Wigtownshire Ramblers Stranraer Circular December 2011

I will write an account of this walk later.
.....and here I am.
Saturday the 3rd of December 2011.
Sixteen walkers set out from the Breastworks Car Park in Stranraer for the walk.
It's a walk we've done a couple of times before.
January 2009
August 2009
Today's walk has been extended a little and will be ten miles.

A happy gang set out in a south easterly direction.It's the same start as we used for our last Castle Kennedy walk

We take the 'Approach and Ladies Walk' to reach the ruins of Culhorn House.

Here we join the Southern Upland Way which we'll follow to Knockquahassan Reservoir.

Birds and cattle were predominant throughout the walk.

I've photographed this old car a few times.I guess it's beyond repair now.

Ducks,Seagulls,Lapwings and Curlews were identified by our newest birder, a volunteer with the R.S.P.B
So as well as knowing the breeds of sheep,we should now have no problem with the flighted creatures.

Continuing along the SUW,we cross the major road of the A716,and the embankment of the old Portpatrick railway line.

A slight incline brings us up to Ochtrelure.
A farm with the same pronunciation keeps the local supermarkets well stocked.
Auchtralure Eggs

The Hillside Piggeries,( now a garage and poultry farm) and Greenfield came next.

On reaching Knockquhassan Reservoir a lunch break was taken.With a cold wind blowing, shelter was sought behind a drystone wall.

At this point we've left the SUW.

After lunch we ascend  the small hill north of the reservoir....

..........this is the hill that gave my Ayrshire fellow blogger his nickname.This is Slewtrain Hill.
You can keep up to date with Slew on his blog here.
Ayrshire 'appenings

From the radio mast on Slewtrain it's downhill all the way to the Dindinnie reservoir.On the way we pass fields and pens of sheep and cattle and the working quarry adjacent to the reservoir.
 

Dindinnie farm comes next.We get glimpses of Loch Ryan now.

The new Stena terminal at Cairnryan is now operational and we see both the P & O and Stena Ferries.

A full zoom shows this to be one of the two new Superfast Series that have just recently arrived.
Interested in the technical details ? Look here Stena Superfast V11

Now back on tarmac we pass the water filter station and Auchneel to reach the A718 road.
We make straight for Loch Ryan's shore, keeping an eye open for wayward golf balls as we cross a part of the local links.
 

A short beach walk brings us to McCulloch Point where our leader again gives us a short history lesson.
Flocks of starlings are ducking and diving as we near the harbour.

I take a couple of pictures of the Lantic for Shorty who remembers the captain from some time back.

A long walk with a lot of road walking but with plenty to see and the weather was kind to us.

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Knockquhassen and Dindinnie Aug 09

It's Saturday the 29th of August and todays walk is the reverse of the first walk we did in 2009.
The previous blog's here
Knockquhassen and Dindiddie
Holidays and Bank Holiday weekend have kept our number down to eleven walkers today.We set off from the Breastworks carpark heading northwards on the western side of Loch Ryan.

There's quite a bit of cloud about,and the forecast is for showers,sometimes heavy.As it turned out it stayed fair for all our walk.Once clear of the town at McCullochs Point we're walking on the beach up to the golf course.

There's a working JCB blocking our exit at the golf club,so a mini detour over the golf course is required.We're soon on our way over the A718 and up past Auchneel farm and cottages...

...where there's a good view back to Loch Ryan.

The end of the tarmac and we're heading along a farm track...

...where we get our first look at Dindinnie reservoir and quarry.We disturb some cormorants.If we'd continued on over a couple more fields we'd have come to a farm by the name of Several Glenstockadale.I wonder where that name came from?

We head on across the dam and round the loch where we meet a fisherman who thought we'd just come to watch him 'Fush'.Hope he's as good at the fishing as he is at making wisecracks.

Avoiding the wet and muddy pools on the track we're soon at the opposite side of Dindinnie and heading uphill.We're a happy bunch today.
There's one more entry on Google on the internet since i mentioned the name Slewtrain,the name of this hill..........but it's only my previous blog.Surely someone knows the origin?
It can't be the big fella in the bottom picture can it.Hey !! Slewtrain,what you up to ?

