21 May Windy Standard

 Davie C, Malcolm, Gus, Jimmy, Paul, Robert

The rains of last night went in the wee sma’ ‘oors and left us with a bright morning, a light south-westerly and crystal clear air. Given these conditions, the hill country to the south of New Cumnock was keenly anticipated by the six enthusiastic Ooters who gathered at the swimming pool car park in Cumnock for the short trip to the water works car park in Glen Afton. 

Walking up the road towards the dam

Ten o’clock saw us leaving the waterworks and taking the service road for the face of the dam. Here in the glen we were sheltered from the wind and the walk to the dam face was comfortable in the warming May sunshine. The dam saw us leave tarmac but not leave roads just yet. We took a track up the left-hand side of the dam to come into the sunshine overlooking the reservoir. The water was lightly rippled by the breeze and glimmered silvery in the morning sun – a perfect picture and one that seemed to captivate Gus who stood for a while absorbing the scene in front of him. But we couldn’t there wait too long for the hill was calling.

On the road above the reservoir

The climb of the road to the top of the pass might have been warm at this time of year but the breeze kept us comfortably cool and the walk up to the top was very pleasant indeed. It might have been idyllic had it not been for the rubbish tipped by some uncaring person in a wee quarry beside the forest track. Red tape and notices informed us that asbestos had been dumped here. What a sad comment of a small section of our society! However, such sights couldn’t dent our pleasure of the morning and our wider surroundings and we walked on in light spirits.

             
At the top of the pass we found a locked gate, a gate that was intended to keep motorised traffic out of the forest we were about to enter. It didn’t keep pedestrians like us out though, and we were soon dropping down the other side of the pass towards the infant Deugh Water. With the time moving on and breakfast some hours in the past, it was time for coffee and on the wee wooden bridge over the Deugh we sat down for a caffeine fix.

Coffee on the Deugh bridge

Jimmy had warned the two Windy Standard virgins to expect two wet sections on the walk. The first of these came just after coffee when we left the forest road and took to the steep fire-break that would raise us up to the height of Jedburgh Knees. The climb was steep and wet but not nearly as wet as Jimmy predicted. Neither was it particularly long and within a few minutes we were joining another road on the crest of the ridge, a road that was designed to service the wind turbines planted along the broad, grassy ridge but a road that would ease our way along this ridge and on to the summit of the Standard itself.

Climbing the forest break on to Jedburgh Knees

 
The road was smooth, the walking was easy and the views were extensive. We were able to absorb the view as we walked up with the road. Immediately in the west Cairnsmore of Carsphairn rose and to the right of this the high hills of Galloway formed the horizon with Merrick looking particularly close: To the east, between the hills of Glen Afton, Tinto could be easily picked out and the Culter hills: To the south-east were the Lowthers and the hills above Durisdeer: behind us stretched the Ayrshire plain – Auchinleck the nearest town visible: And in front of us rose the rounded summit of Windy Standard. 

The service road certainly eased our way and within half an hour of gaining the ridge of Jedburgh Knees we were standing at the trig point that indicates the summit of Windy Standard. Now the views to the south opened for us and Skiddaw and the Cumbrian Fells formed the southerly horizon. What a superb view can be had from this summit – from the hills above the infant Tweed to the Cumbrian Fell and the high Galloways the view today was superb. Yet to the north and west the view was restricted. Though we could look out over Ayrshire, there was no sign of the hills of the southern Highlands and though Ailsa Craig popped its head up there was no sign of Arran. Still we could make do with the vista we had, a vista that began to disappear as we dropped away from the summit to find a sheltered spot for lunch.  

 Coming along the road on Jedburgh Knees

 After lunch the route lay downward, towards the source of the Afton. A new mast (sorry, Paul, a new antenna) has been erected near the Source and conjecture to its purpose kept us amused as we dropped down towards the burn. Jimmy had warned us about the wet and this part of the walk was WET. No matter where we put our feet muddy water squelched from under the soles and often we trudged through sphaggy bog sometime even over boot level. Still as Davie C said ‘On a day like this, who cares if your feet get wet’. It was not until we gained the hard surface of the newly driven road that we got out of the squelch. And by that time we were back on the floor of the glen. We followed the forest road along the west side of the reservoir to come back to the dam.

On the summit of Windy Standard

           Somehow - don’t ask us – Paul and Davie C got detached from the rest of us as we walked along the road and when we continued on the road past the dam, they didn’t notice. We walked along to Castle William to be told the legend regarding its name and await the return of the prodigals. Though we waited there for a while the missing two failed to appear. We had dropped down to the dam road and were returning to the cars when the wayward due came sauntering down the road. Where had they been? Well, when we carried on to Castle William they thought (Bad move, this thinking – Ed.), they thought that we had come down to the dam and tried without success to find the road down. They ended up crawling through the forest down to tarmac. Yes, we know that there is a great big pile of stones and a broad forest junction marking the way but remember, it’s Ooters we are discussing here and not the Ooters with the best sense of direction.

Coming back down to the reservoir

    Not content with a superb walk in the sun, superb FRT was taken in The Sun in Cumnock.