Minishant to Maybole 6 July

Alan McQ, Allan, Davie C, Dougie, Jimmy, Rex

We met at the Green in Maybole on a dull, wet morning before crossing over to the Carrick Centre for a scone and coffee courtesy of Davie. Thanks, Davie! This is a modern building and very nice it was too. The bus to Minishant was meant to be at 10.49am but it was a wee bit late, and it was 11.10am by the time we started walking back. (By the way, whilst on the bus Alan pointed out that one of the new road signs indicated the way to Stanraer!).

It wasn’t cold but with a constant heavy drizzle we headed up behind Minishant on School Road on a steady climb. The wind was also a factor and Dougie was heard to say, ‘This is our first winter walk of the season’, and he wasn’t far wrong. Coming to the Alloway to Maybole road we turned left and then immediately right to head up to Knockdon and then on past Garryhorn Farm before stopping for a break before turning back down towards Maybole. Our stopping point was familiar as we had passed by the signpost here on our way to Dunure many moons ago. The rain had been constant and, with a number of long climbs completed, some of us were soaking both from the outside and the inside, but, at last, the rain relented. Alan said that on a good day the views from here were excellent but today visibility was poor what with the low cloud and rain. In fact, on a better day, Alan would have taken us across the fields to see the old shooting range, but no-one was keen to tramp through the undergrowth today.

 

It was mainly downhill all the way to Maybole from here, except for the uphill bits. And where have we heard that before? Crossing over the new road we were soon entering the town, but Alan took us on a wee detour through the scheme, where he delivered papers as a boy, and on to inspect the grand new school that was being built. Being so close to a school brought some of us out in a cold sweat, and gave others the shakes, but we moved on quickly back into the centre of Maybole. Compared to what it used to be like, Maybole is almost a ghost town, thanks to the new bypass, with little traffic and its associated pollution, but a much pleasanter place to be and so much easier to cross the roads.

The cars were reached after two and a half hours having covered a tad over seven miles. FRT was taken in the Greenside where we put extra into the kitty and treated ourselves to a couple of pizzas. As we sat enjoying the food and drinks in a nice cosy atmosphere, the rain came back on with a vengeance and we were glad that we had not been walking in that. Eventually all good things came to an end, and we left for home with the skies brightening and the roads drying as we left Maybole. Despite the weather, this turned out to be a most enjoyable day.