Wigtownshire Ramblers Newton Stewart Circular April 2015

Saturday the 4th of April 2015.

I led this now popular walk having had something to do with it's construction.

Here's a link to the last time we did it. 

August 2014 Walk 

This time I lengthened it to take in views.

I didn't get too many good pictures from the front of the group, but Scoop did and a selection of her pictures will follow mine ( I've also received three from Miss Goodnight which I'll also include). A few of my pictures are from an earlier recce.

My walk report will appear after the pictures.

We had a good day and my dodgy knee just about behaved itself.

Colourful Minnigaff

Conifers Leisure Park

Kirroughtree House Hotel

Newton Stewart Golf Course

A mob of deer

Road to Waulkmill

The Queen Mary Bridge

Monnigaff Church Yard

Hill of Old Hall

Drystane Dyke stile above Old Hall Farm

Blairmount Park and pond

Barbuchany

Below Barbuchany

Ascending Barrhill Woods Hill

Telephone mast on Barrhill

The farmer rescuing an upturned sheep.

Galloway Hills view

The meandering River Cree

Turnip Sower at Nether Barr

The 'Farmer' alongside the Turnip Sower

That concludes my pictures.

Now here's a selection from 

SCOOP

Creebridge

Newton Stewart Golf Course

Wild Wood and................

..................Bower Wood

The Penkiln Burn at Waulkmill

Monnigaff Church Yard

King George V Suspension Bridge

Old Hall Hill

Drystone Dyke Old Hall

Stile climb Old Hall

Swans on Blairmount Pond

Barbuchany view to Barrhill Farm

A happy group view at the telephone mast on Barrhill Woods

River Cree view to Carty Port and beyond

The Galloway Hills, the Cree estuary, Wigtown Bay and the Machars.

Time out to enjoy the view

A view of solitude

Group view above Upper Barr and the meandering River Cree

Beginning the descent

View to Cairnsmore of Fleet

The hills prominent in this view are Millfore and Drigmorn

Blackcraig and Kirroughtree are left of centre here

Now here's the pictures from 

Miss Goodnight 

 Monnigaff Churchyard

 Barr Moor view (and a gesticulating leader)

A vista across the Cree estuary

Our after walk refreshments of tea, coffee, scones and cake were thoroughly enjoyed at the

BELTED GALLOWAY 

Here's the report

Wigtownshire Ramblers

Saturday the 4th of April 2015.

On a reasonably bright morning twenty eight ramblers met at the Riverside car park, Newton Stewart for the walk.

We began by crossing the Cree at Sparling Bridge, and following the river up to Creebridge.  It's recorded that Robert the Bruce forded the Cree at this point in 1329 on a pilgrimage to St Ninians.

From here we went through Minnigaff to Kirroughtree House. A short stop was taken for the walk leader to read out some of its history and association with Robert Burns and the Heron family.

The last verse from a Burns poem for Patrick Heron while standing for parliament in 1795 read,

"Then let us drink-The Stewartry, Kerroughtree's laird, and a' that, Our representative to be, For weel he's worthy a' that. 

For a' that, and a' that, Here's Heron yet for a' that! A House of Commons such as he, They wad be blest that saw that".

Now we took to the perimeter path of Newton Stewart Golf course which led us up to the tenth tee and a sweetie break while admiring the view back to the town.

From here we followed paths and forest tracks through Wild Wood and Bower Wood negotiating a number of fallen trees from the recent high winds.

After descending to the Old Edinburgh road we continued along Bower road where we spotted a mob of deer of various shades. They soon disappeared as we approached.

We now made our way to the Queen Mary Bridge, the site of the old Cumloden Woollen Mill. Now converted to upmarket flats, a millstone is still visible through one of the windows on the Penkiln side. On the bridge we attempted to secure a wish by cleanly dropping pebbles into the wishing pot.  

After passing by Kirkland farm we reached Monnigaff Parish Church. The 900 year old Yew tree and the listed Heron memorial were among the many points of interest. The headstone depicting an arrow piercing two ravens was another. This is related to the legend of the three brothers, McKie, Murdoch and McLurg trying to impress Robert the Bruce. One of the brothers shot two ravens with one arrow.  