Now we're at Knockquhassen Reservoir where we've a short swampy reedy bit to negotiate.It's no big problem though,and we're soon through to this....

...anglers hut where we'll lunch.It's a bit windy at the front of the hut,so i joined the elite round the sheltered side,no wind round there,but no sunshine either.Que sera !

Lunch over and after putting the world to right with lots of humour we're on the move again.

It's tarmac road back to Stranraer now.We're on a stretch of the Southern Upland Way here.The swallows are in training for their September migration.This Post box is misleading.It's a farms private letter box.
Having passed the Hillside Piggeries,we're now descending Gallow Hill back into Stranraer.Ailsa Craig was in view when we left,that's when i should have taken a picture.It's hidden in mist now.
Passing the Glebe(The cemetery,not the blog)we're back into a tidy looking Stranraer...
...where we learn that this house has some historical significance.....todays walk leader was born and raised here! I didn't realise he was that old.Thanks for the birthday bash invite though.

Back at the car park,and by the looks of it the Stena HSS is just about to join it's big sister at the terminal.We'll miss the ferry traffic if we're sharp enough.

Having been out of sorts most of this week,i needed this walk.
I certainly feel better for it.

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Knockquhassen and Dindinnie

It's Saturday the 4th of January 2009 and it's our first group walk of the year.
We meet up at the Breastworks Car Park in Stranraer,which is where we'll start todays walk from.
We number 21 walkers today.The weather is overcast,but fair.There's quite a few boats in the marina.

Looking up Loch Ryan we can see Ailsa and Arran in sunlight.Arrans hills are capped with snow.

We're leaving Stranraer in a South Westerly direction.The first couple of kilometres take us the same route as last week.

Past the Glebe cemetery and again up Gallows Hill.

For much of the walk we can view the mouth of Loch Ryan and from up here Ailsa Craig appears like a sentinel guarding the entrance against invaders.

Rolling hills probably best describe the land we're on.Again we're on a section of the Southern Upland Way.

A change of direction now as the SUW follows the southern edge of Loch Knockquhassen,we leave it and head along the northern shore.

Here we take a break to enjoy the reflections and the quietness of the loch.There's no wind today but it remains fairly cold.

Both Knockquhassen and Dindinnie are well stocked with fish,and any interested anglers should look here
Stranraer Fishing

Now leaving Knockquhassen we're climbing the interestingly named Slewtrain Hill.There's no reference on the internet as to where it's name came from.Be interesting to find out.There's a Slewscinnie hill nearby,so perhaps it's nothing to do with a train coming of the tracks.

It's not a hard climb.I'm having no calf muscle problems today.

An interesting looking radio and TV mast adorns the top of Slewtrain hill.

Heading north,it's nearly all downhill from now.The 'Craic' is good today,maybe some ramblers are still under the influence.

Alongside Dindinnie there's a working quarry.Heavy machinery sits amid piles of graded rock aggregate.

Alongside the reservoir our walkers reflect and are reflected.We'll have lunch here.

As we settle to enjoy our refreshments we can see that the northern part of the loch is nearly all frozen over.

The damside wall is the perfect height for use as a table and chair.

Here's a colourful array of headgear.

Back on the move again and here at Dindinnie Farm the odd shapes of a couple of the outbuildings brought some interesting comments and theories.


Still going downhill as we head through Auchneel...

...and across the A718,where a comedian's had a little fun with this footpath sign.

It still looks bright to the north.

Now we're heading down to Loch Ryan shore.A P & O ferry sits across at Cairnryan.A path across part of Stranraer golf cub brings us to the beach.There's no golfers about-the course is probably closed due to the frost.

Another short break to enjoy the surroundings.It's quite tranquil at the moment,but the Stena HSS is due in soon.

Now coming back into Stranraer on the last stretch.There's quite a contrast between some of the houses and buildings.Parts of Stranraer front have a distinctive Balamory look about it.


Our most junior walker today finds some bread and checks out whether the swans are hungry-it looks like they are,or maybe just greedy.

Our walk finishes just as the Stena fast ferry turns in the harbour.Over on the Ayrshire coast a mist has descended and Ailsa is no longer visible.I'll let the ferry traffic depart before heading back along the A75.
A most enjoyable walk to begin the year.