Kirkland Hill, Kirkconnel

Monday the 18th of June

I'm heading over to Kirkconnel to walk with my fellow rambler from Cumnock.

It's a small place, but packed with history.
I see my friend the Ayr Blogger, has already done this walk a couple of times.
Gordon's recent report.

The Baker's Burn Path is our outward route.

There's information boards galore as we head  north alongside the scenic burn.

It's correct name is the Polbower Burn, but known locally as the Baker's Burn because of the one time flour mill by the town/village.

There are nine sturdy bridges along the path, frequently crossing from one side to the other.

The sun is in the sky today.

This short poem is from one of the information boards.

 Readers of  a certain age I'm sure will relate to the words.

Talking of litter.................. 

......................this was lying on the grass.

Now there's a good old Scottish word at the bottom.

More bridges. Along here we stop to talk to a local man walking.

He's got his arm in a sling from a fall from his mountain bike.

Happy healing sir.

The burn path ends at Old Kirkland, and here we take to road and track on the 'Old Church Walk'

These cows and calves seemed quite relaxed until I took this picture.

I don't know why my camera spoofed them.

Maybe my new Canon Powershot SX40 HS will be more animal friendly.

(Just arrived from Hong Kong this morning)

Now this is Kirkland Farmhouse.

Built sometime in the 1700's this was (and may still be, maybe someone can say) the home of the Lorimer family. A Captain Lorimer from Kirkland was one of the local farmers and gentlemen who founded the 'Crawick Mill Carpeting Company', which at it's height employed 120 people.

The works closed in 1858.

A short way on from the farm we come to the dwelling known as  'The Vennel'. 

The hill in the middle of the picture is Little Kirkland Hill.

As well as this being mining country it was also covenanting country.

James Hyslop the poet ( The Cameronians Dream ) was born close to here.

Another local poet, Alexander Anderson 1845-1909 used this location as the setting for his poem, The Covenanters Tryst.

The first verse goes like this.
 I am auld an' frail, an' I scarce can gang,

Though whiles when I tak' a turn,

It's only when the sun blinks oot

On the braes by the Vennel Burn.

Then I tak' a look at the Kirkland Heichts,

An' up at Glen Aylmer Hill,

Then a kinder look at the auld kirkyaird

Where the dead sleep soun' an' still.

The full 15 verses, and other poems by the Surfaceman, can be seen here on the Gerald Massey webpages.

  

There's a lot of  ducks, geese and other fowl waddling around the Vennel.

From the Vennel, we make our way over the Glenaylmer Burn, past a noisy sheep pen where a dosing operation is occuring, and into the ruins of St Conal's Church. 

There's an ongoing project to clean up headstones that are still readable. It looks as though they are having some success. 

This is the Miners Cairn, originally erected by the local miners during the 1926 general strike.

It was restored in 2002 by the Kirkconnel Parish Heritage Society.

Has it been vandalized since then ?

We didn't get over to Glenwharrie to see the Celtic Cross.

Glenwharrie was also where one of the Waistland Martyrs, John Hair farmed.

The incident was part of what became known as New Cumnock's Killing Day.

There are some really ornate stones here.

Now we begin climbing above the Glenaylmer burn where we reach the first cairn of six of the 15 mile geology trail over to Wanlockhead. Be good to do that sometime.

We're now climbing Little Kirkland Hill where the rabbits are out in force, and wonderful views over the Nith Valley open up for us. We stop for lunch and enjoy the views.

For most of the day's walking there was the constant sound of light aircraft.

This was the second of a pair of motorized hang gliders that we saw a couple of times.

After lunch we continue up Little Kirkland Hill overlooking Glenaylmer where the telegraph poles looked like matchsticks. (Right click, open in new tab to see what I mean)

Now we come onto Kirkland Hill itself. This is the view back down to Kirconnel and Kelloholm.

Here we're looking over to the Isle of Arran.

My walking companion adorns the trigpoint at 511 Metres (1676 ft)............

.................and I bag Flush Bracket S6091. The mast on the left is atop Todholes Hill. That's a walk for another day.

I zoom in for another picture of Arran, and one of the more northerly hills.

Now we move over to Kirkland Hill's second summit just a couple of metres lower.

Here we can look back down on St Conals and Kirkland.

Our descent takes us down via features called Earl's Seat and Lambing Slack.

There seems little activity over at the Glenmuckloch Open Cast Coal Mine.

We spoke to a farm worker down at Kirkland later, who informed us that it was due to be closed, but that there's been a deferral till sometime later in the year.

There is a law that say's the land must be put back to something like it was before mining began, but all over Ayrshire, there seems to be little of that happening.

There is a group of activists who want to do something about it.

Reclaim the Fields

Field Pansies are flourishing on the slopes.

Now we descend 'The Can' by the Churn Burn.

Back at the Vennel a cockerel  lords it over his brood.

Back down at Kirkland, this old plane flew over. Can anyone identify it ? It's not a Flying Fortress.

From Kirkland we'll head back to Kirkconnel via the tarmac road.

Above us there's more activity as two motorized hang gliders appear to overtake a light aircraft.

It's clouding over as we get closer to the town.

