Some images from the Catrine to The Haugh walk

 

Catrine to Ballochmyle Viaduct 6th May

 Alan, Alan McQ, Allan, Davie Mc, Dougie, Graham, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Johnny, Paul, Peter, Rex, Robert

There was an impressive turnout at Catrine to welcome Peter’s return to walking with us on a dry but rather chilly morning. It was great to have him back with us.

The route is the familiar one along the river and then up to the Howford Bridge. What we hadn’t realised is that someone had done some work to make the various uphill sections steeper than they had been before and therefore some brief stops were made to catch our breath. We took coffee under the bridge at our usual place before continuing up to the Ballochmyle Viaduct. By this time the sky was getting bluer and the temperature, at last, was climbing and since it was only about eleven o’clock it was decided to continue down the path to the river’s edge and continue towards the Haugh. Davie decided to deviate back up away from this path as we approached the rocks as they might be slippy and was followed soon after by Paul. The right decision, guys! These rocks had to be negotiated with extreme care and the ascent back up to the track was challenging.

No matter, we all made it and continued noting the remains of the glade which fed water to the mill at the Haugh for cutting sandstone. We didn’t go as far as the Haugh but cut back up to return to the viaduct having met Davie and Paul who had come the ‘easy’ way. By quarter to twelve we were sitting at the viaduct having lunch. The scenery today was excellent with extensive patches of bluebells to add some more colour to the fresh greens of the trees and bushes, but it has to be said that some of the steps on the path are badly needing repaired.

On reaching the old Howford road on the way back, Alan McQ, Graham and Gus decided to walk up to Mauchline from there, whilst the rest retraced their steps, yet again negotiating the ups and downs, back to the cars. Both groups had covered about five and a half miles in the three hours or so.

The threesome made the Black Bull before the rest arrived and had chosen to sit in the sitooterie for our refreshments. Even a shortage of Guinness did not spoil our post-walk banter, and we were treated as always to very welcome sausage rolls. Thanks again, folks! Another fine day out.

 

11 October - River Ayr walk

Tumbin’ broon, the burn comes doon,

And roars frae bank tae brae,

And bird and beast in covert rest,

And spend the heartless day.

For the third week in a row the weather gods conspired against us. The deluge of the night continued into the day and left us with a torrent of rain at our rendezvous in Sorn. Therefore, our plans for the day – Blacksidend Hill -  were abandoned in favour of a lower level walk along the banks of the River Ayr from Sorn to as far as we thought sensible. We have covered this walk so many times that it needs no further description except to say that it was wet and we have never seen the river so high on this stretch. Over the old brig we went following the River Ayr Way.

We thought we had nearly lost Jimmy here. He stopped to photograph the river at the old brig and the branch he was using as support as he clambered down the bank gave way and we thought we would have to recover his body from the river at Ayr harbour. But the benefit of being a short-arse with a low centre of gravity meant that he regained his balance, took his picture and re-joined us none the worse for his experience.

The rest of the walk was uneventful but wet and we plodded on downstream towards Catrine with only the occasional halt to photograph the river in spate. The water was curling back on itself as it tried fall over the dam at Catrine and this afforded another stop for pictures before we plodded soggily along.  Some suggestion was made for coffee and cake in the Cotton Trail in Catrine and, given the conditions this was gratefully accepted by all. Well nearly all for Davie Mc, thinking the dog would not be welcome (erroneously as it happens), decided to walk on a bit further. Oh, how the warmth and the dry of that tearoom was welcomed and fairly cheered us up and our thanks must go to Eddie and his staff for making us feel welcome.

But all good things must come to an end and we were soon back out in the rain where we were joined by Davie and Holly. The decision, sensible it seems now, was to return to Sorn by the same route and this we did but with fewer picture stops this time.

We returned to the cars before the noon bells had chimed and in fact some of us were taking FRT in the Black Bull in Mauchline before this. The Black Bull is rapidly becoming a favourite howff of ours and is well on its way to becoming our pub of the year for the hospitality extended to us. We will be back.

Distance? Not far but far enough in the downpour.

