In the forest

A short walk in the forest on Friday the 14th of March 2014.

I'd gone to look for fungi, but it looks like the moss has taken over. It seems that the best fungi is around in the Autumn.

Still there were some colourful things to photograph.

Holly is thriving this year.

Close up of lichen (Cladonia Impexa)

I had quite a task getting this picture, couldn't seem to focus, but eventually got this picture.

I think they are water boatmen.

Across the other side of the pool I saw this, much bigger frog spawn than last weeks.

Worth a closer look...........

,,,,,,,,,,,,,and even closer.

More lichen. Top right is fungus on a small stick. I've no idea what bottom right is.

The picture I've left out, I eventually identified as the remains of a well chewed tennis ball. Folk do walk their dogs here.

A blown down tree makes a great shelter from the rain. (It wasn't raining though)

Under the fallen tree.

A small stream.

Same small stream, different angle.

Moss covers almost everything.

Is it a dragon or some other unknown forest beast ?

The spiders have been busy.

Lace Lichen (Ramalina menziesii)

In such a wet season, it seems certain species will thrive.

Another grass spider's web to finish the post.

Hope you enjoyed the walk.

Straiton - The Monument and Bennan Circuit

Tuesday the 21st of February.

I've taken my last penicillin tablet to finish my course of antibiotics.

I'm hopeful of completing a little walk today.

I'm away up to the conservation village of Straiton in South Ayrshire to walk with a rambling friend.

There are a number of walks on the Ayrshire Paths website in this lovely little village.

After meeting up in the car park, and getting geographically acquainted with the area layout we decided on the Monument and Bennan circuit.

(We obtained an illustrated leaflet and map of the walks from a weatherproof holder in the car park)  

We begin by walking through the village's Main Street.

To the north is the Fowler's Croft Development which won an award for architectural design in 1984 from the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland in honour of the thoughtfully designed properties which complement the existing village architecture.

It's a colourful start in the village.

Nice enough for a macro.

I feel a bit of a traitor uploading this picture of McCandlish Hall. The others in Google Images don't show up any cracks. Maybe it'll be re-plastered for the summer....

  

....but even on this dull day it still looks lovely and quaint.

The route takes us a little way down Newton Stewart Rd. The primary school is just a short distance out of the village. Just beyond the school we begin to climb.The monument is our first target.

My fellow blogger from Ayr did this walk last December with the Cunninghame Ramblers 

As we begin to gain height the view behind us is of the school.

I'm optimistic of better weather but it turns out my walking partner has heard a truer forecast.

We get quite a few mini showers throughout the day.

The path is easy to follow with regularly spaced way-markers. Through Barbellie woods  we reach the upper slopes of Craigengower (The hill of goats) and onto Highgate Hill. It's a short but steep climb to the monument.

It's a bit raw at the top.

The monument is a memorial to Lt. Col. James Hunter Blair mortally wounded at the Battle of Inkerman in 1854. 

The family seat of Blairquhan Castle  lies a little to the west of Straiton.

From up here we can look west to the triangular plantation on Bennan which will be our next climb.

The path now takes us in a southerly direction over undulating slopes to bring us down to the road at  Culdoch. After crossing the road we follow the Water of Girvan a short way to reach Craigfad bridge.

Over the bridge is the quite impressive house of Craigfad. It too needs a fresh coat of plaster and whitewash. We mistook a crumbling patch of plaster as a coat of arms.

Just beyond here the path/track turns back towards Straiton.

I got the above collage of pictures before the rain came on again.

The path, a little way back, is running parallel to the Water of Girvan.

Upon reaching the triangular plantation of Curroch Wood we stop for a bite to eat.   

 Because of the light rain showers, my camera was in and out of it's carrying case all day.

We took the path up Bennan Hill to the viewpoint. Here's a passage from Gordon's Blogpost " The leader explained at this point there used to be a view finder explaining all the local landmarks but health and safety have decreed the area unsafe as it can get quite wet and slippery where it once stood."

It was a bit of a drop the other side of the fence, but the path up to the top was a bit of a liability anyway.

It is a bit of a disappointment after the climb.

I took the last pictures of the day up here.

I zoomed in to take this one of Bennan Stables.

There's been a substantial conversion since W.F. Millar took this picture for Geograph in 2007.

In this last picture the Water of Girvan takes a big loop round the edge of the village.

Our path back to the car park is off this picture to the left and beyond Bennan Stables.

A fallen down tree at the bridge we crossed  is almost the width of the river. Any-more heavy downpours and I'd suggest this bridge was in danger.

