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Showing posts with label Beneraird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beneraird. Show all posts

Sunday, 4 November 2012

The Wigtownshire Ramblers Beneraird November 2012

Saturday the 3rd of November
The last time I climbed Beneraird was two years ago. 2010 Walk
Today's walk is being led by my good friend the Ayrshire Blogger
As regular readers will know there are a few nicknames for those walkers who are consummate walkers.
Gordon has been known as Slew Train after a hill we've come across often.
I've decided on a new nickname for him. Since he has retired, Gordon is game for any walking challenge.
Hence the nickname 'The Gopher', because if asked Gordon will 'Go For' it.
I'm taking a leaf out of 'The Gopher's' own blog by publishing a picture of the leader.
I believe what he holds here works as well as any GPS device, so we shouldn't get lost.
We're a group of 19 as we set off, but soon into the walk the figure changes to 20 with the arrival of a latecomer. After a heavy morning frost it's a lovely day.

Abundant views over the north channel were many today. Ailsa Craig must be one of the most photographed volcanic plugs in the world.


Mud is another feature of  today's walk as is another favourite hill of ours, Knockdolian. 


Ailsa Craig again. Will there be any more ?


Our route initially took us east passing the Auchencrosh converter station and below Auchencrosh, Benawhirn and Smyrton hills .


I can't resist taking pictures of Ailsa.


We're soon circling South and gradually climbing..........


.........and thanks to Scoop, back from more adventures, I get in the picture.


We make good time and are on the summit of Beneraird before lunch time. It's quite cold and breezy up here.


If I was a flush bracket collector, then here's BM S1808 


We drop down from Beneraird on the Lagafater Lodge track, the original Ballantrae to Stranraer road.
A short climb brings us to a nice spot for lunch. After lunch we'll be looking for wreckage.

Here's a couple of links to accounts of the 1945 air crash of a US Airforce Liberator.


A short distance north of where we lunched we find whats left of the wreckage.
My next door neighbour has the book 'The RAF in Galloway' by A.T.Murchie. Here's a passage from the book.
"On 14 June 1945 a gamekeeper leaving his cottage at Lagafater Lodge found a seriously injured airman lying on the pathway leading to the cottage. Though barely conscious, the airman managed to indicate that he had come from an aeroplane which had crashed some distance away. Lagafater Lodge is a shooting lodge in a remote moorland area about seven miles north west of New Luce. The alarm was immediately raised by contacting the civil police who in turn contacted the RAF in Castle Kennedy. A search party were soon on the scene to find that a US Air Force Liberator, which had been reported to be missing over thirty six hours previously, had crashed on Pildinny Hill, 1200 feet above sea level and almost two miles from Lagafater Lodge. Two more seriously injured survivors were found together with seventeen bodies.The injured men were taken to Lochnaw Hospital and the bodies to Castle Kennedy before being handed over to the US Air Force Base at Prestwick."  

I wonder what happened to these, the survivors.
John R. May, Staff Sergeant - Kenneth R. Nelson, Sergeant - Richard G. Pokorny, Technical Sergeant



We're heading back now. We retrace our steps back down the slopes of Beneraird so far before taking to the heather and tussocks.


After crossing a burn that eventually becomes the Water of App, we're ready to climb up Smyrton Hill.


It's quite a steep haul, but the last of the climbing today.


A rest at the top where far reaching views and landmarks are identified.


Views of Kilantringan Loch, Knockdolian and the town of Ballantrae as we descend.


I've no problems descending.!


We're soon back at Smyrton Bridge and the track back to the cars.
I've enjoyed today's walk. As always the 'Gopher', has excelled in his leadership and imparting geographic and historical information. Good on you sir.

Here's the leader's report.



 Wigtownshire Ramblers – Saturday 03 November 2012
On Saturday November 3rd Wigtownshire ramblers did an eight mile circular route up Beneraird and Smyrton Hills which are just two of the many hills situated in the Glenapp area.  Twenty walkers met at the crossroads just off the A77 where there is ample car parking for the cars that came from Stranraer, the South Rhins and Newton Stewart. The leader welcomed and introduced three new members to the group and hoped they would enjoy today’s walk. Setting off on a clear sunny but cold morning along an old farm road they passed the electricity convertor station which takes the power to Northern Ireland. The equipment hummed loudly in the quiet morning; more intrusive than the traffic on the nearby main road.
After all the recent heavy rain that has fallen recently in this part of Scotland the going was very muddy, slowing their progress until they reached the old road that takes you from Ballantrae to New Luce, a distance of some 19 miles . As this road once carried horse drawn traffic many years ago the ground was somewhat easier to walk on. The first stop was at an area described on the map as hut circles where we learnt that these were small dwelling places with low earth sides and a timber structure was erected above this. Today all that is left are several circles in the grass where the houses once stood.
Making their way up to Beneraird they met the farmer on his quad bike taking feed to the animals grazing on the hillside. This was a relief to some of the group as the beasts turned their attention to the food and ignored the walkers completely.  Once on the summit the leader pointed out several hills visible today mainly towards the Galloway ranges.
Heading down the road towards Lagafater Lodge the leader took the group to the remains of a Liberator aircraft which crashed on the hillside in 1945 resulting in 17 deaths out of the twenty that were on board on that dreadful day. The plane was on its way from Northern England to Prestwick when, in thick fog and perhaps due to the lack of reliable navigation aids, the plane hit the hill. One of the survivors crawled to the lodge to raise the alarm and when the rescue services finally got to the site they discovered two of passengers were still alive. This was made even more remarkable in that two days had passed since the accident happened. A lunch stop was taken there beside the wreckage whilst they remembered all who had perished on that fateful journey.
After lunch they retraced their steps to the top of the pass and then crossed over a grouse moor to the headwaters of the Water of App.  A brace of Red Grouse took off noisily and swept down into the valley. After crossing the burn a short steep climb took them to Smyrton Hill with its panoramic views of the Clyde and Loch Ryan with the ferries making their way to and from Ireland.  From the summit it was a very steep descent down to Smyrton Bridge and the track back to the start.  The group thanked the leader for an excellent walk in the autumn sunshine before retiring to Stranraer for coffee and scones in “Stir It”, one of the many fine tearooms to be found in the town.
Next Saturday, November 10th, the walk will be an 8 mile circular moderate route on farm tracks, woodland paths and open moorland from Castramont to Loch Whinyon. Please meet for car sharing at Breastworks car park, Stranraer at 9.00AM and Riverside, Newton Stewart at 9.30AM. If going to the start at Knocktinkle Car Park on the Gatehouse to Lauriston road (NX608 602) or for any other queries please contact the leader direct on 01776 840226. 

