23 January Blacksidend Hill

Andy, Davie C, Davie Mc, Ian, Jimmy, Paul, Peter & Robert

This was another short walk but this time in familiar territory for most. The reason for the brevity was the upcoming Burns Supper, our second, and the need for preparations to be made. So the familiar Blacksidend Hill near Sorn was the chosen venue.

            The snows of the week-end still lay on the hill and seamed to gleam under the overcast sky. The morning was dull but the air was calm and not too cold and there was the promise of sunshine coming from the west so we looked forward to a nice day on the hill. To cut the walk shorter we parked the cars at  Laigh Brocklar Farm, an abandoned farm but with signs of work being carried out to restore it. Then we took to the road leading to Blackside and the hill beyond. Any snow that lay on the road was powdery and easily avoided if need be. Not that we need to avoid it for there was plenty of grip there and we walked easily enough up to Blacksidend Farm. Hew we took to the open hill.

Snow drifts beside the road on the way to
Balcksidend Farm

            A herd was feeding sheep from the back of a quad as we approached the start of the climb of the hill proper but he was too far off our route to exchange any greeting with him and we plodded on upward onto the snow-wreathed summit. Behind us, when we stopped to look, the sun was creeping in over the Ayrshire plain towards us and the views were opening out. We attempted to identify the various landmarks of Ayrshire and, on the whole, did this successfully. From the Glen Afton hills through the low-lying areas of Ayrshire to the Renfrew Heights the view was looking good and bright. But we were under cloud yet so plodded on upwards.

            The hollowed out cairn on top provided some shelter from the breeze that had sprung up while we were climbing and we settled into it for a morning coffee stop.

             Any hope we might have had of the sun getting to us were rapidly disappearing as the brightness seemed to stop around Mauchline and our hill seemed to be making high cloud. And any hope some might had of a quick retreat from the hill disappeared as well when Davie announced that we were to take in the neighboring top of Wedder Hill. Enthusiastically in some cases and reluctantly in others, we set of along the snow-covered hilltop towards the cairn Davie had pointed out some mile and a bit away on Wedder Hill.

Looking back from the climb to see the sun lighting the
Carrick Hills above Ayr

The snow didn’t hinder our progress too much and we reached the Wedder Hill cairn just five minutes behind Davie’s schedule. Well, most of us reached the cairn. Peter had stopped for some reason and was way behind the rest of us and when we decided to return from Wedder, Peter hadn’t quite made it there. We found him on the way back and he joined us without getting to Wedder Hill cairn. Poor Peter, or perhaps not, for Peter is not a great lover of hills. When we cooried doon into the scooped out cairn on Blacksidend for a bite of lunch Peter decided that he would walk on down and we should catch him up below, and set off down the way we had come up. We got stuck into our sandwiches.

After eating, and as we prepare to set off downward, Holly took to her heels in pursuit of Peter. That was the last we saw of both man and dog until we reached tarmac again. Robert and Jimmy set a cracking pace downward and, no matter how we tried, we couldn’t keep up with the silly auld so-and-sos. But we found them at Blacksidend Farm talking to the herd. A pleasant chap he was though the scribe forgot to get his name (Again? –Ed.) And he gave us a number to phone just to make sure the hill was open when we next come for sometimes they close access for lambing purposes or for shoots. We thanked him and promised to do just that. Then we left him to his sheep and came back down the road.

We found Peter and Holly at the style by the gate on the Blacksidend road, Peter whittling a stick for Holly to chase. Then we returned to the cars and made our way home resolved to meet later for our Burns Supper.

That night we enjoyed a great night “o’ sangs and clatter” superbly hosted by Johnny. Our thanks go to him and everybody else that contributed to the night.