The Wigtownshire Ramblers Bargaly Circular January 2015

Saturday the 17th of January 2015

We've done various parts of this walk in the past.

Here's a couple of links.

Scoops Blog November 2011

January 2010 Walk 

Walkfest 2011

Shorty was the walk leader with myself as the backup.

The first half dozen pictures are from a recce we did on Tuesday.

 There'll be a selection of pictures from Scoop. 

Shorty's report will appear after the pictures.

A womble at Stronord

The rough section of the recce.

A slight route change was made for walk day.

One of the Galloway Hills.

Five of us did the recce.

Belted Galloways with a little Beltielet.

This was how the sky looked as we finished the recce.

So, onto the walk itself. There were eighteen of us.

Shorty explains some of the history of the lead mines that were once prolific in the area.

The Boatman gets a Womble close up. 

Farm art ?

Some of the surfaces throughout the walk.

There's only one of the above we didn't walk on. No prizes walkers, but can you spot it.

Above Bardrochwood

The waterproof boot test

Meadows east of Bargaly

Into the woods........with obstacles to surmount

More snow to come

A stone quarry and a sweetie break

Tussocks and bog

A helping hand required

It's wheely a different view

Under Craignelder

Approaching Corwar. We lunched in the woods by the Palnure burn

Forest track passing Dallash

The Papy Ha Trail

A heavy snow shower

Bruntis Loch

The Gem Stane one of the 7 stanes of the 7stanes mountain bike trails

As can be seen by the above collage, the wet snow got to my camera and all other pictures I took aren't worth publishing.

A very satisfying ten point six miles completed.

We enjoyed after walk scones and other goodies at the Cinnamon cafe.

(It'll be the turn of the Belted Galloway next time)

 Enjoy this selection of pictures from

Scoop

Scoop's spotted the wood creature !

A lovely set of pictures.

Have a great week all.

Here's Shorty's Report.

Wigtownshire Ramblers -17 January 2015 – Bargaly Glen

Saturday was a dry and frost-free morning, much welcomed by the ramblers who drove up the Mines Hill at Blackcraig to the start of the walk.  Eighteen members assembled in the Anglers’ car park for a walk around the Bargaly Glen.  We set off over the hill and followed the forest path down towards Stronord. 

On the way we passed numerous trial pits associated with the lead mines.  A little further on we came first to the main entrance to the East mine, now fenced off and surrounded by a dense growth of young trees, and then to the end of the lade from the Bruntis Lochs and then the old processing site where the ore was washed.  The old bings are still evident with their straggly vegetation, presumably restricted by the excessive lead in the soil.

Beyond the mines we passed through Stronord village and crossed the Bogue Bridge over the Palnure Burn and turned up the valley.  Before Bardrochwood we encountered our first climb of the day up the forest road onto Bardrochwood Moor.  We paused at the top of the rise to get our breath back and admire the views across the lower valley.  A first sweetie round was taken at this point.  We then crossed the field between whin bushes and reached the road to the Mill Burn, passing the old water treatment works which used to supply water from the Mill and Blairbuies burns to the farms around Wigtown.  It has been reported that the pipe used to cross the Cree under the railway bridge and when that bridge was removed after the closure of the Paddy Line the pipe was just dropped into the Cree.  It continued to work for many years.

Our first serious obstacle was the Mill Burn.  The road crosses by a ford and there is no bridge or stepping stones nearby.  Fortunately the water level was low and we all walked gingerly across with relatively dry feet.  We had originally intended to bypass this obstacle by taking a grassy track through the Bargaly Wood but active forestry felling operations made this route impracticable.

After crossing the burn we followed the grassy track over the moor and through the forest to the attractive valley of the Knock Burn where it runs below Barhoise Hill.  Eventually we reached the main forest road and paused again for more sweeties and to admire the views over the upper glen.  We then zig-zagged northwards along the forest roads until we reached the end of the prepared track where we followed a ride down towards Corwar.  Initially the going was easy with firm ground and deer tracks showing the best way around the wet patches.  As we got lower the ground got wetter and the tussocks larger.  The final hundred metres or so before we reached the field were something of an assault course with numerous deep holes, soft bogs and small burns.  Once across we entered the firm ground in the fields and everyone cheered up.  Across the fields we reached Corwar Farm which had looked very attractive from a distance in the watery sunshine but was now boarded up and looking sorry for itself.  

We then crossed the Palnure Burn again and paused for lunch under the large Douglas Fir trees around the raised footpath.  The path and footpath were created to maintain access to Corwar when the burn was in spate and the road bridge under water.  Evidence of recent floods could be seen by the debris caught halfway up the road gate.

After lunch we took the Lower Dallash road past the substantial farm and admired the small herd of Belted Galloway cattle together with one very young calf.  Once again we had to divert our route due to forestry operations.  We had planned to follow the now abandoned Pappy Ha trail to the upper road but this was impassable following forwarder work.  It is hoped that the path can be reinstated once works are finished.  We therefore followed the roads round to the upper part of the path which was an attractive grassy track through the trees to the top of the valley side.  We again joined a forest road and followed it southwards back towards the cars.

The weather now decided to turn damp, first with rain, then hail and then full blooded snowfall.  Fortunately it didn’t last long and the sun soon reasserted itself.  We turned off the road and took a path back towards the Bruntis Lochs with the attractive Gem Stone and bowed bridge.  Today the water was mirror calm and gave most attractive reflections of the surrounding trees.

A short walk following the path via the Little Bruntis Loch and forest roads soon had us back to the cars.  We then returned to Cinnamon at Newton Stewart where we were welcomed for well-earned tea and scones.

Next week’s walk will be a moderate walk up the Aldouran Glen and round Lochnaw woods from Leswalt Village.  Meet at 09:00 at the Riverside car park in Newton Stewart or 09:30 at the Breastworks car park in Stranraer to share transport.  The walk will start from the Leswalt Village Hall at 10:00.  New walkers are always welcome but please contact the walk leader on 01776 705061 for full details.