Allan, Davie
C, Davie Mc, Gus, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Peter, Robert
"Wait 'til the weans see this lot" |
Going up through Lanfine |
The route
took us initially up through Lanfine Estate and past the wild boars which came
out to see us passing. You could almost sense that the adults were saying to
the young ones “Come and see this lot. Now, don’t get too close, you don’t know
where they’ve been. Anyway, what’s that funny smell?” Mind you, they do make
good sausages, allegedly!
We passed
the new big house that still needs the driveway and gardens to be done to
enhance its impact and followed the tarmac up the side of the valley. Before reaching
Eastfield we followed Davie Mc by taking a path off to the right and through
the Bonnieton Plantation. This was a particularly pleasant part of today’s walk
as we trekked through the fallen leaves and observed the changing colours of
the trees. We took coffee on fallen logs adjacent to what looked like a
mountain bike path. When asked where exactly we were, Davie replied, ‘Gullyhil’.
Into the palntation |
We were
heading downhill through the woods and although underfoot conditions were
generally good, some parts were muddy and there were a few steep descents which
had to be negotiated with care. After heavy rain this section would have been
tricky.
Emerging on
to tarmac we turned left and headed towards Newmilns, passing Parkerston en
route. Crossing over the main road in Newmilns we started to climb up the
opposite side of the valley passing the well-used dry ski slope as we did.
Lunch was called for at the entrance to the cemetery where a convivial twenty minutes
were passed. Weather conditions had been excellent for walking, dry and bright
but with a fresh breeze to keep us cool. September and October, so far, had
provided us with arguably the best walking conditions of the year.
Covenanter's monument in Newmilns |
After lunch
we continued up the road and past Cronan (pronounced Crinan, according to our
local experts) before turning right at the road to Intax and briefly following
Fouilpapple Road on our descent and then taking a left on to Burn Road and on
down in to Darvel and back to Davie’s.
A familiar sight! |
Hold your
breath, we did not partake of FRT today as we were going out in the evening to
belatedly celebrate Gus’s 60th birthday at our preferred curry house
and hostelry in Kilmarnock. A great night was had and the lack of fluid earlier
in the day was more than made up for.
P.S. For
those interested in how long the walk took us, the answer is three hours and
fifty-five minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment