Creating connections between Dalkeith park and town centre

The conceptual map by local architect and artist Catherine Palmer sits centre-stage on the interpretation board

The new entryway into Dalkeith Country Park has been created as part of Midlothian Council’s £50,000 Town Centre Capital Fund, with an additional £30,000 funding from Buccleuch.

The objective of this Creating Connections project was to provide Dalkeith residents and visitors with a safe and clean walkway into and from Dalkeith Country Park. This new safer entrance joins up the town with the park’s recently created £250,000 pedestrian pathway into the heart of the estate.

The project has also invested in an interpretation board that encourages visitors to the park to explore by foot its often overlooked neighbouring town.

A conceptual map by local architect and artist Catherine Palmer sits centre-stage on the interpretation board, detailing the architectural gems of both the park and town. Dalkeith Palace, the churches of St Mary’s and St Nicholas Buccleuch, the Corn Exchange, the Tollbooth and the town’s Water Tower are just some of the important stops along the suggested walking route.

The interpretation board will this month be placed in front of the park’s 18th Century Orangerie, which is the starting point for the walk. A promotional video has also been created to encourage visitors to explore this new walking route.

Alison Burke, Dalkeith Country Park’s park manager, described the outcomes of the project: “We were ecstatic to win the Midlothian Town Council Capital Fund as we really wanted to make our Town Gate entrance a place that residents of Dalkeith were proud of as well as impress new visitors to the park.

"This whole project was about increasing the safety and enhancing the experience of pedestrian visitors to and from the park.

"It was also about promoting that joint connection, through history, of the park and town, therefore promoting Dalkeith Country Park as very much part of the community of Dalkeith.”

View the artwork, walking route, video and the history of the park and town at: https://www.dalkeithcountrypark.co.uk/plan-a-visit/historic-connections/.