Abington to Crawford 17 July

Alan, Alan McQ, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Gus, Iain, Ian, Jimmy, Rex, Robert

We assembled at Starbucks in Abington Services on an overcast morning and enjoyed a coffee whilst welcoming back Robert and Dougie from holiday. The forecast for the day was the same as last week i.e. a chance of lightish rain, but it was dry with a wee breeze when we left the car park to follow Derval Davie to our starting point. At least, that was the plan. The convoy had left before Ian and Gus got to the exit leaving these two cars to fend for themselves. Ian had an idea of where to go and, after initially missing the turn-off, found the rest of the guys at Brigend. Gus, however, had disappeared well into the distance. It took a phone call and assistance from Alan McQ to eventually reel him in, meaning it was about quarter past ten when we got our act into gear and set off back towards Abington.

The road was quiet with a couple of wee sections covered in sheep droppings, but good progress was made into the breeze before a brief stop was called for at the caravan park outside the village. Most took the opportunity to don waterproofs at this stage as the light rain that had begun to fall was getting a bit more persistent. Because of the grey conditions we didn’t see this neck of the woods in its best, but we continued, never far away from the Clyde or the main railway line, until Crawford was reached. To our surprise we didn’t stop here but followed Davie for another ten minutes as he took us to our lunch spot at the old viaduct over the Clyde, arriving at about ten past twelve.
By this time, it was dry again and we took time to speak to a local chap who was walking his dog, a Holly look-alike. Holly, it must be said, was having a rough time of it as she had got herself stuck in a cattle grid on the outward journey and was to have the same misfortune twice on the way back.
Moving on at the half-hour, Davie took us across the bridge and into the outskirts of the village, leaving some locals to sort out an obvious problem, before coming back on to the road back to the cars. The light rain came again on the way back, but it was more of an annoyance rather than an issue. One thing we did notice was a small freight train (engine, freight carriage, passenger carriage) carrying a couple of flasks which we surmised was spent nuclear fuel going to Sellafield. It made a change from the Virgin and TransPennine trains and the odd large freight train on this section of track.
The cars were reached three hours and fifty-five minutes after having set off, with the distance covered being measured at about eleven miles.
FRT was taken at the Empire Bar in Muirkirk where we were greeted by our ‘pal’. The empire has been extended to incorporate a pool area and is now resplendent with a very large screen telly, although some work still needs to be with the furnishings. The choice of draught beers was ‘lager or light’, and the lager was temporarily aff! Most took the light whilst repairs were made to the lager flow.
It was after four when we set off for home after quite a tiring day out.