Wigtownshire Ramblers Cairnharrow and Cambret Hills September 2014

Saturday the 20th of September

I took over as walk leader from Shorty for this walk as he and A'OK are away on holiday.

We recce'd the walk on Monday, and a few pictures from the recce will be included in the post.

We walked much of this route back in 2009.

January 2009 Walk

The walk report will follow the images which include a fair selection from Scoop.

More pictures can be seen on the Ayrshire Blogger's page.

He, the Teacher, the Deerstalker, and four guest walkers swelled our number to a mighty thirty one, which for a hill walk was probably twice the number we'd normally expect.

Our guest walkers were two ladies from Port William and family members of one of our Portpatrick walkers. We'd love to welcome you back.

The walk start at Kirkdale Bridge.

Uphill road walk towards Barholm.

The road to Clauchreid with a background of Wigtown Bay.

Cairnharrow's lower slopes.

A very interesting flat topped stone close to a gate

It's a steady climb............

................with some sections steeper than others.

The sheep and quad bike tracks are much appreciated.

The high point of the day.

The weather outlook was for the odd shower, thankfully they never materialized 

A short coffee and sweetie break at the summit.

The descent begins.

It's a spongy slippery climb down so great care is taken.

The Cauldside Burn Cairn and Stone Circle  

Excellent seating for lunch (I hope the ancients enjoyed our company)

Cambret Hill Cup and Ring marked rock.

The light wasn't right to show the rings clearly except when the sun fell on the rock. The pictures above are those I took on the 2009 walk.

A search on Google Images for the Cambret Penny Stone finds a number of clearer pictures.

Here's a passage from The history of Galloway: from the earliest period to the present time ...

 By William Mackenzie (of Galloway.), Andrew Symson

I wonder whether any one has looked ?

A short distance from the Penny Stone a keen eyed 'Weaver' spotted that this rock had been split by drilling. An unfinished stone lintel perhaps.

The steep incline to Cambret Hill

The bridge over the Englishman's Burn has seen extensive repairs recently.

Top left = the central granite boulder of the Glenquicken Stone Circle (full zoom)

Top right = Knockeans wrought iron sign

Bottom left = Grass of Parnassus

Bottom right = Sweet Chestnut

Creebaby sculpted in 2011

( a clearer picture from Scoop later)

Fungi in Balloch Wood.

( I may do a separate blog post with all my fungi pictures)

A standing stone but not on the OS map. Approaching Creetown.

The Haiku Stone Circle also called Creehenge

Last leg of the nine and a quarter miles. Tea and scones await.

Here now is a selection of

Scoop's Pictures

We're on the way

The climbing starts here

We made it to the top

Take one of me please !

The blooming blinking bloggers

Watch out for potholes

Late for lunch again

Mishaps recorded for posterity

A leap of faith

Barbed wire crossing safely navigated

At the 'Penny Stone'

Portraits to order

A breather, then onwards and upwards

Creebaby 

Balloch Woods

Haiku and home

A great set of pictures Scoop.

After ferrying drivers back to Kirkdale for their vehicles, most walkers were tempted by the tea, coffee and scones of the Prospector's Pantry Cafe at the Gem Rock Museum. 

A refreshing finish to a gratifying walk.

Here's the report.

Walk Report

Thirty one walkers  assembled at the Robert Adam designed 18th century bridge at Kirkdale for the walk.Unfortunately a short way into the walk, one of our seasoned members turned back when she realized that the viral infection she was carrying wouldn't get her over the hills.

The first section took us past the 18th century Kirkdale water driven sawmill, one of only a few left in Scotland. 

A steady incline on the tarmac road took us past the entrance gate to Barholm Castle, a onetime stronghold of the McCulloch Clan,and a hiding place of the reformist John Knox.

Just beyond Barholm we turned north. With Cairnholy Glen below us to the west we continued along the potholed road leading to Claughreid.

A holiday cottage belonging to the actor Martin Shaw was pointed out.

After road walking almost two kilometres we gained softer ground entering the lower slopes between Barholm Hill and Cairnharrow. Now the incline became steeper and we were soon gaining height.

Behind and below us Wigtown Bay and Fleet Bay would occasionally stand out in the patchy sunshine. 