Since it was my first real walk since being ill, we decided to call it a day. I couldn't have gone much further anyway.

It may have been a dull day but it didn't detract from the beauty of Straiton and it's surrounds.

This is a future Wigtownshire Ramblers walk. 

10k for Kittiwakes

Rspb Mull of Galloway Sponsored Walk

Kittiwakes courtesy of  Seabird

I've been asked by the RSPB at the Mull of Galloway to assist them in drumming up support for a sponsored walk this coming Saturday the 27th of August 2011.

Walkers need not worry about getting sponsorship,but you'll need to pay £5 to walk.
Details can be found on the link at the top of the page.
More information can be found on Hannah Doyle's Blog at Hannah's Blog

A Frosty Sunday Walk

It's Sunday the 3rd of January 2009.A good nights sleep,and i'm up early.I decide to accompany a small group of walkers including ramblers, that often walk on a Sunday.I've always turned down the invites i've had for these walks, having heard how strenuous and unpredictable they can be.
It's a beautiful frosty morning as the sun comes up,with the moon still high in the sky.


Waiting in the Riverside Car Park for the others i take a few pictures of the Cree.The volume of water is well down,and if the present freeze continues i've a vision of walking across.

With the A714 still having a lot of ice,it's a very steady drive that gets us to Stroan Bridge at Glentrool where we'll start walking.
We number seven,and are soon on the way.We retrace the trail we took last Saturday.There's a lot more icicles around the Spout Head Waterfall this week.

With clear views across to Larg,Lamachan and Curleywee,we descend to follow the main tarmac road to Bruces Stone.There's very little tarmac showing,it's more like an ice sheet,but we eventually reach Bruces Stone.

As this friendly Robin keeps us company,our walk leader outlines the next section of the walk.
We'll walk up the Buchan Burn to gain some height before crossing over onto the Buchan Ridge.
The burn is a patchwork of ice and snow as we head upwards.
A particularly scenic spot is chosen for the lunch stop.
A desecending skier says he's had an enjoyable day.
Back on the move,and the burn takes on an arctic look in places.
Now we approach the bothy at Culsharg,with Benyellery behind.
Our walk leader surveys the land across to the back of the Buchan Ridge,and decides it's probably too rough a terrain.We'll head up Benyellery,and leave it to each individual how far he climbs,since we'll descend on the same path.We're about seven miles out from our start point now.
Passing Culsharg we emerge through the trees on the lower slopes of Benyellery.There's a few ski trails visible.
The snow's very deep in parts,and somehow we've lost the trail.It's only about fifty yards to our left and is regained by a trudge through deep and uneven snow.Unflattering pictures of ladies waist deep and falling over will remain off this blog as long as they don't cross me.Hehe!
I think i can say without contradiction that i'm the heaviest member of this group,and I'm finding it a struggle on this incline and the deep footholes.I've a strong feeling that i'll fail to reach the summit.
Reaching the drystane dyke that leads to the summit,i stop for a drink.I've decided i'm going no further,and inform the rest i'll begin heading down after a break.
I know i could have carried on,but would i have got back to Stroan Bridge.I know my limitations,and after admiring the views over to Ailsa Craig,Arran and beyond,and watching the rest continuing the slow climb to the summit i started heading down.
The sun's low in the sky as i descend.Passing Culsharg,i thought about stopping in the bothy till they arrived back here.On second thoughts i continued on in the belief they wouldn't be far behind.It's almost dusk as i reach the Buchan burn,so i'm taking it really carefully on the slippery slopes.
The sun's well down as i reach Bruces Stone and Loch Trool.
Now comes the long slippery road back to Stroan Bridge.As night falls the stars come out in their multitudes.I keep glancing upwards and watching for any activity.Being such a clear night,any aircraft are instantly noticable.
Finally back at Stroan Bridge,i await the return of the others.I see three shooting stars in the twenty minutes it takes(It's easy to see how we achieved Dark Sky Status).
The first person i see,is a young man from Gatehouse who'd spent the night atop the hills(I was in HM Forces,40+ years ago when i last did that).He tells me the others aren't far behind,they'd asked him to look out for me.
The rest of the group are pleased to see i'm back.
It's another hard frost tonight,and once the vehicle windscreens are de-iced we say our goodbyes and head home.The car i'm in registers a temperature outside of -8 degrees.
Today was probably a bit more than this body can handle.The walk out was ok.It was the long walk home that was the OD.
A stone less in weight is what i'm striving for,but it's taking a long time.
Today though,scenic wise, was absolutely brilliant.