Wigtownshire Ramblers-Torrs Warren and Supper at the County-October 2010

It's been a busy week.Me and the gang got back from our wee trip to the north Antrim Coast on Friday.The blog and pictures will follow soon.

It's Saturday the 16th of October and todays walk is another we've done before.In fact it's almost two years to the day.Here's it's blog.
2008 Walk
As is becoming the regular format,I'll copy and paste the press report into the blog where it fits.
I'm looking forward to eating out after todays walk.We've a pre-arranged meal booked at the County Hotel in Stoneykirk.
I nearly forgot to mention the lovely Bella in the picture below.


Walk Report
16th of October 2010
A coolish morning with broken sunlight saw twenty ramblers gather at Torrs Warren car park for the walk.A guest walker from Lancashire was introduced to the group.
This is a popular area for dog walkers,and some regulars have put bird feeders close by.Small birds of the finch and tit families flittered about noisily.

It's good to see that most of the Antrim trippers are on todays walk.
They began by walking east through the plantation before emerging at Ringdoo Sands where the Piltanton burn flows into Luce Bay.

Torrs Warren is an important stop off point for wintering geese and hen harriers,but today only a few seagulls were spotted.
There's plenty of plastic around Luce Bay.
I wonder what happened to the owner of the boot ?

Next they walked south along the sandy track to Ringdoo Point where a short break was taken.

Next they turned west to walk along the southern edge of the plantation.This is a two kilometre stretch of undulating sand dunes occasionally reminiscent of the 1965 film 'The Hill'.In the film the hero Sean Connery is repeatedly made to climb a hill of sand.

Upon reaching a particularly high sand dune the group stopped for a coffee break.To the south is the West Freuch practise bombing range and targets could be spotted on the beach.Luckily there were no red flags flying today.The Isle of Man and the lighthouse at the Mull of Galloway were clearly seen.

Now they made their way through some high dying bracken.The groups resident amateur botanist pointed out the difference between fern and bracken.

After disturbing a few resting pheasants they passed Horse Hill and made their way back into the plantation.

From here they made their way back to the start point.A few ramblers preparing for Christmas collected a variety of fallen cones.



The pleasantness of the day was completed by the pre-arranged dinner at the County Hotel at Stoneykirk where the group set the world to right.

It's been a hectic but enjoyable week.