A zig zag climb on sheep and quad bike tracks eventually got us to the 1500 ft summit of Cairnharrow. With low lying cloud over the Galloway hills views were in limited supply, but across Wigtown Bay landmarks in the Machars and the South Rhins could be identified.

We took a short sweetie break at the summit of Cairnharrow before making a careful descent to the col between Cairnharrow and Cambret.

During the descent we disturbed quite a number of black grouse. A full sized red deer was also spotted running away. Bright purple heather was in full bloom. 

At the remains of a stone circle and a large round Neolithic burial tomb cairn we stopped for lunch. The cairn made for great seating.

After lunch we crossed the Cauldside Burn, barely noticeable because of the lack of rain, a drystone dyke and a barbed wire fence.

On the lower slopes of Cambret Hill we viewed the cup and ring marks on a slab of rock. The markings were barely perceptible until a ray of sunshine highlighted the the rings.

A steep climb took us up to the masts and satellite dishes atop Cambret where we regrouped ready for a length of road-walking.

Now we descended to the Corse of Slakes road. Harebells and Grass of Parnassus were among the wild flowers spotted on the verges.

Now a fair distance of road walking took us across the Englishman's and Billy Diamond Bridges passing the extensive plantations of the Garrocher Christmas tree farm.

At Garrocher ponds we paused to look at the wooden roundhouse and the wire man, Creebaby. It was created in 2011 by sculptor Alex Rigg and originally had roses and clematis climbing the frame. It's bare now, but is still an impressive sculpture.

Our route now took us through Balloch Wood where various fungi grew in abundance.

We emerged from the woods at Creehenge, the stone circle featuring seven large illustrated blocks of granite. Here we took a moment to read some of the inscribed Haiku verses compiled by the pupils of Creetown Primary School under the guidance of the Galloway born poet Lucy Burnett. 

Now a short walk through Creetown brought us to the Gem Rock Museum and the walk finish.

After car drivers had been ferried back to collect their vehicles, we gathered in the Gem Rock cafe for after walk tea, coffee, scones and other delights. A fitting end to a cracking walk.

The next walk, on Saturday the 27th of September will be a 7 mile, C+ linear walk from Finnarts Bay to Cairnryan.

Meet at the Riverside car park Newton Stewart at 8.45 am, the Breastworks, Stranraer at 9.15 am for car sharing, or at Cairnryan for the bus (NX 060 697) at 9.45 am. Remember to bring your bus pass.

New members are always welcome, for more information or if going to the bus stop in Cairnryan, contact the walk leader on 01581 200256

Wigtownshire Ramblers Balloch Wood, Knockeans, Larg April 2013

Saturday the 13th of April

Today's walk is one we've done previously.

2009 Walk

I've posted  quite a lot around Creetown over the years. Here's a climb up Knockeans in 2008

There's a webpage with comprehensive coverage of Creetown Walks

Twenty four of us start out from Adamson Square. It's a dry morning with a forecast of bad weather coming in later in the day.

The grounds of Kirkmabreck Parish Church  are looking very colourful

Next stop is the Whinnie Face. It's name comes from the gorse that grew in abundance around these slopes.

Creehenge is a group of standing stones with poetry in the form of the Japanese 'Haiku' 

We now head up Balloch (Ballochanamour) Woods passing the Red (Chalybeate) Well

There's a lot of cameras out today

This was the seating for outdoor functions in the woods, but the stage/dancefloor has now been dismantled.

Perhaps it had become a health risk.

This is Creebaby, a wire man at Garrocher Ponds.

It was created in 2011 by sculptor Alex Rigg and originally had roses and clematis climbing the frame.............

................It's hard to make out but a bit of picture enhancement shows the outline.

A seated figure with arms around his/her knees

The wording on the stone reads ' Mrs A.M.N Whamond Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Wigtownshire officially opened the Creetown Community Woodland project on the 2nd of October 2004'

Back on the move passing the Garrocher Tree Farm and the onetime Creetown Water works before heading up Knockeans Hill

It's a steady climb

A few of the surrounding higher hills are cloud covered....

.......... however there are still excellent views

One of Knockeans lower summits

Onwards and upwards

Lunch is taken sheltered from the wind

After lunch the route now takes us over to Larg Hill

Our leaders were a little unsure of the route, but successfully found a marker post to get us on the right track

Another short climb...........

