Ooters on Arran for a 4 pint day

Some more pics of a fabulous day despite weather forecasts

 It's mostly flat after this Alan!

 A compassionate Ooter gives a helping hand

 Olympic podium photy-Gold(Davie Mc),Silver(Paul),Bronze(Alan)

 A celebratory refreshment at the Douglas Hotel which wasn't cause Holly was under the table.

 Smile! It's downhill all the way from here

More pictures from the Goat Fell outing.

Summit group,minus Jimmy who was off taking pictures.

The pleasure after the pain-we are beginning to feel our age on these hills.

Davie enjoying a much deserved pint of Italian lager.

Ian doing the same.

Poor David showing restraint as he was driving -what a shame !

Some images from Arran

Robert takes a photo while he could still focus

Ian poses on the summit of Goat Fell

The best scenery of the day approaches the summit of Goat Fell

Ok, I lied about this one. It was actually taken last year when we did the Laggan Cottage walk.

The evening sun sets behind the island.

22 August, Failford to Gadgirth Bridge and back

Distance 16.4 kms

A large assembly of Ooters (only Rex and Jimmy failing to report for duty) were joined by Eddie for this walk. The forecast was not promising, with heavy showers expected - indeed, the TV weather map, the previous evening, had shown a big circle of rain sitting above Mossblown for much of the day.

Rev McMeekin sees a sign!

Within ten minutes of setting off we were sheltering under a convenient tree, donning our waterproofs, as we were assailed by a heavy shower.  But this turned out to be the only shower of the day!

The short detour to Peden's Cave was made and Big Davie mounted the steps and preached to the assembled faithful below. It's to be hoped Peden got a more respectful hearing than Davie did.

It is said Peden preached his last sermon from here. He made 5 predictions - his first was "a bloody Sword, a bloody Sword, a bloody Sword for thee, O Scotland, that shall pierce the Hearts of many."
By contrast, the other four predictions were a bit gloomy.

Continuing the walk, we got to the edge of Coilsholm Wood and halted for a short coffee break. Pressing on, we were met by a notice which informed us the River Ayr Way was closed between this point and Stair. A diversion was shown around the back of Daldorch. We debated the merits of ignoring the notice, then we persuaded Peter that it didn't mean Daldorch outside Catrine. The notice's instructions were obeyed and we headed off across fields, round the back of the farm and through a field full of inquisitive bullocks.

Lazin' on a sunny afternoon

Reaching the B730 we chose not to descend into Stair and rejoin the riverside walk, because Paul knew another route. This took us past Enterkine Mill, once a watermill for grinding corn, and now an attractively converted dwelling. Next up was Enterkine Country House Hotel, a haunt of the rich, the famous and Ian.

Footpath needs maintenance!

By this time we had two detached Ooters - Ronnie and Peter. We reckoned they might have found something to talk about. We waited, and waited some more, but when eventually they were spotted  in the distance we didn't wait any longer.

A short downhill road walk took us to Gadgirth Bridge and our lunch spot. And a fine spot it was, a sunlit bank of the River Ayr. Ronnie and Peter eventually arrived, complete with a "Just Married" sign  so we wished them well.

There wis hunners o' scuddin' stanes lyin' aboot an' Ian wis awfy guid at skippin' 'em ower the watter.

We headed back alongside the river, under the Enterkine Viaduct. This stretch was badly overgrown and several of the wooden walkways are starting to fall apart. The path eventually turns at 90 degrees from the river and it was under water which had drained into it from surrounding fields.  Black marks to South Ayrshire Council.

By this time we had again lost our two newly w stragglers. We waited a while but there was no sign of them so the Ooters' motto became operational.  As we reached the main road, who should be walking up the hill from Stair but the aforementioned stragglers. They had continued along the river at the point the path turned.

Another debate ensued. Retrace our footsteps, following the diversion? Follow the river?  

There was a schism.

A dissident group, including your scribe, set off for the river. There had been a substantial landslip but the dissidents negotiated it easily.  Heading back towards Daldorch the conformists were spotted on the skyline. As they entered the field above the farm the bullocks showed a great deal of interest in them, especially Holly. As you might expect, the dissidents expressed concern for the plight of the conformists.

Back in Coilsholm Wood, Johnny and Holly chose to charge ahead so it came as a surprise to the rest that there was no sign of them back in Failford. They eventually arrived separately and Holly was ticked off for not taking care of Johnny.

Refreshments were taken in the beer garden of the Failford Inn. Paul (birth of grandson) and wee Davie (first anniversary) bought the first round and must have blanched visibly when they saw that Peroni was on tap.

A good varied walk, mainly in sunshine ... but South Ayrshire Council needs to get its act together.

Video clip from Failford walk

I have had a look at preview of this clip and there is a great loss of visual quality -sorry about that but it must have something to do with what Blogger can cope with. It also took ages to upload so there will not be that many more in future,perhaps I will put them onto a DVD to view them.

Failford walk

Here are a few pictures from the river Ayr walk. The 'Toast to Harry' picture being the main one. Cheers Harry.

Harry says "Hi" to the Ooters

Harry (1 day) and Mum

Harry, aged 4 days.

Harry goes home

Blocked up!

Notice the blockwork.  Allan and I finished off the blockwork at the weekend.
Both recovering. Both doing well.  Have a good walk this Wednesday.  Hope to see
you all next week.  Johnny

~Irish Law on a Good Day

Amazonian Rain Forest?

No, it's the Falls of Clyde today.

Irvine to Troon 1 August

Allan, Andy, Ian, Johnny, Paul, Peter, Rex, Robert

The forecast had been dismal for today so instead of Irish Law we assembled at Johnny’s and discussed over a coffee the options for the day. Whilst the rain battered off the Velux window thoughts turned away from walking to various other topics including the delicacies each had had for the previous evening’s meal. Peter was very reluctant to state what his meal had been but when it was revealed that he had washed it down with a little Chianti it dawned on us that his wife hadn’t been seen for some time.

The rain went off and the decision was made to walk down to the beach and then proceed to Troon. As we left the sky was dark and waterproofs were donned but they soon came off again as despite the overhead conditions it was too hot to wear them. They were to be put back on only on a couple of occasions during the walk and, as usual, by the time they were on the rain had eased. Given the forecast we were very fortunate with conditions today.

For Jimmy: 6 gannets at lunch

Anyway, the beach at Irvine was reached and discovering that the tide was in and walking on the soft sand was hard going we left the beach and found the path behind the sand dunes. A coffee/lunch stop was called for at the sandstone shelter whilst we pondered the possibility of a fish supper at the Wee Hurrie. Hence some had a coffee and others ate their pieces in anticipation of what might be to come.

Chips meet with seal of approval

The next part of the walk saw us keeping to the path eventually entering the grounds of Western Gailes Golf Course before taking to the beach just short of Barassie. Robert was starving at this point and insisted on us stopping at the picnic benches for lunch, although, as previously stated, not all had anything left to eat. Entertainment was provided by jet fighters flying into and around Prestwick Airport – did the Olympics have a bearing on this? As we sat we could look back up the coast to the blackness that overhung Largs and beyond – good decision!

Within an hour we were indeed at the Wee Hurrie and tucking into fish and chips whilst watching the activity at the harbour and enjoying the seals perform in the water.

FRT was taken at the Harbour Bar before we caught the bus back to Irvine.