Muirkirk to Sorn 29 July

Alan, Allan, Davie Mc, Gus, Ian, Jimmy, Johnny, Peter, Rex, Robert

Crossing the river on the way up to the Greenock Bridge

Nine of us met at Sorn on a morning which showed promise of some dry weather for at least the start of the walk. Peter would start the walk later and walk towards us from Sorn. As we left Sorn to motor up to our ‘usual’ starting point down the wee side road on the outskirts of Muirkirk, Jim Corbett, a former colleague of the Kilmarnock Academy mafia, arrived and followed us up to Muirkirk where old acquaintances were renewed before he departed.

By this time it was twenty-five past ten and, with them that know saying that rain was expected at two o’clock, we set off down the River Ayr Walk. Given the amount of rain that had fallen recently it was not surprising that parts of the walk were under water and muddy. What was very disappointing in the later stages was how overgrown the path had become. As has been said before, this whole walk needs to be maintained regularly, if it is not to become impassable.  Maybe also not surprising was the fact that the wooden walkways were very slippy and had to be negotiated with care.

The walk has been described in detail on previous occasions, so suffice it to say that we followed the path up to the Greenock Bridge where coffee was called for. The area around the bridge had been used by anglers, many of whom we spoke to on our journey, to park their cars. The run on the water promised some good fishing and so it proved to be for one lad who had caught a seven pound trout. We then continued until we came to the rickety bridge where Ian passed his initiation ceremony with flying colours!

Looking back to Cairn Table

As the first signs of rain began to appear we did not waste any time and made our next and last stop at the start of the walkway where lunch was taken and where we welcomed Peter who arrived from Sorn. Peter then joined us on the rest of the walk back to the cars. As we emerged from the shelter of the trees on the outskirts of Sorn the rain, which in truth had not been in issue so far, began to fall persistently and, by the time Sorn Church was arrived at, it was torrential. It had taken us the best part of four hours to complete the walk in what became dreich conditions. Will summer ever arrive?

Nonetheless, we managed to get changed in the wee shelter and, by the time we arrived at Black Bull in Mauchline for FRT, it had dried up and the sun was out.