We continued on across the Cree by the King George V and Queen Mary suspension bridge then up to King Street. At the perimeter of the town we took a left turn at Duncree. This led to the old coach road which originally went from Old Hall Farm to House O' Hill. Here panoramic views of the Galloway hills were enjoyed.

We turned south to climb over a drystone wall above Old Hall farm and Douglas Ewart High School to reach Corsbie road. Lambing season being in full swing brought many an 'Aw' from many of our walkers.

Corsbie road led us to Blairmount Park where we climbed up to the trig point on Doon Hill. A short descent through Doonhill Wood brought us to the edge of Blairmount Pond and an ideal spot for lunch. While some walkers used the picnic table and bench, other sat on the pond dipping platform and enjoyed watching the ducks and swans while feeding them titbits of their lunches.

Reluctantly we continued the walk by encircling Blairmount Pond to reach the Barnkirk road. Single file walking saw us cross the A75 and enter a field to climb the wee hill by Barbuchany.

Here we took another short sweetie break before climbing up to the telephone mast above Barrhill Woods.  Great views of Newton Stewart and the Galloway Hills were enjoyed from here.

After another sweetie break we now continued south across rolling fields above Moorpark of Barr. This was an extension to our regular route on this walk and extended the walk length to just over nine miles.

A flooded gate entrance meant a short detour through some prickly gorse. This brought a few anguished shouts, but no one suffered serious damage.

A further short climb brought us to a point of height on the drumlins above Barr Moor.

Now we took a short break to enjoy the extensive views across the Machars and the Cree estuary to Wigtown Bay. We all agreed that the extra distance was worth it for the vista before us.   

Now we descended to Nether Barr where we joined the riverside walking and cycle path.

At Nether Barr there sits on view an old John Wallace Turnip Sower. A member of our group, a retired farmer, was of the belief that this may have been an actual turnip sower he once owned. 

From here a lovely riverside stroll brought us back to the Riverside car park.

Tea, coffee, scones and other culinary delights at the Belted Galloway completed a very enjoyable day.

On Saturday the 11th of April two walks have been arranged. The first is a 9 mile strenuous walk to the summit of Larg Hill from Caldons.

The second is a less strenuous walk from the Wood of Cree to Loch Middle.

Meet for car sharing for both walks at the Breastworks Car Park Stranraer at 9 am, the Riverside, Newton Stewart, 9.30 am or the walk starts at Caldons (NX 397 791) for the strenuous and the Wood of Cree car park (NX 381 709) for the easier walk.

If going straight to the walk starts please phone walk leader 01776 703447 for the strenuous walk or 01671 402733 for the easier walk. New members are always welcome.

Wigtownshire Ramblers Newton Stewart August 2014

Saturday the 10th of August.

Wigtownshire Ramblers

I was the leader of this walk around Newton Stewart.

Though I walk regularly over sections of this route, the last time with the ramblers was in 2012.

2012 Walk.

Also on this walk was the Ayrshire Blogger. His excellent post can be seen on This Link 

My walk report will follow the pictures, the last of which will be a selection of Scoops.

From the riverside path to the old railway line.

Scoops excellent group photograph will surface later in the post.

Uphill to Barrhill Woods

The zig zag group with the meandering Cree behind

Newton Stewart from the telephone mast

Power lines 

Barbuchany Hill

Golf practice field

Bunny, ducks, swans and cygnets

Coffee break Blairmount

Doon Hill trigpoint

Old Hall drystone wall stile

View north (and observing the wall climbing)

Power lines to the Galloway Hills

Lunchtime

A felled tree makes an excellent bench

The good weather of the day puts plenty of smiles on folks faces.

Minnigaff or Monnigaff Church exploration.

Bottom right above is the McClurg headstone with the two ravens skewered to one arrow.

The story of the ravens and Robert the Bruce can be read on this Kirkcudbright Page.

Queen Mary Bridge

The tenth tee throne, hail the king.

Gate clambers

I took this to try and highlight the old beech tree behind. Nice enough picture, but Scoops picture later shows the tree better.