Pics by Davie

Catrine to the Haugh and back 14 Sep 2017

Present: Jim, Ian, Paul, Jimmy, Gus, Peter, Dougie, Robert, Davie M, Rex, Kenny R, Kenny T

For the second time our planned traverse of the Four Tops at Glenafton had to be postponed because of the prospect of heavy rain. As it turned out, there was only one shower, albeit extremely heavy, during our walk from the old bank car park opposite Peter's house to the Haugh at Mauchline and back.
We did the wee loop through the wood that runs parallel to the road before heading past Kingencleuch Farm and down to the river just east of the Haugh. The path was in a frightful state due to the amount of rain that had fallen; indeed it was in the worst condition your scribe has ever seen in decades of walking in this area.
Lunch was taken under the Ballochmyle Viaduct with Davie mentioning that if you visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow you will see a fair-sized painting of the viaduct. This painting was commissioned by the Glasgow and South West Railway Company to celebrate the viaduct's opening in 1850, it having the longest single masonry arch in the world at that time.
We arrived back at the cars roughly three hours 15 minutes after we had set out.
FRT was as is our wont taken at the Black Bull in  Mauchline where there was plenty of the usual gay banter. Sincere thanks go to the barmaid for serving up pizzas which disappeared like snaw aff a dyke.

Sorn to Kingencleugh - Kenny R's photos

Sorn to Kingencleugh 24 February

Alan, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Ian, Jim, Johnny, Kenny R, Kenny T, Malcolm, Paul, Peter, Robert

 The morning was cold with a light frost but disappointingly dull overhead as we met at Sorn. A decision was made to leave Blacksidend for better overhead and underfoot conditions and so we set off back up the main road before heading towards the war memorial at Catrine. I say we, but Peter who had joined us at Sorn, had left by his car saying he had business to attend to. As we paused at the memorial Peter reappeared and joined us for the walk up to the bridge at Howford where, as tradition dictatates, we took coffee whilst ‘admiring’ the graffiti on the bridge.

Having made our way down to the old bridge and up the road to our cut-off point for the Ballochmyle Viaduct, Peter suggested a different low-level route to the viaduct. Johnny, Kenny T and Jim joined him, whilst the rest took the easier path up to the structure. The main group waited, and waited, for Peter’s party, and eventually got fed up and decided to continue, but a few minutes later, compassion got the better of us and we stopped whilst Malcolm made contact by phone. They were only a few minutes away so we waited and let them catch up after their ‘interesting’ excursion. Peter then turned back to see to his business and we weren’t to see him again.

You tak the low road, we'll tak the high road!

Peter's deviation from the high road.  A fine view of the viaduct.

Deciding not to go all the way up to the Haugh, we made our way up to Kingencleugh, where, as tradition now also dictates, we took lunch on the railway steps. Making our way back to Howford by the path adjacent to the main road, we then retraced our steps back to Catrine. Having witnessed some dippers, Robert saw a wee bird with a yellow breast and asked its name. Not being satisfied by Hughie, Kenny sensibly said it was a grey wagtail. Robert was not convinced and so the discussion continued. Where is Jimmy when you need him anyway?
From Catrine we took the route up past the Voes and along the River Ayr walk back to Sorn. Almost exactly four hours from start to finish. We had encountered some short sleety rain at times but generally couldn’t complain about the conditions today.
FRT was taken at the Black Bull in Mauchline where Jim produced a picture of a grey wagtail on his phone, complete with yellow breast. Anyone for humble pie?

It was suggested that we would abandon next week’s walk if Jimmy was still no weel, in favour of us visiting him for the day. We would arrive at Jimmy’s about 9am and would be happy to accept his bacon rolls and coffee, although sliced sausage would be an option for some and Jim’s dietary requirements would need to be taken into account. We would settle for some nibbles and a few beers up to lunchtime when soup followed by pie and beans would suffice along with a couple of bottles of Jimmy’s best malt whisky. Aiming to leave about three o’clock, we were sure this would perk Jimmy up i.e. he would feel a thousand times better once we had left. We’re keeping our options open Jimmy, but maybe you’ll now have a miraculous recovery before next week. All the best!

Sorn, Catrine and beyond 26 August

Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Gus, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Rex, Robert

The rain had been pelting down as we made our way to the meeting point in Sorn for the scheduled Blacksidend walk, but, given the conditions, a decision was soon made to postpone this in favour of a shorter walk up to Catrine and back. Judith, aka Paul, proclaimed that the rain would soon pass, but once a decision is made, it is made. An hour out and an hour back, and home by lunchtime was the agreed agenda.

As we set off back up the tarmac towards the side road into Catrine, the rain intensified and we were glad we were not on the way up a hill. However, by the time we reached the war memorial, the conditions had eased considerably, and we were to be blessed with ideal overhead conditions for the rest of the day. Paul and his rainfall radar had been right.

