13 October Darvel to Loudoun Hill and Back

Distance 15.8 km (the map was prepared earlier (2/12/09))

Alan, Allan, Davie, Jimmy, Johnny, Paul & Robert

After our sojourn in Mosset last week, here we were back in familiar territory. Seven of us gathered at Davie’s place in Darvel – well, eight of us gathered there but Peter was only there for the coffee so that left seven for the walk.
The mid-October weather could have been worse but equally it could have been better. A thin fog hung in the still air and showed no sign of shifting. Everything beyond a couple of hundred metres faded into greyness, a greyness that was to stay for the day. We walked up the south side of the Irvine valley as we have done before many times but it could have been anywhere for all we could see in the fog.
Only one incident is worth recording on this outward leg. As we came down the field-side track towards High Greenbank Farm we came across three men. A younger man was busy digging a hole by hand. A second young fellow leant against a fence post lending advice and the older fellow crouched watching the hole digger. We stopped to pass the time of day. The older fellow, somebody around our own age was the boss. He was also something of a wag. After a few minutes a young lady left a land rover parked up the field and walked down towards us. ‘It’s my granddaughter coming down to see what dirty auld men look like’, said the wag. How well he judged us. After a few more minutes and a few more comments from the wag, we walked on into the fog.
We stopped beyond the Long Cairn for coffee in the hope that the fog might lift and we would get some sort of view from Loudoun Hill. It didn’t and we walked on into it.
We were barely quarter of a mile from the base of the hill when there was a slight clearing in the fog, a clearing that showed us the shadowy base of the hill but still hid the summit in grey clag. Even when we reached The Spirit of Scotland the top was still hidden from us. Still, we climbed into it.
There was some sort of view from the top as the fog continued to rise slowly. Now we could at least see the car park and as far as Loudoun Hill Inn. But anything beyond half a mile was lost to us. We took the peece on the top of the hill.
The return journey on the old railway produced two interesting bits. We reached a high banking over a burn valley. ‘Have you ever been in the tunnel?’ asked Davie. Nobody had, yet only Paul and Jimmy opted to accompany Davie on the adventure. The trio dropped down the banking to the side of the burn and the entrance to a seventy metre long, blue-brick tunnel carrying the burn under the banking. The brick also formed the floor of it. It was tall enough to admit even Paul and broad enough to have dry walking on either side of the burn today. The trio entered and walked carefully, feeling their way in the dark towards the spot of light at the other end. Once through, the return journey was easier for there seemed to be more light-spill in this direction. Into daylight once more, the trio rejoined the old railway and chased after the rest.
The rest of us walked along the railway and waited for the cavers at a seat overlooking the Irvine. A couple of fellows with blue plastic containers were guddling in the waters of the Irvine with what looked like stun-guns. ‘They’re stunning the salmon to strip them of their eggs to be taken to the hatchery’, said Alan our fisherman. We saw no reason to argue with him for he knows things, does Alan. As sat and watched we were re-joined by the cavers. Now, as a group we continued the walk on the old railway back into Darvel.
This was a walk in familiar territory. It’s just a pity that we didn’t get views today. Still, there’s always next time.
The Black Bull in Darvel provided FRT for us today.