour is smaller than you might imagine a castle but is steeped in history — including a ghost. The country park has sveral walks and an animal park for the kids with rabbits, goats, pigs, etc. Also a play area for the kids and a reasonably priced café for refreshments