A cow and her calf are isolated as a young foal runs free.

Next to the main Dumfries/Glasgow railway line is a Des Res for sale.

If I won the lottery, I think I'd buy it as a holiday home for all the family.

Needs a bit of money spent on it though.

Now back in Kirkconnel, we pass the monument to the 'Surfaceman' Alexander Anderson, the Heritage Society Park and the War Memorial.

There's some very interesting window displays. I guess there's been a competition of some sort.

Just across the road from the car park is the Kirkconnel Miners Memorial.

The central inscription reads.

To the memory of the men of  Upper Nithsdale who in pursuance of their calling lost their lives in the collieries 1872 - 1969

Others also through injuries and mining dust were hastened to an early grave

They served their day unseen unsung

In caverns of the deep

Till early laid the mools among

They through the ages sleep

Lest We Forget

That was a great walk with tonnes of interesting stuff.

We got to the car park just just before the heavens opened.

More exploration required around this area.

Cairn Table and Muirkirk

Thursday the 29th of September 2011

I'm away to Muirkirk with a fellow rambler today.

We'll climb Cairn Table Hill first

Slew was here a bit back.

 Gordon's Recce

As were Bob and Alex.

Blue Sky Scotland

The walkers car park is next to the imposing Kames Institute, a magnificent building once the recreational centre for the village's miners,but not looking so good these days.

As we begin the climb there are scattered remnants of the industry that was once the lifeblood of Muirkirk.

This is a passage from a 1900's guide to Ayrshire.

"With environs bleaker perhaps than those of any other town in southern Scotland, Muirkirk is the seat of an extensive iron manufacture and was brought into existence through the discovery and smelting of iron ore in 1787. The place has undergone great fluctuations of prosperity, but since about 1830 and especially since the formation of the railway, it has been flourishing as to rank among the great seats of the iron manufacture in Scotland. The works of the Eglinton Iron Company have several blast furnaces and rolling mills; coal mining and lime-burning are actively carried on. New works for collecting ammonia as a by-product at the furnaces were erected at a large outlay in 1883. In 1894 a drainage scheme estimated to cost Ē1,100 was begun. Muirkirk has a post office, a branch of the Clydesdale Bank, 2 hotels, a gas company and fairs on the Tuesday after 18th February for hiring shepherds and the Thursday nearest 21st December, when shepherds meet to restore sheep which have strayed from their owners. Muirkirk black faced sheep have carried off the first prize at several of the Highland Society's shows and at the Paris exhibition of 1867."

It's quite a sleepy looking place these days,and with no industry left it's mainly a place that people pass through.Sadly this is only one of many small villages and towns throughout Scotland that once hummed with the sound of industry but now sit forgotten and forlorn.

Wikipedia

"The village developed around its church, which was built in 1631, and was a fertile recruiting ground for the Covenanter movement. In recent times, the village has fallen into decline due to its geographic isolation and the collapse of its coal and iron industries, but attempts are being made at regeneration through the Muirkirk Enterprise Group which was set up in 1999".

It's almost sunny below,but reaching a thousand feet we're into the mist.This ridge with the small cairn is known as 'The Steel'

Steadily climbing we get to a point where something large is looming out of the mist.It's the summit of Cairn Table at 593 Metres (1945 feet)

This reads

'ERECTED IN MEMORY OF 

THE 87 MEN OF 

MUIRKIRK PARISH 

WHO FELL IN, 

AND ALSO TO THE 

HONOUR OF THE 

262 MEN AND WOMEN 

WHO RETURNED FROM,

THE GREAT WAR 

1914-1918'

The cairn was built by hand in 1920.See here for details.
Roll-of-Honour

Trig point with flush bracket.

There's lot's of distant landmarks to view,but not today I'm afraid.

We have our lunch out of the wind in one of the stone shelters.

After lunch we begin to make our way down on the circular route.

Muirkirk is still in sunshine.

The old drover's road from Muirkirk to Sanquhar.

We reach the bridge over Garpel Water.This is the old drovers road.

The O.S map shows lots of disused mine shafts.

This one's full of rubbish.

A cairn to the man responsible for the invention that keeps our cars on a smooth surface.

There are lots of interesting information boards provided by the Muirkirk Enterprise group.

The stretch of road above was one of the first ever to have tarmac laid on it.

The iron railings look Victorian.

Back at the car we decide to go and take a look in the churchyard.

On the way we pass this miner.

The Poets' Trail will have to wait for another day.

The parish church will be 200 years old in two years.

With the exception of Greyfriars in Edinburgh, this counts as one of the most interesting graveyards I've ever visited.

Muirkirk's heritage also includes being an important village in the 'Killing Times'.

Not far out of the village towards Cumnock is Airds Moss scene of a bloody battle back in 1680

There's some really old graves here.All shpes and sizes too.

A covenanter's grave.

Muirland Jock of Rabbie Burns fame

Below is the saddest story........

.......and isn't the back of the grave the most gruesome.

A couple more of Rabbie's poet friends here.

Close by is the newer Roman Catholic Church built in 1906.

Muirkirk is quite a fascinating village with it's history and heritage.

I'll have to come back again.