Portencross 21 January 2015

Alan, Allan, Andy, Davie C, Davie Mc, Gus, Kenny, Johnny, Rex, Robert

It was third week lucky for our attempt to do this familiar walk. The gales and rain of the previous weeks had given way to snow and frost but, as we left the car park and headed, wait for it, clockwise, there was little snow on the path and overhead conditions were dry although a bit raw.

The track past the castle and up to the power station was muddy in places as the snow and ice had melted, but, all in all, the walking conditions were much better than anticipated. Up the hill behind the oldest of the stations we could see the steelwork of a massive shed being constructed as, we think, part of on-going works for a new interconnector. It is at times like this that you miss Ian as he could have provided chapter and verse as to the technicalities involved.

Coffee was taken on the foreshore just prior to the path we take to head inland. Most of the guys who had donned yaktraks at the start of the walk decided, at this point, that they weren’t needed and removed them. We took the walkway/cycle track/bridle path up to the main road before heading up towards Thirdpart Holdings again commenting on the new temporary roads that had been built over the fields to cater for construction traffic. On the pot-holed track back to the Portencross Road we stopped for lunch at a derelict building and sat inside on dwarf walls (no comments about Davie please) for sandwiches and banter.

We were back at the cars for one o’clock, bade farewell to Andy and Kenny, and headed for our usual howff after this walk, i.e. the Lauriston in Saltcoats. Much to our consternation, we discovered that the public bar does not open until 2p.m. these days, and having decided that the alternative of having a drink in the restaurant wasn’t quite what we were looking for, we headed to Wetherspoon’s in Irvine, aka The Auld Brig. Here we met members of the Cunninghame Ramblers, some of whom were known to us (for a variety of reasons), and swapped information about our groups. We wish them well for the future.

A good day out for our first walk of the year!