Wikipedia
Dalmellington (, ) is a market town and civil parish in Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2001 the village had a population of 1407. The town owes its origins to the fault line separating the Southern Uplands of Scotland from the Central Lowlands. Dalmellington sits at the issue of a river from the uplands into Dalmellington Moss plain.
The town has a history as a rest area, market town, weaving centre and mining village. The Chalmeston open cast coal mine to the north of the village covered some 742 hectares, but the operations have now ceased and the first phase of the site restoration has been completed.
Robert Hetrick the blacksmith-poet lived in the town in the 19th century. The town has a working museum to record the history of the area.
There are many Sites of Special Scientific Interest around Dalmellington, the most notable being the nearby Loch Doon. Selection of local views The Scottish Dark Sky Observatory is located near Dalmellington and is within the northern edge of the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park.
Dalmellington Craigengillan Curling Club is the oldest constituted club in Dalmellington; it was formed on the 3rd of December 1841 in the Black Bull Hotel and has continued unbroken since. In 2004 the members reinstated the outside curling pond at Craigengillan, this is the only self leveling curling pond in Scotland.