Alan, Allan,
Davie C, Davie Mc, Francesco, Gus, Johnny, Malcolm, Peter, Rex, Robert
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| Peter's better side! |
The recent
rains had given way to a bright, windy morning and the weather was to stay fair
for the duration of our pre-Christmas walk. Given the direction of the chill
wind, it was decided to take the bus to Ochiltree and to walk back from there.
Jimmy arrived to tell us that he wisnae weel and would not be joining us, but
we were delighted to welcome Francesco from our Italian branch. Apparently he
had made Rex an offer he couldn’t refuse, so Rex felt obliged to bring him
along!
We started
walking from Ochiltree just after ten and, as could be expected given the amount
of rain that had fallen, the track was very muddy in places. An hour or so after
setting out, we were having coffee at the Barony A Frame. Robert, ever the
thoughtful one (can’t believe I’ve said that), had brought a flask of warm
gluhwein which he dispensed to grateful recipients. Well done, Robert! Next
year remember the mince pies and Christmas cake though!
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| Davie wanted evidence that the sun was shining on 23 Dec |
On leaving
here, Peter suggested a different path rather than retrace our steps down the
bing, but, given the uncertainty surrounding the actual path to take, half the
company took the familiar route back to the Dumfries House estate, whilst the
rest followed Peter. Peter’s instincts proved to be right (again, can’t believe
I’ve said that) as his group had taken the shorter route and were first to
arrive at the estate. Time was taken to take in the walled garden before our
lunch stop at our usual howff in the arboretum. By this time Francesco, whose
English was good, admitted that he was having difficulty with our local
dialects (who invited Dr Who anyway?). He felt better when it was explained to
him that half of us couldn’t understand what the others were saying and the
other half couldn’t hear a thing anyway.
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| The walled garden looks good, even in winter |
We didn’t go
up to the house this time but took a look at the maze under construction before
taking the riverside path back to Cumnock, arriving at the cars three hours after
having started walking. We had had a good walk in bright overhead conditions,
indeed it was warm out of the wind, and felt the better for the exercise.
FRT was taken
in the Black Bull in Mauchline which is fast becoming our preferred hostelry in this neck of the woods.
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| Francesco takes a pic |
1 comment:
Aye, Allan, The Black Bull may well be our howff for the next few months as Poosie Nancie's seems to be falling down.
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