28th August Eglinton Park and Curry

The Walk

Alan McQ, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny R, Malcolm, Paul

This was a ‘curry day’ meaning a walk round Eglinton Park would suffice, and so we met up in the car park on a mild but overcast morning. Our route took us down to the bridge over the Lugton Water adjacent to the ford and from here we went round the loch and headed towards the Sourlie end of the park where we turned and took a break at the standing stones to allow Killie Davie to have a snack. From here we made our way back to the visitors’ centre, avoiding the more direct path in order to keep Isla away from the traffic noise, and in doing so encountering some serious mud (not entirely unexpected given the amount of rain that had fallen recently), before rejoining our outward path for a short time but taking a left to avoid going round the loch again. Arriving at the café about twenty past eleven, most took their coffee/pieces in the courtyard, whilst a few sat inside, having bought their snack.

The majority was in favour of continuing the walk and set off down towards the suspension bridge, which they crossed, and continued over the road before completing a clockwise loop back to the cars. Some parts were again very muddy, but the weather had improved after a wee bit of rain back at the café, and the sun had come out. The minority had called it a day after the stop at the café and had headed home.

The Curry 

In the evening, we met at the Jewel to celebrate the seventieth birthdays of Billy and Gus. Happy birthday guys, and we wish you many more of them! Kenny couldn’t make the meal, but we were joined by Alan, Billy, Rex, Robert and Ronnie for the usual night of food, drink, banter and laughs. Killie Davie presented the birthday boys with a card and pressie from the Ooters. Thanks again to Katrina and her assistant for their forbearance. The night ended with most heading for a very quiet Wetherspoon’s (the Jewel had also been quieter than normal with almost no takeaways being delivered) where a very happy Robert treated us to a round to celebrate his prospective house sale.

All in all, a most enjoyable day.

Some from the walk in Eglinton park

 

Arrangements for Wednesday 4th September

Meet at New Cumnock railway station at 10am for the Corsencon Hill walk. Update. For those who don't wish to climb the hill they can wait on the track for the rest to return. We will descend the hill as we climbed it and come back on to the track. We will then follow the track round Craigdullyeart Hill to the old opencast. We will descend the opencast road back to New Cumnock. Wet weather alternative would be a round of the Lagoons and Knockshinnoch disaster memorial.

Hurlford to Darvel 21 August

Alan McQ, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Graham, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Robert

The proposed Glenapp to Ballantrae walk had been postponed due to a very poor weather forecast, so we met at the bowling club in Hurlford, or at least close to the club as the car park was very busy, for the Grougar Walk to Loudoun Kirk. The rain threatened all the way, although it is was very mild, and there was a stiff breeze, but it wasn’t until we got close to the Kirk that the rain came on, not too heavy but annoying just the same. One feature that was missing on the route was the usual joke at the entrance to farm/stables on our left, but more of a worry was the fly-tipping that was spotted at the side of the road. Being solid citizens, this abomination was reported to the local council.

It was quarter past eleven or so when we sat down for coffee/lunch in the kirkyard, seeking as much shelter as we could from the precipitation, and when it was time to set off again the plan to go in to Galston and follow the Chris Hoy Way back to the cars had changed. In order to accommodate Isla (and because he didn’t like walking the Chris Hoy Way) Derval Davie suggested walking along the riverside path to Darvel, going to the Black Bull, and then getting the bus back He itemised the minutes that this would take and convinced the majority of the merits of this alternative. Allan, Johnny, Malcolm and Paul reneged, however, and set off back the way they had come getting back to their cars at one o’clock, having encountered light rain for most of this section, but about fifteen minutes of heavier stuff. They then headed to the Black Bull to meet up with the rest for FRT.

The main group had gone via the entrance to Loudoun Academy where Alan, having finally completed his tunnel, celebrated his escape outside the building, and had brought along a nice wee dram to mark the occasion. We wish Alan a long and happy release from teaching. The main group arrived at the pub about five minutes after the others, rather wet, and indicating that Davie minutes seemed to be rather longer than standard ones. Their actual language was rather more colourful, mind you! They had covered about nine miles whilst the other four had done just under eight. A pleasant hour was spent at the Black Bull but, as usual, we wondered how the place can afford to open during the day as, without us, there were so few customers. Thanks to Gus for buying the first round to celebrate his 70^th birthday.

Arrangements for Wed 28th August.

 

Opps ,nearly forgot where we are supposed to be going next week. We must meet at the car park in Eglinton Park at 10.00.a.m. The walk will one of the circular routes around the park probably followed by a cafe coffee. A second route can be enjoyed weather permitting.

Some from the Irvine Valley walk

 

New arrangements for Wed 21st August.

 Glenapp walk cancelled due to poor weather forecast. Meet beside the Hurlford  Bowling Club at 10.00.a.m. The walk will be from Hurlford to Galston and back. We might reverse the route for a wee change.

14 August 2024 - Prestwick to Troon

 Jimmy, Davie M, Davie C, Gus, Robert, Hugh, Rex, Francesco, Paul, Malcolm, Dougie.

We met up on the fine new stretch of tarmac by the old Prestwick pool where Francesco, our overseas member, was given a warm welcome back to the fold.

As is their wont, Ooters set off in a variety of directions from the car park. Some opted to tackle the grass bank head on  before accessing the track within the confines of the golf course. Others stayed low climbing gradually to the green path on the seaward side of the golf course's boundary fence.  Those on this path were treated to the identification of the varied plants bordering the route - Robert from his phone app, Davie M and Jimmy from their extensive bank of knowledge.

