Wigtownshire Ramblers Torrs Warren to Sandhead May 2013

Saturday the 18th of May 2013.

After a couple of weeks break I'm back walking with the ramblers.

Here's the report.

We met at the start, it rained, we walked, it rained, we had lunch, it rained, we again walked and tramped through water, it rained. We had scones and tea and coffee.

If you want to read a bit more, there's some stuff at the bottom I made up for the papers. Ha ha. 

A sweetie break

A happy group photo

The problem I had with my new small camera for rainy days was that I got it wet.

Because of the lens misting up, some of the photo's I took in the Woodlea Tea Rooms at Sandhead have looked better as pencil sketches.

Must be a good joke !

Seriously !

Smile, yer on Candid Camera

I'll finish with Curly, Larry and Mo..........work out who's who yourselves.

Next up are the MOUNTAINS OF MOURNE

 Saturday the 18th of May 2013.

Wigtownshire Ramblers Walk Report.

On a very wet morning, 12 ramblers gathered at the Bareagle Car Park,Torrs Warren for the walk.

The forecast was for rain and more rain.The start of the walk took them east through the plantation.

After a couple of kilometres a right turn led to the edge of the forest and grassy dunes. A left turn along an undulating sandy path led to Ringdoo Point. The plantation helps to stabilise the dune system at the back of Luce Bay - the dunes themselves are part of the military range and were recently in use during the Joint Warrior military exercise. A late arrival boosted the attendance to thirteen.

Upon reaching Ringdoo Point a break was taken for the distribution of sweeties.

Now began a long beach walk along Luce Sands. The rain and mist obscured most views, but the shore and sea birds were plentiful.

Luce Sands is one of the largest beach complexes in Scotland and easily the largest in Galloway.The beach stretches for approximately 11 km from the  mouth of the Water of Luce in the east, to the village of Sandhead in the west. 

With hoods on and head down against the rain, the walkers could see much of what the tide had brought in. Cockleshells, dog whelk and egg mass, seaweed, sea anemone and jumping sand flies were seen. 

On the dune edges fish boxes were a source of interest by discovering where they'd originated. 

Boxes from Scandinavia and the Faroe Islands were identified, but the majority of those looked at were from just across the water in Ireland.

Evidence of Joint Warrior was first found in the shape of a pair of combat trousers, possibly Italian, then vehicle tracks and possible landing craft tracks were spotted. Out in the bay target bases for bombing practice stood prominent.

Just beyond the outlet of the Red Burn, a lunch break was taken. Sheltering as much as possible against the dunes, soggy sandwiches were devoured.

Reaching Clayshant Control tower the walkers were joined by a rambler and her dog Tilly, coming up from Carisbrooke Caravan Park. Now the group numbered fourteen.

Beyond Clayshant Control tower the outlets from the Stoneykirk and Culmore burns leave a lot of shallow currents. Walkers with even the best waterproof boots were drenched and although attempts were made to avoid pools, eventually all succumbed to just wading through.  

More flocks of seabirds were spotted out in the bay, gaggles of geese stood on the shore while a skein flew overhead.

On reaching Carisbroke, some of the car drivers diverted to be taken back to Bareagle while the remaining walkers continued on to Sandhead. Once all the cars were in Sandhead, wet clothes were swapped for dry ones and the group retired to the welcome refreshments of the Woodlea Tea Room. Reflecting over hot scones and cups of tea and coffee the general consensus was of a fast paced walk. Perhaps due to the weather ?    

The next walk on Sunday the 26th of May is an 8 mile B grade circular walk taking in Loch Whinyeon and Carstramon Woods. Meet for car sharing at Breastworks, Stranraer 9.00 am, Riverside , Newton Stewart 9.30 am or the walk start at Knocktinkle Car Park (NX 608 602) at 10 am. For further details or if going to the start please phone walk leader 01776 870231. New members are always welcome

Britain in a Day with the Wigtownshire Ramblers

November the 12th was designated as the Britain in a Day day.
These links will explain it all.

BBC
YouTube

My thanks go to my fellow walkers for their participation and for wonderful company on the day.



Here is our input.Hope you like and enjoy.

