Some images from the Dunure to Greenan walk.

 

Arrangements for Wednesday 1st June.

 Meet at 10.00.a.m. beside Loch Doon castle. The proposed walk is up to the viewpoint on Craiglee.

Howford to Failford

 Alan, Bob, Davie McM, Gus, Hugh, Jim, Jimmy, Paul and Rex (& Isla)

Nine of us gathered on the old Howford Brig road at the designated time to complete the part of the River Ayr Way that most of us had never done before. The weather was to be sunny all day, although a cold wind was felt occasionally. All agreed that the bluebells and all the other spring flowers in the Mauchline Gorge looked fabulous.

At the Haugh we turned right and up to Haughyett Farm, turning left to head for the Barskimming road, where Isla had to be put on the lead much to her displeasur. At Mosshead Farm we took a right and eventually passed the old sandstone quarry,  (closed 1910 due to flooding) and headed across country to the gatehouse on the main Failford  road.  The path entails walking a fair distance on a busy main road; not to be recommended.

Now on the way back, we retraced our steps to the chopped down forest for lunch sitting on the stumps as we had done on the way out for our coffee break.

With the exception of Paul and Jim, we  made our way along the slippy rocks at the cliffs, enjoying the beauty of the gorge.

The walk had taken 3 hours and 55  minutes, a wee bit longer than we had ettled.

A very enjoyable FRT session was had in the sitooterie of the Black Bull in Mauchline.

Arrangements for Wed 25 th May

 The walk is along the coast from Dunure to Alloway. Meet at the Co-op on the road out of Ayr to Dunure. Meet at about 10.15.a.m. as the bus to Dunure is a bit irregular as far as timing goes. It is supposed to arrive at 10.34.a.m.

Annbank Circular 11 May

 Alan, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Johnny, Paul, Rex

Isla was in the huff!

       

There was a cool wind blowing as we set off from Annbank Bowling Club for our very familiar walk to Auchincruive. It was to be a clockwise walk today and, given the recent rain, we were expecting parts of the path to be very muddy.

Nonetheless, we passed Privick Mill and headed along the riverside before taking the higher path, on the advice of  Derval Davie, on towards our coffee stop at the fishermens’ shelter. Creatures of habit, or what? Not long after we were crossing Tarholm Bridge and making our way towards the Wallace and Burns monument for lunch. This section was muddy at the usual sections, but we have encountered much worse and, to be honest, the underfoot conditions were not too bad at all. We had stayed high as far as possible and made our lunch stop just after midday.

 Plenty of wild garlic on the walk today

It was here that Isla showed us that not only could she give paws, but she could give high-fives as well. Mind you, she struggled a wee bit juggling with Davie’s flask. Britain’s Got Talent beckons!

Twenty minutes later and with Davie and Alan having cleared the area of litter, we set off on the shorter return leg. Crossing over the river, Davie and Isla took the riverside path whilst the rest followed Paul up past Oswald House and on to the track that we had taken (in the opposite direction) when we were last here (9^th March). As usual, the last hill up to the cars was a challenge for some after having already done seven and a half miles but we all reached our destination just after one o’clock. Three hours and five minutes for the quickest amongst us, and we had been lucky with the weather.

FRT was taken outside at the Tap o’ the Brae where the banter was good. We hope Hugh enjoyed the fresh air and that he will have thawed out by next week!

Rhodie at Auchincruive

Isla tales a brief  rest

Arrangements for 18th May

 The walk for 18th May - we will complete  the river Ayr Way by doing the section from Howford to Failford. 

Park at the old Howford Brig road (first right after Kingencleugh road end) This is a n easy trainer walk. 

Meet at the usual time of 10 am

Monday Walk 16th May

 Meet at the usual car park in Mauchline at 10am.

4 May 2022 - Photos from the 'Fish Supper' walk.

 

Erskine Bridge to Clydebank 4 May

Alan, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Hugh, Iain, Ian, Jim, Jimmy, Kenny R, Malcolm, Paul, Rex, Robert

 

The weather was a bit dreich as we motored up to the garden centre at the Erskine Bridge, but the prospect of a fish/black pudding supper meant we had a good turnout for today’s walk. Having enjoyed our pre-walk coffees, and with the weather drying up nicely, it was just after quarter past ten when we got our legs going only to be hit by the first and only snag today. The path up to the bridge on our side was closed due to maintenance work, but we soon found the access path on the east side which took us on to the approaches to the bridge. There was a wide cycle track next to the pavement which was to Davie C’s liking as he could walk over the length of the bridge without seeing what was below him, and hence progress was good with the canal being reached in jig-time. By this time layers were being dispensed with and the sun was making an appearance.

As we walked towards Clydebank, we saw Kenny R approaching us. Like the previous time we did this walk, he had come from Clydebank to meet us, and then joined us for the walk up to McMonagles for our eagerly anticipated lunch. The staff coped admirably with fifteen of us descending on them at once and, if the fish suppers were good, the black pudding suppers were even better, according to those who had them.

After our leisurely lunch we retraced our steps along the canal path with Kenny still with us but, as we crossed over near the bridge, he bid us farewell and headed back to Clydebank. We were back at the cars just before two o’clock having covered nine miles. It was basically an hour and a half out, forty minutes for lunch, and an hour and a half back, all done in good dry conditions. FRT was taken at the Brown Bull in Lochwinnoch where a pleasant time was had.