Lang Craigs Circular 11 April

Allan, Davie C, Dougie, Gus, Ian, Jim, Johnny, Kenny T, Paul, Robert

The Jam Session

Kenny R, still in recovery mode following a cold sustained after last week’s walk, joined us for coffee at the garden centre adjacent to the Erskine Bridge. The scones weren’t ready so some of us ordered Empire biscuits with our drinks, so the question is: “When is an Empire Biscuit not an Empire biscuit?” Answer: “When there’s nae jam in it”. Ask Allan! However, he was reassured(?) when told he had got the slimmer’s option.
At coffee, Kenny T came up with a plan, and it was a cunning plan! Rather than park at the spot near the leisure centre, we could drive up to Overtoun House and start and finish there. This would cut out the walk up to the house and the long trail at the end of the walk back to the cars. This plan met with approval and Kenny seemed to know the way.

“U-turn if you want to ….” (Remember who said this? Answers on a postcard to Jimmy.)

We bade farewell to Kenny R as Paul and Ian set off. Dougie’s car with Allan and Johnny on board would follow the Kilmarnock five with Gus driving. As we tore along the very busy dual carriageway that is the A82, Gus suddenly stopped at an opening in the middle of the road and Dougie did likewise. Gus then waited for an opportunity to do a U-turn which developed into a three-point turn, much to the consternation of all the fast moving traffic on the road. Dougie managed to follow suit thanks to a friendly white van man who slowed to allow him to do so. There were screams of “Bring me my brown trousers” as all composure had gone out the window. Obviously, the turn-off at Milton Brae, opposite the Renault garage, had been missed, but next time we’ll drive on to the next roundabout. When we arrived at the car park at Overtoun House there were no signs of Paul’s car. A phone call established that they had gone further down the A82 to try to gain access to Overtoun House but had been stymied and were on their way back.



Don't jump!

“Mud, mud, glorious mud…” (From ‘The Hippopotamus’ by Flanders and Swann)

Shaken and stirred by our efforts to get there, we got changed and walked up to the bridge at the house where Kenny explained that dugs (unwittingly we presume) committed suicide by jumping over the parapet and into the ravine. Pausing for a photo shoot, the walk began at about 10.35 and we followed the signage for the Lang Craigs Circular. The weather was dry but overcast, and still not warm, and the cool breeze was against us on our first leg. It had been decided to follow the grass track which would take us up and behind the crags and not take the steeper route chosen on our previous visit. Underfoot was soft with some muddy stretches, but as we arrived at the top of the path we saw a diversion signposted. Ignoring this, as we do, we turned right and up an extremely muddy wee section to meet the hardcore logging road. We could have turned right here and gone further up to the top of the crags for a look, but decided against this, and turned left down past Black Linn Reservoir. Now out of the wind, the going along the road was easy and before long we were passing the Greenland Reservoirs (Nos 2 and 3) and emerged on the farm track where we found the steps down from the crags. This would be a good spot for lunch and so it proved. The next leg should be a dawdle. How wrong we were.
If we thought that we had experienced serious mud before, we were soon to be shocked to find that the path adjacent to the road and along the borders of the field was ankle deep in the stuff (knee deep for Davie, who was giving a good impression of Toulouse-Lautrec). Even those who left the path for the field found the mud had followed them. When we eventually emerged, we took stock and agreed that this was possibly the muddiest bit of walk we had ever been on. Reaching a dry path was a blessing and good progress was made to the farm/quarry road. Here, we took time to clean our boots as best we could, before continuing down the road to where it met Milton Brae, the road we had driven up earlier. Another twenty minutes and we were back at the cars, two hours and thirty-five minutes after having set off, and with a distance of 5.3 miles covered. Not a walk to be repeated, unless after a prolonged dry, hot spell!

The Bull

Having changed into clean clothes, we made for the Brown Bull in Lochwinnoch for FRT. The patter, and the slagging, were up (or down) to the usual standard. And today’s specialist subject was the collective nouns of different species of birds! Impressive, eh!

Dumbarton Rock just in view at lunch stop

The next leg should be easy!

Sock it to them!

The crags from the lunch spot

Reaching the farm road

30 August - Dumbarton - Lang Craigs circular

Paul, Kenny T, Kenny R, Robert, Dougie, Rex, Malcolm, Gus

We gathered at the garden centre below the Erskine Bridge (table service only) just as the heavens opened. Fortunately by the time we had supped our coffees, consulted maps and agreed on our start point the rain had stopped – it was to be the only rain of the day.

Satnavs were needed to find our point of departure at the Sports Centre on Dumbarton Common, but the technology was mastered and we soon reassembled there. At this point Paul realised his boots, socks and change of clothes were still at the foot of the stairs in Barassie – but undaunted he stepped out in the shoes he’d arrived in.

The start of the walk took us through suburban Dumbarton and we crossed the busy A82, passed the police office and entered Overtoun House estate.  The house was built in the 1850s in Scots Baronial style and was designed by the father of the infamous Madeleine Smith. It was suitably gloomy.  Kenny T raised our spirits by telling us a tale about suicidal dogs (confirmed by Wikipedia (not that we doubted him …much)) who have a propensity for leaping to their deaths from the adjoining bridge.  Wikipedia claims that most of the dogs jump from the same side of the bridge, in clear weather and tend to be breeds with long snouts.

Don’t mention this to Holly.

From here we were soon on to open ground. Unlike on most walks we had an embarrassment of maps with us today. Maps are clearly grossly overrated since we still weren’t sure where we were, but a chat with a friendly dog walker soon saw us right. The route map suggested we should do a bigger circle around the back of the crags but we chose a shorter, steeper and more direct route. Rex and Robert then set off through the heather in search of where we should have been, but the rest of us just meandered along the top of the sheer drops and settled down for lunch, enjoying glorious views along the Clyde. We were joined a little later by the two intrepid explorers who had aborted their search for the summit.

After lunch we completed the fine walk along the tops and started our descent.  Major excavations were going on and a boggy detour had to be followed which put Paul’s less sturdy footwear to the test. A sign proclaiming “The farmer is a **STAR*” suggested walkers were not too enamoured with his diversion.

Eventually we dropped back down to the A82, passed Jackie Stewart’s old garage and found a cycle route, following the line of the old Glasgow, Dumbarton & Helensburgh Railway, which took us back to the cars.

FRT was planned for the Milton Inn on the edge of the town but when we arrived we were notified that the pipes were being cleaned. Hmm. The Brown Bull in Lochwinnoch was an excellent substitute and a very convivial hour was spent at the  end  of a good day’s walking.

Footnote (geddit?) : Paul’s shoes survived the walk.

Distance: 9 miles