Wigtownshire Ramblers Torrs Warren to Sandhead November 2011

It's Saturday the 12th of November.
Todays walk is a woods and beach walk of eight miles from Torrs Warren to Sandhead.
I'll be writing the press report for this walk so it'll be below as per usual.
Sixteen walkers today and it's nice and sunny.
There  were lots of pictures taken so rather than duplicate similar ones I'll just pick what i think's appropriate.
Some of the collages are from my fellow happy snapper, Scoop.

 It was a nice big moon I awoke to.

 Torrs Warren Plantation.

Dune,Desert Planet,Arrakis, Muad'Dib,Bene Gesserit.

Ringdoo Point

Luce Sands

Spike and the Oyster Catchers.

(Doesn't that sound like a great name for a pop group, if anyone does adopt it don't forget me !)

Looking over to Stairhaven,Military,Balloon and mystic writing in the sand.

Jelly and another fish

Quack Quack it's party time.

Clayshant Control Tower.

A sad sight.

Fun,games and wet feet.

Target Practice.

It didn't seem too cold though.

This was after everybody had put their footwear back on.

The women's institute ?

She just can't resist a set of wheels.

Last Stretch

Saturday the 12th of November 2011.
Wigtownshire Ramblers Walk Report.
On a sunny November morning,16 ramblers gathered at the Bareagle Car Park,Torrs Warren for the walk.
The first part of the walk took them east through the plantation.Pleasantries were exchanged with an elderly dog walker and a horse rider enjoying the bridle path through here.
After a couple of kilometres a right turn led to the edge of the forest and grassy dunes.A left turn along an undulating sandy path led to Ringdoo Point. The plantation helps to stabilise the dune system at the back of Luce Bay - the dunes themselves are part of the military range.

Upon reaching Ringdoo Point a few moment were taken to absorb the scenery.Luce Bay was bathed in magnificent sunshine, landmarks over on the Machars were identified and pointed out.
Now began a long beach walk along Luce Sands.
Luce Sands is one of the largest beach complexes in Scotland and easily the largest in Galloway.The beach stretches for approximately 11km from the  mouth of the Water of Luce in the east, to the village of Sandhead in the west.The ramblers will walk 9 of those 11 kilometres.
Passing the dunes area knows as the Devil's Meal Chest,the target of Sandhead to the South West looked small in the distance.To the south the Mull of Galloway could be seen.
Remanant's of military manouvres could be seen amongst the dunes,while out in the bay target bases for bombing practice stood prominent.
During the walk a variety of sea and shore birds were spotted.Amongst those identified were Oyster Catchers,Curlews,Golden Plovers and rarely seen in Scotland a Little Egret.A number of very large jellyfish were beached.A small grey seal lay dead it's head damaged either by having been hit with a boat's outboard engine or from birds pecking.
Amongst the tidal refuse, numerous balls,plastic ducks,glittery shoes,balloons promoting Tintin and crab apples were seen.
Nearing the halfway point of the Clayshant Control tower ,a lunch break was taken.

After lunch the high tide started the fun part of the walk.
Walkers had to decide whether to walk with boots and socks off,or try to avoid the areas where the water swirled in.Those who decided to divest themselves of their footwear probably came out best.
Back on dry land the walk leader provided towels for those in need and boots and socks were again donned.
Unfortunately for some this was a little premature as another burn needed crossing.
Soon however they were approaching Sandhead and found solid ground by walking through Carisbrooke Caravan Park.
Arriving in Sandhead the sun was disappearing behind gathering clouds, but tea coffee and cakes at the Woodlea tearoom ensured the brightness remained.A fitting end to a wonderful day's walking.

The next walk on Saturday the 19th of November is an 8mile walk section of the Ayrshire Coastal Path.Meet for car sharing at Breastworks, Stranraer 9.30am, Riverside , Newton Stewart 9.00am or Woodland Farm Shop (NX174951) at 10am. For further details or if going to the start please phone walk leader 01776 840636. New members are always welcome

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Torrs Warren and Supper at the County-October 2010

It's been a busy week.Me and the gang got back from our wee trip to the north Antrim Coast on Friday.The blog and pictures will follow soon.

It's Saturday the 16th of October and todays walk is another we've done before.In fact it's almost two years to the day.Here's it's blog.
2008 Walk
As is becoming the regular format,I'll copy and paste the press report into the blog where it fits.
I'm looking forward to eating out after todays walk.We've a pre-arranged meal booked at the County Hotel in Stoneykirk.
I nearly forgot to mention the lovely Bella in the picture below.


