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-Lendalfoot, joint walk with the Ayr Group,October 2010

It's Saturday the 9th of October 2010,and todays walk is something different.
Today we'll be walking with the South Ayrshire group on a semi-circular walk starting at Sawney Bean's car park and finishing at Lendalfoot.
Read about Sawney Bean here
Sawney Bean

We'd walked this way a couple of years ago.
2008 walk
It's worth taking a look at the profile of a certain gentleman who's with us today!

Todays post will be short on detail since I've still much to do in preparation for next weeks visit to the coast and glens of Antrim.
The press report is also light on detail,but it's what I'll use here.

Praise must go to Slew who did most of the organising of today and took charge from the outset.
Saturday the 9th of October 2010.

53 members of the Wigtownshire and Ayr groups of ramblers met at the Sawney Bean Car Park for todays joint walk.

Introductions were made by one of the walk leaders who was also the main organiser of this event.Although a member of the Wigtownshire group,he is an Ayr resident and often leads walks with the Ayr group.

The group was split alphabetically into two groups of twenty plus walkers with a good mix from both groups.The second walk leader was the secretary of the Ayr group.


The first group with a head start began by heading south along the A77 before turning southwest along the minor road to Little Bennane.Shortly after they took to the farm track leading up to South Ballaird.

The sun shone brightly as they continued eastwards,passing fields of cows with endearing young calves.

By now the fastest walkers of the second group had almost caught up with the tail enders of the first group.On reaching the ruins of the cottages at North Ballaird,a short break was taken to again separate the groups.


A tip for new blog readers.
To see a full size picture,either click on the picture itself,then hit the back button after viewing it,or alternatively 'right click' on the picture,then from the menu that comes up select 'Open in new tab'.From there you may even have the opportunity to enlarge it further by means of a magnifying glass with a plus sign.


Continuing on they now reached Lochton Hill with it's strange knobbly summit.

Time for group photographs


Steadily gaining height they were now looking down on Pinbraid Fishery.

Continuing on to the lower slopes of Moak Hill they now veered north to the ruins at Lochton.Here still in good condition were the pens,runs and channels of a sheep dipping operation.Farmers and ex farmers explained the process.

We took a bit of a break here...

...the two rambling groups mixed well...

...our Chairwoman used to walk with the Ayr group so she's familiar to quite a few of them.

Now it's a gentle climb to the top.

A steady climb now saw both groups reach the summit of Knockormal Hill where lunch was taken.

It was a pity about the distant haze.

During lunch the walk leaders pointed out notable landmarks.Arran and the islands were obscured by hazy sunshine,with the exception being Ailsa Craig.


After lunch, they made their way down the rolling slopes to Knockormal Farm.
Knockormal is an important geological area having a paradoxical volcanic fault amongst it's rocks.
Anyone interested take a look at this Pdf
Knockormal

Down to Knockormal Farm
Ailsa in sight.

Now with Ailsa Craig in a clear view they made their way to Carleton Castle where the walk leader recounted it's grisly history.This ruined castle is the haunt of Sir John Cathcart,a Scottish Bluebeard.After murdering his first six or seven wives, his final intended victim was May Kennedy from Culzean Castle. She realised his murderous plans and pushed him to his death from the top of the tower or from some nearby cliffs.His screams are still to be heard echoing through the ruins.

Passing Carleton Mains

Reaching Lendalfoot,a gardener known to the walk leader invited the group to look around his beautiful garden.

The majority accepted the invite,and learned something of the use of seaweed in gardening.Apples were sampled and after a round of thanks the group then moved to the seaweed strewn beach.

A couple of inquisitive seals followed our beach walk.

Big hips...and these weren't the only ones !

Still in glorious sunshine the group made their way along the beach to the Varyag Memorial and the end of the walk.

Both groups declared the occasion a great success,and hoped future joint walks would follow.

After starting out the walk with a dodgy right knee, I wondered if I'd get around.Whatever the problem was by the time we'd climbed Knockormal it had dissipated.What a good day it turned out to be.They're no too bad these folks frae Ayr are they?.

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Clatteringshaws to Craigencallie October 2010

It's Saturday the 2nd of October.
Todays walk should have been a walk up Blackcraig of Dee and Benniguinea with myself as leader.
As I mentioned in the last post I had to abandon this walk,and hopefully do it another time.
Last Monday and Tuesday I'd been up and down the slopes of both hills.High bracken,loose swampy tussocks and potholes galore made my mind up for me.Firm frosty ground had been with me last March when I'd first planned the walk.
March Post
This then is the alternative walk suggested to me by a fellow walker.The lack of pictures is due to me forgetting to take my small camera with me.My 'Powershot' stays in it's case in heavy rain.

My press report will also suffice for this posting.

Twelve intrepid walkers gathered at the Raiders Road Car Park at Clatteringshaws Loch for the re-routed thirteen miles track and forest road walk.Visiting guest ramblers from Kent,Castle Douglas and Sorbie were welcomed to the group.

The weather was clear,but the forecast was wet.
They began by heading out onto the A712 Queensway and seeing the rare sight of Clatteringshaws Loch streaming down the dam walls.


Side view of Clatteringshaws.There's a walkway over the dam,but a locked gate keeps people out.I guess it's for safety reasons.


Next they turned west to take the track to Lillies Loch.Here they followed the route of the Old Edinburgh Road.
It wasn't long before it started raining.This set the tone for the walk,with just occasional respite from the heavy showers.Spotted just inside the forest was an abundance of various fungi brought on by the damp dark conditions.

Continuing on they passed Lillies Loch,crossed Strife Rig and descended a wet and muddy Black Strand below Glen Knowes.

Recent prolonged spells of rain have filled the burns.As they reached the Well Burn,a wonderful cascade of white water over a waterfall greeted the walkers.


Crossing this burn was uneventful,but the same can't be said of the Tonderghie a few minutes later.


A good flow of water meant the stepping stones would be hazardous.A little further down lots of boulders were strewn across the burn and this was chosen as the crossing point.The stones could be described as wet,mossy and slippy and although the obstacle was successfully surmounted,it produced a few wet feet and in one case a wet posterior.Profanities were whispered.


Back on dry land they next circled the Black Loch till they reached 'The Eye'.Created by sculptor Colin Rose and standing around 8 metres high this perfect spire is made from red-earthen tiles and is part of the 'Art in the Forest' project.
The rain eased slightly as the group took the first of their two refreshment breaks of the walk.


Back on the move and steadily gaining height they followed the forest road to the north.Heading through the forest the autumn colours were coming through.
The sound of the burn tumbling through Tonderghie Glen faded as they rounded Poultrybuie Hill.
High bracken lined much of the roadside but occasionally plants such as Milfoil,Pink Purslane and Goatsbeard made an appearance.

As they continued the sky would occasionally clear and the peaks of Drigmorn,Millfore and Cairngarroch could be identified.



Beyond Munwhul they were able to view the spectacular steep slopes of Buckdas of Cairnbaber,streaked with the white lines of tumbling waterfalls.After passing the quarries of Glenowrie they reached their turning point at Bell Knowe,Craigencallie and took to the tarmac road east.
To the south were the slopes of Darnaw while new forestry operations were noted to the north.They soon reached the edge of Clatteringshaws Loch where the road turned south east.A welcome break was taken at the bridge spanning the Darnaw Burn.
After passing the homestead at Craignell there was a hint of deja vu as some dyed sheep were spotted in the fields alongside the loch.

With all walkers safely back at the cars the consensus was of a wet but wonderfully satisfying walk.



THE BLACK WATER OF DEE