Arrangements for 14 November

The lost villages (Benwhat, Lethanhill, Burnfoothill)
Meet at the entrance to Chalmerston opencast, (just shy of Dalmellington), at 10a.m. This is a four and a half hour walk.

Glasgow Murals, Winter Gardens, People's Palace 7 November

Alan, Allan, Davie C, Dougie, Gus, Ian, Jim, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny R, Kenny T, Paul, Peter, Rex

The forecast had been for rain and it was raining as we headed for our assembly point at the Counting House in George Square. By half past ten we had had our coffee, and with the rain now off (it was to remain off for the rest of the day), we set off on our walk. Peter however was going to do something different. His intention was to go to the Art Gallery to see the WW1 exhibition and then go for a curry, so we said ‘cheerio’ and we headed down towards Mitchell Street to see the first of the murals. Heading down to Clyde Street we made our way along the riverside path and past the Clutha, taking time to try to identify the characters on the mural there, before entering Glasgow Green and walking up to the Winter Gardens. The original intention of the walk had been to have a last look at the Gardens before they close at the end of the year for renovation (hopefully!). Moving in to the People’s Palace, the time passed quickly as we reacquainted ourselves with the exhibits, and before we knew it, it was time to head up to the Drygate Brewery for lunch. Kenny R took his leave of us as at this point as he had to be back home for childminding.

The Brewery was reached in no time and we enjoyed some fine food and craft beers before we left about quarter to three. Taking in some more murals on the way back in to the city, some made their way to the bus station whilst others headed for the train.
An excellent day out!
Images of the murals are available online by searching 'Glasgow Murals'.
Today’s hero was Jim, who manged to get himself photographed outside the Celtic shop, although he did refrain from going in to the Hoops Bar.

Today’s trivia answers:

Noddy’s girlfriend was Tessie Bear. (The mind boggles at where our conversations lead).
‘Dirty Old Town’ was written by Ewan MacColl about Salford and was made famous by the Dubliners. It has been recorded by a whole host of artists, including Roger Whittaker. Well done, Davie!

Some from the Falls of Clyde walk

Wednesday 7th November

The Drygate Brewery has been booked for lunch at 1p.m.

Falls of Clyde 31 October

Allan, Davie C, Dougie, Gus, Ian, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny R, Kenny T, Malcolm, Rex, Robert

It was Hallowe'en so Davie went out as the Michelin man

The journey through to Kirkfieldbank saw us encounter quite a bit of rain and threatening skies but it was dry when we set off and the weather quickly improved giving us a bright and mainly sunny day for our walk up to the Falls of Clyde.

We went anti-clockwise for a change and followed the track. Those in front continued to follow the track failing to notice the cut-off to the left that would take us on to the accustomed route, but since they were well ahead of the back markers, they were allowed to continue on their way with the rest deciding to follow on. Not for the first time recently have we missed Holly's sense of direction! It was assumed that the path would eventually join up with the one we should have been on but, as we progressed, we seemed to be getting further away from the river. A couple of signposts pointed to a castle, which we assumed to be Corra, but as we were beginning to wonder about where we were going, Jimmy spotted another sign pointing back towards the river. This wee track took us to an information board which confirmed that we weren’t lost after all. Ten minutes later and we were able to join the path that we wanted to be on all the time, and for the first time we were able to see the river and the falls, just shy of the dam. As it turned out the way we had come up was straightforward with the only disadvantage being the lack of proximity to the Clyde.
Being Hallowe’en, we had wondered whether the falls would offer us a trickle or a treat, and we were disappointed to find that the water was just a trickle. Crossing the dam, we made our way down to a couple of benches overlooking the river for coffee. We could now get good views of the autumn colours in splendid sunshine, meaning that many a photo was taken. Pushing on, we soon passed the power station and were in New Lanark before we knew it.
It was too soon after coffee to stop for lunch, so we continued up the road to find the riverside path. Our leader who shall remain nameless, but has a history in New Lanark, took us down the wrong one to start off with. Most of us realised this and climbed back up to the road, to find the correct one a hundred yards further up. As we entered this path we could see the bold Jimmy in front of us, he had found his way on to the proper path from the last one. As we made our way up the steepish path at the end of this section Rex was delighted to show us a picture he had just taken of a woodpecker. Other ciders are available!
Lunch was taken at the wooden sculptures in the wee park before heading back to the cars. About seven miles in three and a quarter hours was today’s count. We had won a watch with the weather and made our way to the Black Bull in Darvel for FRT where the banter was, as usual, entertaining.