Walk Report
16th of October 2010
A coolish morning with broken sunlight saw twenty ramblers gather at Torrs Warren car park for the walk.A guest walker from Lancashire was introduced to the group.
This is a popular area for dog walkers,and some regulars have put bird feeders close by.Small birds of the finch and tit families flittered about noisily.

It's good to see that most of the Antrim trippers are on todays walk.
They began by walking east through the plantation before emerging at Ringdoo Sands where the Piltanton burn flows into Luce Bay.

Torrs Warren is an important stop off point for wintering geese and hen harriers,but today only a few seagulls were spotted.
There's plenty of plastic around Luce Bay.
I wonder what happened to the owner of the boot ?

Next they walked south along the sandy track to Ringdoo Point where a short break was taken.

Next they turned west to walk along the southern edge of the plantation.This is a two kilometre stretch of undulating sand dunes occasionally reminiscent of the 1965 film 'The Hill'.In the film the hero Sean Connery is repeatedly made to climb a hill of sand.

Upon reaching a particularly high sand dune the group stopped for a coffee break.To the south is the West Freuch practise bombing range and targets could be spotted on the beach.Luckily there were no red flags flying today.The Isle of Man and the lighthouse at the Mull of Galloway were clearly seen.

Now they made their way through some high dying bracken.The groups resident amateur botanist pointed out the difference between fern and bracken.

After disturbing a few resting pheasants they passed Horse Hill and made their way back into the plantation.

From here they made their way back to the start point.A few ramblers preparing for Christmas collected a variety of fallen cones.



The pleasantness of the day was completed by the pre-arranged dinner at the County Hotel at Stoneykirk where the group set the world to right.

It's been a hectic but enjoyable week.

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Torrs Warren

Saturday the 18th of October,and todays walk is a woodland walk round Torrs Warren Plantation.
Torrs Warren is situated west of centre of the top of Luce Bay.
Besides being a bombing practise area(rarely used these days),it's also an SPA (Special Protection Area)
Torrs Warren contains important examples of dune slacks,and support, in winter, important numbers of Greenland White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris) and wintering Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus).

Only nine walkers today.The drop in numbers is probably due to a number of ramblers walking in the Lake district through the week.

Lily is our canine companion today.
The first part of the walk takes us through the conifer plantation.We were talking to a local gentleman at the start of the walk who remembers it being planted in the early 1950's.

This picture wasn't supposed to be in soft focus,I don't know how it got like this.

After a couple of miles through the woods we emerge where the Piltanton Burn flows into Luce Bay.

There are lots of seagulls around.It's beginning to cloud over a bit more.

Now we're walking alongside Ringdoo sands.If trees could talk i wonder what this ones story would be.

Another gathering of birds here,perhaps Oystercatchers.We've reached Ringdoo point where we turn west again.We shelter in the trees from a heavy shower of rain-a chance to take refreshments.

Now we follow the path along the southern edge of the plantation.The next few miles are undulating over sand dunes.For some reason a picture of Sean Connery in 'The Hill' comes into mind.Over there to the right is something called the Devil's Meal Chest,perhaps it's a group of dunes.

We're on one of the higher dunes.Here we're looking over to the Mull of Galloway...

...and here over Luce Bay to Stairhaven.

Some of these dunes seem like mountains.

There are warning notices at regular intervals along here.

Lily keeps making sure i don't get too far behind.

Coming towards the end of this westerly section,Lily's owner who walks here regularly remembers this flooded area a few minutes before we reach it.

Lily's happy to take the direct route while giving sideways glances to the carefully treading bipeds.

The golf balls of the MOD establishment and airfield at West Freugh come into view.There's a bird of prey looking for it's tea.

Now we turn north alongside the farm at Mid Torrs.There's a mixture of cattle here,with some of the calves probably no more than a few weeks old.

More floodwater to negotiate.


From here to the end of the walk we begin to see strange objects hanging from the trees.

We learn that there is a lady who walks her dogs here who puts these up when she's spotted some creature-animal or animal tracks.


She must go to a lot of trouble cutting old milk cartons or lemonade bottles into such a variety of shapes.Some might find them attractive-I'll reserve judgement.


Just a short walk back to the car park now.
Not a lot of spectacular scenery on todays walk,but very satisfying nonetheless.