Continuing on the road we entered Catrine via Chapel Brae and cut across at the Green before crossing the river and taking the familiar path towards the bridge at Howford. Coffee was taken at our ‘usual’ spot below the road bridge, and given the ever brightening sky, the decision was taken to continue on up to the Ballochmyle Viaduct and take stock there.

Having reached this engineering masterpiece, Davie Mc suggested proceeding a bit further and doing a wee loop which would bring us back to the bridge. Most thought that this meant we would loop back to the viaduct, but the path that we took led us up to Kingencleugh where lunch was taken on a series of steps leading down to the railway line. Malcolm, in particular, enjoyed the rest as he was struggling to get over a recent bout of illness. All good things come to an end though, and we took the side road down to the A76 where we found the path leading to the old road and back to the old bridge at Howford, hence completing the loop.

We retraced our steps back into Catrine stopping briefly at Peter’s house so that arrangements for the evening could be confirmed. Interestingly, we were in awe of the scaffolding that Peter had built up the side of a very tall tree to enable it to be cut down. G’on yersel’, Peter!

Continuing up past the voes, we took the riverside walk back to Sorn and arrived back a full four and a quarter hours after setting off.

Given the fact that we were going out at night, we did not indulge ourselves in FRT but headed home after what had been an unexpectedly good day out.

Twelve of us, the nine named above plus Peter, Ronnie and Jimmy, assembled at the Jewel in the Crown in Kilmarnock in the evening for a multiple celebration i.e. the tenth anniversary of the Ooters, Peter’s 70^th, and Paul’s 65^th. Peter had baked a carrot cake in celebration of the event and the restaurant contributed with a complimentary drink. The assembled company then adjourned to Wetherspoon’s where we enjoyed Paul’s hospitality, and then some more.

Good times indeed!

The rain had stopped by now

Sunshine indeed!

The plaques on the viaduct

Step brothers

Davie gives us a song, we soon moved on!

Sorn Castle in the sunshine

Sorn to Haugh 2 July

Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Gus, Jimmy, Malcolm, Paul, Peter, Rex, Robert

The War Memorial

The glorious sunshine of the last few days had gone leaving an overcast but warm morning as we met at Sorn Kirk. The route we took was the ‘high’ road i.e. we followed the road back towards Mauchline before cutting off to the left and making our way to the Catrine War Memorial where we took a few minutes to take in the view over Catrine and beyond. It was then down in to the town and across the river to join the River Ayr path. At this point Peter left us saying that he would see us later – but he never did.

Roy couldn't put Wayne's name on the team sheet but...

And then there were nine!

The route from here to the Howford Bridge is familiar to us and we were there in no time at all before settling down to coffee.  From there the path was followed down to the old bridge where the old road was taken up to the turn off for Ballochmyle Viaduct.  As we approached this engineering masterpiece we deviated down to the Fishers’ Tryst for a photo shoot. The viaduct is usually our lunch spot but it was too early today and we took the low path down by the river towards the Haugh. This brought back ‘happy’ memories for Paul who had had to negotiate this journey on a previous visit when the water level was much higher. The marks made by his finger nails are still visible on the rocky outcrop!

Haud yer belly in, Malcolm!

Jimmy, having spent some time researching the industrial archaeology of the area, was able to explain the tunnels and canals that were used in days gone by to supply water to power the mill at the Haugh and the sandstone cutting mill. See what we’ve been missing for the last number of weeks!

At the Haugh we turned left and continued up the road following it until we crossed the railway line and stopped for lunch just beyond. The sun was trying to break through at this point and, although the breeze was stiffening, it remained pleasantly warm.

Ryanair downgrades services from Prestwick

From here it was down to the Catrine House café and under the Howford Bridge once more before heading back to Catrine. This time the route to Sorn was past the Voes and Daldorch House School, at which point we took time to check out the works that were being done to renovate the weir system on the river, and onwards following the path back to our starting point.

The walk had taken us the best part of five hours and we were ready for FRT but, since our usual haunt at Poosie Nansie’s was closed after a motorist had mistaken it for a ‘Drive Thru’, we retreated to the Black Bull. This proved to be much more salubrious with the atmosphere being only slightly dulled by Andy’s demise at Wimbers. The banter turned to politics and became heated, to such an extent that Holly, who had been lying sleeping, woke up, looked at her master, decided she had heard it all before, and walked out of the pub. We all soon followed!

Another fine day out and, as a bonus, the walks for the next two weeks were decided i.e. Lochwinnoch and the Whangie.

The rain started as we left the pub!