Annbank Circular 5 August

Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Jimmy, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Robert

The forecast had been for persistent rain, so the decision had been made to postpone the Arran walk in favour of the Annbank circular. There was a little moisture in the air so waterproofs were worn from the start as the company set off down Annbank’s main street before cutting off to the left and heading for the river, well the path next to the river actually! Some sections of the ‘path’ were extremely mucky and one bit had been destroyed by a fallen tree but we arrived relatively unscathed at the road bridge which would take us on to the opposite bank. One thing we did notice was the number of new, well-constructed fishermen’s shelters along the route, in fact we had already availed ourselves of one for coffee whilst watching the rain come down.

The section up to the Burns and Wallace monument along the bend in the river again provided us with challenges in terms of the underfoot conditions bu,t there were dry parts, and it was at one of these areas, under the cover of trees, that we decided to stop for lunch. We were only about fifteen minutes or so from the monument but weren’t prepared to risk having to have lunch there in wet conditions.

If you go down to the woods today .......

When we did eventually reach the road bridge adjacent to Oswald House we didn’t deviate up to the monument but set off down the other side of the river on the return journey. It had taken us two and a half hours to reach the turning point but the call was that we would be back at the cars in about half an hour since this was the shorter route. Underfoot conditions on this part past Auchincruive back to Annbank were much better and, as we made the final taxing wee climb up to the Bowling Club, it was almost three hours exactly since we set out.

The conditions overhead had been much better than we could have wished given the forecast. Yes, we had some rain, but nothing substantial, and there had been plenty of trees for shelter, and many parts of the walk had been done in the dry. We tended to be wetter from the inside out rather than the outside in. Underfoot conditions, though, left a lot to be desired, and, as has been said frequently, if this walk is to be advertised to bring walkers from all over the country, somebody has to take the responsibility of maintaining it properly.

FRT was taken at our usual haunt i.e. the Tap o’ the Brae.