Alan, Allan,
Davie C, Davie Mc, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Peter, Robert
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| Looking up at Auchinleck Castle |
Despite the
forecast, the rain had cleared from Catrine as we assembled for the day’s walk.
Some dared not to tempt fate and wear waterproofs whilst others thought that
the glass was half-full. The latter won the day as, apart from a ten minute
spell, the day improved to the extent that,
before long, shirt sleeves were all that was
required (well, other than trousers, boots etc).
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| The belvedere |
From Catrine
we followed the well-worn track up to the café at Catrine House (not yet open
when we arrived) and continued on towards the road leading to Auchinleck House.
We deviated, as is our wont, down to the old summer house by the burn for
coffee after which Peter took us, via the gorge walk, first to the remains of
the old Auchinleck House and then to the even older and close-by Auchinleck
Castle. It was whilst looking down into the gorge from here that we heard a
noise that was first identified as perhaps an oyster catcher – where is the
resident ornithologist when you need him? – but later the consensus was that it
was the mating call of the lesser spotted Boab.
From here it
was along the path to Auchinleck House and what a surprise awaited us! The
outbuildings had been beautifully restored into a restaurant (Boswell’s), shop
and meeting room. A new children’s play area had been built as well as the main
road in having been re-surfaced. The whole project had been a good job well
done.
Our next
port of call was to be Ochiltree and as we came down the road from the big
house, which we decided not to visit as we have seen it many times before, the
question was which route to take i.e. continue down the road or to cut through
the trees and field. It was left to Peter to decide and we took the latter
route only to be baulked later on by the steepness of a gorge. Whilst those who
had been here before tried to work out the correct route, an alternative way
was easily found by going into the adjacent field and following the track round
its edge. After a wee bit of scrambling, the path was found which took us over
the old bridge into Ochiltree and lunch. By this time the weather was very
pleasant indeed and it was a struggle to pick up our bags and set off again.
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| Walled garden |
We followed
the path beside the Lugar up to where you can turn left to go to the A-Frame,
but on this occasion we gave this a miss and continued on towards Dumfries
House. If the changes at Auchinleck House had been a pleasant surprise, the
changes in the grounds of Dumfries House were astonishing. The walled garden
had been completely transformed and looked wonderful. The plants, the
brickwork, the belvedere, the steps the whole shooting match showed that a lot
of money had been spent and that an emphasis had been made on quality. Well
worth a look!
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| The roof of the belvedere - to which our handymen can aspire |
As we made
our way to the new arboretum we took note of the people who had helped fund the
changes. HRH had obviously used his influence to good effect. The trees in the
arboretum were still very immature but a pagoda had been built by the Prince’s
Trust and looked excellent. The inside walls were adorned with the verses of
Burns. It was decided that this would make a good Ooters’ howff but might need
extending if it was to accommodate Johnny’s sets of dominoes, not to mention
his home brew.
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| Heading through the arboretum |
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| Lizzie was here |
On our way
to the refurbished bridge Davie Mc met one of his friends who was working there and
a good few minutes were spent blethering. From there it was up to the
restaurant, noticing yet another children’s adventure play area, and on to the
House itself for a photo-call. The next question was whether we take the road
into Cumnock for the bus back to Catrine or to go to Auchinleck for said bus.
The Auchinleck route was chosen and before too long we were outside the impressive
Tamar Manoukian Outdoor Centre which is the base for the Ayrshire branch of
Youth United, one of Prince Charles’ charities. The centre hosts some
impressive accommodation (check it out using Google) and will soon feature an
archery range and an indoor sports hall featuring climbing walls. This must be
what we saw under construction and it looks an awesome structure. Peter then
wanted to take us to see the remains of an old wartime prison camp but by this
time tongues were hanging out in the warm sunshine and visions of a cold beer
were beginning to haunt us, so we went straight up to the main road before
turning into Auchinleck and heading for the bus stop to take us back to the
cars. Our luck ran out when we saw said bus turn up towards Catrine when we
were still a couple of hundred yards short. Nevertheless, a 25 minute wait for
the next one was no hardship. We had been on the go for 5 hours 40 minutes and
savoured the rest whilst awaiting its arrival.
Back at the
cars the decision was made to go to the Black Bull at Mauchline for a much
deserved FRT.
Congratulations to Peter for planning the walk and organising the
weather!
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