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"...
No comments:
Post a Comment