Onto Heron Way and along to Kirroughtree House

A heron on the weir at Creebridge

That's the end of my photographs.

Here's a selection of

Scoops

And a few more from

The Boatman

A good walk in great company with scones and tea to complete the day.
Here's my report.

Wigtownshire Ramblers Report for Saturday the 9th of August 2014.

On a bright morning with a good weather forecast, twenty eight ramblers met at the Riverside car park, Newton Stewart for the walk.
The Stranaraer contingent had started the day with the enjoyable spectacle of  porpoises playing in the harbour.
We started the walk by by following the riverside path south, and under the A75 bypass. On reaching the sheep pens, the A714 was carefully crossed and a climb over an old metal gate gave us access to the fields below Barrhill Woods.
After assembling on the old railway line, the leader gave walkers the choice of a straight up, steep slope, or a zig zag less severe route. The split was roughly fifty fifty.
Occasional short stops afforded wonderful views over the meandering Cree and estuary.
Passing through a gate, the mobile phone mast above Barrhill was now reached.
Here we took a moment to enjoy the view over Newton Stewart and to identify the Minnigaff Hills.
We now descended north west before another short climb took us up Barbuchany Hill. Another short break gave us a chance to identify more landmarks.
A gate at the bottom of the hill brought us out onto the Moor Park of Barr road where almost immediately the A75 was carefully crossed.
Walking single file along the Barnkirk Road brought us to the golf practice range from where we joined the path round Blairmount pond. On reaching the decking walkway we were treated to lots of ducks, but wondered at the absence of the swans and cygnets that were known to be in residence.
A little further along we were delighted to see them on the banking next to the new 3G sports pitch. Taking advantage of the new table and benches we now took a short tea/coffee break.
After the break, a network of paths took us through the woods up to the trig point on the summit of Doon hill.
We then walked along Corsbie road until we overlooked Douglas Ewart High School. Here we took to the fields above Old Hall farm. Sturdy and well maintained drystone walls and stiles brought us to the track down to Duncree. Here we crossed the old coach road which originally went from Old Hall Farm to House O' Hill.
More panoramic views of the Galloway hills were enjoyed.
Most of the wild flower colour today was provided by invasive species. Brightly flowering Balsam and Bindweed were in profusion.
Douglas Terrace and King Street led us to the track down to the river and after crossing the King George V and Queen Mary suspension bridge, we lunched on the banks of the Cree.
After lunch we meandered our way through Monnigaff Parish Church. Among the points of interest were the 900 year old Yew tree, the listed Heron memorial and the Robert the Bruce story behind the headstone depicting an arrow piercing two ravens.
After the church we crossed the Queen Mary bridge where a successful pebble drop into the wishing well was said to grant that wish.
Bower Drive led us to the Old Edinburgh Road where we entered Bower Wood. An uphill path through the dappled sunlight of the forest led us to Beech Wood where we surprised a mottled fallow deer who studied us before deciding we might not be friendly.
A path now led us onto the top end of the golf course and the tenth tee. Here we could see much of the route we'd already walked. We moved on when a pair of golfers needed to tee off. A climb over a padlocked gate now took us into the fields that were once the old golf course, heading in a southerly direction we were afforded views of Wigtown Bay. After studying a square pillar like section in a dry stone wall, our dry stone wall specialist decided it was probably the original main entrance into the Kirroughtree estate. A gate now took us onto the tarmac of Heron Way and the road to Kirroughtree House. On reaching the house our walk leader read out some of it's illustrious history and it's Robert Burns connections.
Passing the new log cabins of the Conifers Leisure Park led us into Minnigaff where the riverside walk led us back to the Sparling Bridge and the walk finish.
Tea, coffee, a variety of scones and other delicacies at the Belted Galloway completed a very enjoyable day.      
The next walk, on Saturday the 16th of August is an 8.5 mile circular across the South Rhins. A barbecue at Ardwell will follow the walk.  Meet for car sharing at the Riverside, Newton Stewart, 9.00am or the Breastworks Car Park, Stranraer at 9.30am. The walk starts at the Ardwell Car Park (NX 110 454) at 10am.
If going straight to the start please phone walk leader 01776 860315. New members are always welcome.