We all met up again at the caravan site but soon some chose to tarry awhile as a man with a large telephoto lens was recognised by Jimmy and was engaged in conversation.  He was photographing a slug.  Jimmy was more interested in the black-tailed godwit which had been reported close to the Pow Burn and our photographer obliged by showing Jimmy a picture or two. There was no sign of any godwit, black-tailed or otherwise at the mouth of the Pow Burn, but Paul spotted a little egret.

By this time the stragglers had been left well and truly behind: 

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass.Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight, streams full of stars, like skies at night.

To be fair, the slug wasn't all that interesting.

From a distance the main group could be seen engaged in conversation with a lady walking in the opposite direction. She eventually met up with the vanguard and rightly identified us as the Ooters.  She had met us on previous occasions with the Paisley walking group she belonged to.  She even remembered Holly and was pleased to be introduced to Isla.

We met up at the benches on Troon promenade, close to the Walker Hall. Some were ready for lunch but it was decreed that the stop was to be for a short coffee top up.  The beach was reasonably busy and an interesting gymnastic performance was observed.

Given Isla's aversion to traffic, Davie decided to go back the way he had come, while the rest of us headed off past Royal Troon (still no access to the course) and up Craigend Road to the cycle track. We stopped for lunch close to the bridge leading to the golf course and then made our way back towards the cars, along the bypass and into the Old Course. The course was extremely busy and we were given friendly advice by one of the greenkeepers on getting across the fairways.

Davie arrived at the cars around 10 minutes after the rest of us and FRT was then taken in the big sitootery at the Red Lion, where a pleasant hour was spent.  We were all enjoying the sun and warmth ... well, except for Francesco who was finding it a bit chilly! 

Distance 12 kms.

Some images from the Prestwick to Troon walk

 

Arrangements for Wed 21st August

 Meet in Ballantrae around 10.30.a.m. which should allow time to get booted up and then walk up to the main road to catch the 10.52.a.m. bus to Glenapp church. The walk back to Ballantrae should take 3 hours approximately.The journey from Kilmarnock to Ballantrae should take 1 hour and 5 minutes according to Google. The car park in Ballantrae can be found by turning right at the village church. The weather forecast seven days in advance is good with some light rain a.m. then sunny for the rest of the day. Plan B might become an alternative should the forecast deteriorate significantly. 

Loch Doon Wednesday 7th August

Alan McQ, Davie C, Davie McM, Dougie, Graham, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Robert

We foregathered at the Loch Doon dam at 9.45am to assess the weather conditions before driving the final few miles up to the castle rather than opt for the wet weather alternative of the familiar Ness Glen circuit. Just as well that we proceeded to the castle as Jimmy was already there. Nine of us (and Isla) were soon underway confident that the weather would not be too extreme - there were occasional light showers throughout today's walk but not as bad as some of us had feared. As it was, we were all well prepared for whatever the Scottish summer could throw at us and the most stylish Dougie was modelling his full-length "gentleman's coat" today which kept him well covered (and thankfully to all present he kept himself well covered). The pace was brisk as we followed the road past the former Craigmalloch Outdoor Centre. At the first bifurcation of the day we took the left option which took us across the Carrick Lane which was in full flow following recent wet weather and then up a gentle rise past the renovated Starr Cottage (prompting the predictable pun from your scribe that we were boldly going forward on a Starr trek). A short distance later we were met by a forestry vehicle which slowed down as we approached. The driver Stevie was a long-time friend of Alan's from the Mountain Bothies Association and it was good to see him after many years. Stevie is employed by Forestry and Land Scotland as a wildlife manager for the Loch Doon area and he willingly gave of his time to explain the work which he was doing and the wildlife in the area which he supports including golden eagles, osprey and pine martens. After our chat with Stevie, we proceeded towards the head of the loch crossing the Gala Lane as we made our way to our coffee stop - an area we had used on our previous walk in these parts where there had been a campfire surrounded with rudimentary benches constructed from logs lashed together. Coffee was taken as we were joined by the resident midges so we didn't tarry here for long. As we were beginning to get tidied up and Dougie enquired which direction we were now headed in, the bench on which Dougie, Robert and Alan were sitting on collapsed much to the hilarity of the others who displayed a callous streak by not offering to assist the fallen. At the time of his question, Dougie was moving in a downwards direction but, once we all got ourselves into an upright position, we continued in a southerly direction in search of the wreckage of a Hawker Hurricane which crashed into the side of Meaul hill in March 1944. The crash site for many years was obscured by a dense conifer plantation but since the trees were harvested a few years ago, a marked trail has been created up to the crash site so it was a simple case of following the markers for another mile or so up to the crash site where scraps of metal are strewn around and the heavy Rolls Royce merlin engine still in the same place where the aircraft slammed into the hillside over eighty years ago. The story of the crash is well recorded on various websites - on 18th March 1944, Flying Officer Roswell Murray MacTavish of the Royal Canadian Airforce was flying Hawker Hurricane Mk.IV LD594 of No.439 Squadron from RAF Ayr to RAF Hurn in Dorset. The plane crashed in low cloud and F/O MacTavish, the sole occupant of the plane, was killed. He is buried in Ayr cemetery.

https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/scotland/hawker-hurricane-ld594-loch-doon/

Having had our lunch at the crash site, it was time to retrace our steps by following the outward route back to the cars at the castle which were reached around 1.30pm having covered 7.5 miles. This was a new walk for the Ooters and Derval Davie's verdict was "Aye, it was a guid walk but no one I'd dae again."

Post-perambulation pints were partaken in the Dalmellington Inn where we joined the regulars for a couple of pints, indulged in the predictable patter and planned the next "Adventure of the Early Ooters"...

Arrangements for Wed 14th August.

 Meet in the usual place behind the children’s nursery on the beach area in Prestwick. The plan is to walk to Troon and back to encourage Allan and Johnny to come out to play again. Meeting time 10.00.a.m.

Some images from the Hawker Hurricane walk.