Greenock Cut 2 April

Allan, Andy, Davie C, Davie Mc, Gus, Jimmy, Johnny, Peter, Rex, Robert

The weather was bright and sunny as we travelled up from Ayrshire to neighbouring Inverclyde for the Greenock Cut walk, but as we gained some height and neared Cornalees Visitors Centre the sky became overcast and threatening, and, as we readied ourselves, we were dismayed to find that the strong wind had an icy chill to it. This did not deter Davie C who was the only one of us to adorn shorts today. Davie Mc – eat your heart out!

Whilst leaving the car park we were approached by a couple of workers keen to know who we were.

Apparently, as a cost saving measure, the authority is seeking to close the visitors centre, so the workers are trying to gain as much evidence as they can as to the number of people using it to justify its retention. It was also noted that a couple of cables running across the entrance of the car park were part of a vehicle monitoring system.

We wished the guys well as we set off in our more usual anti-clockwise direction and headed up the incline and into the wind. Having gained the highest point in about twenty minutes it was decided to stop in the lea of a small hillock to take coffee. Peter, being Peter, continued on his own and disappeared into the distance.

Coffee over, we soon caught up with Peter at the first of the small reservoirs and we were to remain as one for the rest of the day. As we made our way downhill the view over the Firth of Clyde and beyond was obscured by the overhead conditions, but there were bright spots in the distance and the sky gradually lifted.

By the time we were following the cut above Greenock, we were out of the wind and the going became much more comfortable, although the pace remained brisk. The usual landmarks were noted e.g. the prison, hospital, school, and comment was made regarding the past glories of the IBM factory in Spango Valley, now employing a fraction of the original workforce.

Lunch was taken a wee bit further along the cut than normal, in order to get shelter from the wind again, and a pleasant fifteen minutes was spent blethering and eating.

Another forty minutes or so was all it took to get us back to the cars before continuing down to McCabe’s in Largs for FRT.

A guid day oot!