................and a few of us get to the top of Larg. 

The main group headed for the viewpoints overlooking the Cree estuary and Creetown  

The views were pretty spectacular though

Marked stones on the cairn atop Larg Hill

Descending Larg

The Cree looking north

Thanks to Scoop for the above pics

Great fun was had with the snow drifts

The sunshine appears

Cairnsmore of Fleet and Solway Structural

An impromptu Hokey Kokey by a couple of the ladies...............

.......................while these lovelies appeared a little camera shy

The track along the edge of Castle Cary Wood

The ewe took fright and left her lamb bleating. We think they reunited after our passing

A sign that brought smiles

The churchyard looks even more colourful on the way back.

Tea, coffee and confectionery was taken at the Gem Rock Museum's prospectors pantry.

A lovely way with wonderful company to end a marvellous walk. 

Here's the report, written by Knotdolian herself.

Wigtownshire Ramblers Saturday 13^th April 2013 Balloch Wood and Larg Hill

For the first time since the Wigtownshire Ramblers group was formed, members from the Machars outnumbered those from the Rhins – a sign of the growing popularity of this group around Newton Stewart. Twenty four walkers gathered at Adamson Square in Creetown for the start of the walk on a cloudy but dry morning. They seemed to be in high spirits as a spanking pace was set through Creetown and up the hill to Balloch Wood.

 A pause was taken to read the haikus written by pupils from Creetown School on the polished granite at a Callanish Stones lookalike at the entrance to the wood. Now it became quieter as the group was forced to walk in single file along the path through the trees. Photographers lagged behind as they strove to get choice pictures of the Balloch burn and walkers were intrigued to see the Chalybeate well with its red stain caused by iron rusting in the water. They were also surprised to see that the stage had been cut down probably because it had become slippery and dangerous. The log seating was all that remained and while one member gave an impromptu tap dance show the remainder were enjoined to take a seat and applaud.

The group eventually emerged from the wood at Cardoon Ponds above the Balloch Bridge where they stopped for sweeties and to admire the metal framed sculpture of the seated man. The walkers now proceeded along the Corse of Slakes road past the Garrochar Christmas tree farm which had famously provided the tree for Number 10 last Christmas. They soon came to a sign pointing over the moor with the information that it was one mile to the top of Larg Hill and two and half back to Creetown. The walkers followed the direction of the signpost upwards through the sometimes muddy track towards the summit. The incline soon had the walkers stretched out with the fittest at the front and the determined bringing up the rear. All eventually reached the summit of Knockeans where they were rewarded with views over Wigtown Bay and Cairnsmore with its cloudy hat. Sheltered spots were now chosen for lunch, although some intrepid members preferred to stay at the summit and have a windblown lunch with a view.

Lunchboxes packed away, the walkers resumed their ramble, although with some divergence of opinion as to which route to take as the direction  posts which had guided them this far were now conspicuous by their absence. Eventually all reassembled at the bottom of Knockeans and began the climb up to the top of Larg. The views were even more spectacular from here with the Cree estuary mapped out below and a clear view over to Wigtown and beyond. A steep descent was now made through patches of snow causing some to plunge unexpectedly knee deep into the drifts. The soft snow proved irresistible to some members and snowballs began to be lobbed amongst unsuspecting ramblers.

Walkers were saddened to see the remains of one or two lambs and sheep which had undoubtedly been caught in the recent blizzard and sympathy was felt for the farmers who must still be struggling with the aftermath of the wet summer followed by a cold spring and no new growth to be seen in the fields. However, the group was heartened by the sight of small lambs gambolling about on the lower slopes and the beautiful carpet of purple crocus and yellow daffodils in the church yard which greeted them on their return to the outskirts of Creetown.

The group now made their way to the Gem Rock museum for a welcome cuppa and tempting cakes. One of the leaders took the opportunity to liaise with the owner, Tim Stevenson, who will be guiding one of the walks during the Newton Stewart Walking Festival which is now only a few weeks away.

Next week will see a change to the usual Saturday walk as members will be treated to a training course on the Saturday night at the Fire station in Stranraer starting at 7pm to be followed by a practical map reading course on Sunday, meeting at New Luce Village Hall at 10am. A good turnout is looked for as the speaker is the official Ramblers instructor and is travelling all the way from Perthshire.