Sunday, 21 November 2010

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Ballantrae Beneraird November 2010

It's Saturday the 20th of November and todays walk is a twelve mile circular from Ballantrae taking in the summit of Beneraird at 439 Metres (1440 feet).
It's a cold but bright morning as fourteen of us meet at Ballantrae cemetery.
I make no excuses for posting so many pictures of Ailsa Craig today.It just always makes a fabulous backdrop.

The first section of the walk takes us up the glen that's next to Glenapp Castle.I've called this Smyrton Glen in the past,but I'm not sure if it's even got a name.
We've been here before.
April 2010
September 2008

It may be autumnal touching on winter,but the scenery is as always here,beautiful.

There's a copious flow of water over the numerous falls up the glen,(copious flow is a phrase I've always liked) but of course nothing like the Iguassu Falls.
Iguassu (Wished I'd taken that picture)


The first few kilometres is a route we've previously walked but today we're doing it in reverse.There's a lot of boggy,wet and muddy ground to cover today.Here we're above High Kilfin.

That lovely wee hill Knockdolian doesn't look very challenging from here....


....while out in the water the 'Craig' looks majestic.

We're moving along at a cracking pace.Our walk leader wants to make sure we're back before dark.I'm just about keeping up.It's not a steep climb,but long and steady.
You won't see pictures of the long muddy sections,I'm too busy watching my step.
We've been heading in a north easterly direction,but at the Kilwhannel track crossroads we turn South East.


Now we're on the eastern slopes of Benawhirter and the land opens up.Below us the Crailoch burn runs through an area known as Yellow Mire.We're starting to see a few wind turbines now.

No pictures for the next couple of kilometres,I was busy trying to keep up.I wasn't the back marker,so that made me feel better.
At the summit of Beneraird I was so anxious to get sitting down, that my rucksack landed on the cairn a little harder than I meant it to.As a result I now need a new flask.C'est la vie ! Thanks for all the offers of coffee and tea guys,you're the best.


Beneraird Trig Point's Flush Bracket.
There's quite a large group of climbers who like to bag Trig Points and Flush Brackets.
One in particular is a guy with the user name of Clochandighter.He's got an online album of Trigpoints containing 2780 pictures.
Clochandighter's Trigpoints
Now there's a fit man !

Up here there are wide ranging views.All the usual suspects from the Mull of Galloway to Holy Island on Arran.
Now I've never been an opponent of windfarms,but it seems that here in South Ayrshire and Galloway they're reaching saturation point.
Barr,Arecleoch,Artfield Fell,Portpatrick and Mark Hill are five in view today.
The latest proposal, to build one in beautiful Wigtown Bay surely can't be given the go ahead,therefore I urge readers to sign the ongoing online petition against it.
Here's the link.
Petition

Knockdolian looks even less of a challenge from here.It's a lovely view though.

Time to descend,it's a long way back.
Tussocks, burns and bogs are the obstacles as we make our way over the lower slopes of Leana Hill.

One unfortunate walker ended up with a rather damp posterior while crossing the Leana burn.Fortunately she had a soft landing.Resulting photographs are not for publication.(Not just yet anyway ha ha)

After even more tussocks and boggy ground we've reached a solid track at the upper end of Glen App.This is where the Altigabert and Leana burns meet to begin the Water of App.
The glen has a haunted look about it.

It looks like we're having the best of the weather anywhere in the country today.We're now heading into the Heathery Hill plantation.


Once again the track turns a little swampy and muddy,but there's no complaints.The 'Craic' is good today.We're now heading north again.

A stop to regroup before crossing the busy A77...

...and we're back in the bog to view the 'Postmans Monument'.
A 100 year memorial service was held in 2008 to honour 27 year old Robert Cunningham who perished on these moors in a blizzard after successfully delivering the post in atrocious conditions.
More on that story in the Herald.
Hero Postman

A few more tussocks and a barbed wire fence brings us onto a tarmac road just south of Kilantringan Loch.
Somehow my camera got the shakes and I took a number of fuzzy pictures over the next bit of road.I'd therefore suggest that there's little need to enlarge the above collage.

After turning north at Low Ballochdowan,we're in a direct line with Ailsa Craig.The sun's lowering in the west.

A 'Z' bend takes us by Currarie Cottage and Craigalbert.
There's no uniformity in the sign writing around here.Just lovely individuality.

Who's that behind me ?

As the sun goes down the colours intensify.I love sunsets at this time of year.

Just past Meadowpark Farm,we take a break from the tarmac road and take the farm track across to Downton.

This last section of road will take us back via Langdale,Kinniegar and Holm Park.It's part of the Ayrshire coastal path and we've been along this bit before too.
November 2008 Walk

I know I've had a walk today.Was it only twelve miles.My legs think it was further.
We're too late for the Garden Centre Cafe,but never mind that was a good walk.
P.S. Not bad company either !
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