The Wigtownshire Ramblers Beneraird November 2012

Saturday the 3rd of November

The last time I climbed Beneraird was two years ago. 2010 Walk

Today's walk is being led by my good friend the Ayrshire Blogger

As regular readers will know there are a few nicknames for those walkers who are consummate walkers.

Gordon has been known as Slew Train after a hill we've come across often.

I've decided on a new nickname for him. Since he has retired, Gordon is game for any walking challenge.

Hence the nickname 'The Gopher', because if asked Gordon will 'Go For' it.

I'm taking a leaf out of 'The Gopher's' own blog by publishing a picture of the leader.

I believe what he holds here works as well as any GPS device, so we shouldn't get lost.

We're a group of 19 as we set off, but soon into the walk the figure changes to 20 with the arrival of a latecomer. After a heavy morning frost it's a lovely day.

Abundant views over the north channel were many today. Ailsa Craig must be one of the most photographed volcanic plugs in the world.

Mud is another feature of  today's walk as is another favourite hill of ours, Knockdolian. 

Ailsa Craig again. Will there be any more ?

Our route initially took us east passing the Auchencrosh converter station and below Auchencrosh, Benawhirn and Smyrton hills .

I can't resist taking pictures of Ailsa.

We're soon circling South and gradually climbing..........

.........and thanks to Scoop, back from more adventures, I get in the picture.

We make good time and are on the summit of Beneraird before lunch time. It's quite cold and breezy up here.

If I was a flush bracket collector, then here's BM S1808 

We drop down from Beneraird on the Lagafater Lodge track, the original Ballantrae to Stranraer road.

A short climb brings us to a nice spot for lunch. After lunch we'll be looking for wreckage.

Here's a couple of links to accounts of the 1945 air crash of a US Airforce Liberator.

Goodman's Cairn 

Pildinny

A short distance north of where we lunched we find whats left of the wreckage.

My next door neighbour has the book 'The RAF in Galloway' by A.T.Murchie. Here's a passage from the book.

"On 14 June 1945 a gamekeeper leaving his cottage at Lagafater Lodge found a seriously injured airman lying on the pathway leading to the cottage. Though barely conscious, the airman managed to indicate that he had come from an aeroplane which had crashed some distance away. Lagafater Lodge is a shooting lodge in a remote moorland area about seven miles north west of New Luce. The alarm was immediately raised by contacting the civil police who in turn contacted the RAF in Castle Kennedy. A search party were soon on the scene to find that a US Air Force Liberator, which had been reported to be missing over thirty six hours previously, had crashed on Pildinny Hill, 1200 feet above sea level and almost two miles from Lagafater Lodge. Two more seriously injured survivors were found together with seventeen bodies.The injured men were taken to Lochnaw Hospital and the bodies to Castle Kennedy before being handed over to the US Air Force Base at Prestwick."  

I wonder what happened to these, the survivors.
John R. May, Staff Sergeant - Kenneth R. Nelson, Sergeant - Richard G. Pokorny, Technical Sergeant

We're heading back now. We retrace our steps back down the slopes of Beneraird so far before taking to the heather and tussocks.

After crossing a burn that eventually becomes the Water of App, we're ready to climb up Smyrton Hill.

It's quite a steep haul, but the last of the climbing today.

A rest at the top where far reaching views and landmarks are identified.

Views of Kilantringan Loch, Knockdolian and the town of Ballantrae as we descend.

I've no problems descending.!

We're soon back at Smyrton Bridge and the track back to the cars.

I've enjoyed today's walk. As always the 'Gopher', has excelled in his leadership and imparting geographic and historical information. Good on you sir.

Here's the leader's report.

 Wigtownshire Ramblers – Saturday 03 November 2012

On Saturday November 3^rd Wigtownshire ramblers did an eight mile circular route up Beneraird and Smyrton Hills which are just two of the many hills situated in the Glenapp area.  Twenty walkers met at the crossroads just off the A77 where there is ample car parking for the cars that came from Stranraer, the South Rhins and Newton Stewart. The leader welcomed and introduced three new members to the group and hoped they would enjoy today’s walk. Setting off on a clear sunny but cold morning along an old farm road they passed the electricity convertor station which takes the power to Northern Ireland. The equipment hummed loudly in the quiet morning; more intrusive than the traffic on the nearby main road.

After all the recent heavy rain that has fallen recently in this part of Scotland the going was very muddy, slowing their progress until they reached the old road that takes you from Ballantrae to New Luce, a distance of some 19 miles . As this road once carried horse drawn traffic many years ago the ground was somewhat easier to walk on. The first stop was at an area described on the map as hut circles where we learnt that these were small dwelling places with low earth sides and a timber structure was erected above this. Today all that is left are several circles in the grass where the houses once stood.

Making their way up to Beneraird they met the farmer on his quad bike taking feed to the animals grazing on the hillside. This was a relief to some of the group as the beasts turned their attention to the food and ignored the walkers completely.  Once on the summit the leader pointed out several hills visible today mainly towards the Galloway ranges.

Heading down the road towards Lagafater Lodge the leader took the group to the remains of a Liberator aircraft which crashed on the hillside in 1945 resulting in 17 deaths out of the twenty that were on board on that dreadful day. The plane was on its way from Northern England to Prestwick when, in thick fog and perhaps due to the lack of reliable navigation aids, the plane hit the hill. One of the survivors crawled to the lodge to raise the alarm and when the rescue services finally got to the site they discovered two of passengers were still alive. This was made even more remarkable in that two days had passed since the accident happened. A lunch stop was taken there beside the wreckage whilst they remembered all who had perished on that fateful journey.

After lunch they retraced their steps to the top of the pass and then crossed over a grouse moor to the headwaters of the Water of App.  A brace of Red Grouse took off noisily and swept down into the valley. After crossing the burn a short steep climb took them to Smyrton Hill with its panoramic views of the Clyde and Loch Ryan with the ferries making their way to and from Ireland.  From the summit it was a very steep descent down to Smyrton Bridge and the track back to the start.  The group thanked the leader for an excellent walk in the autumn sunshine before retiring to Stranraer for coffee and scones in “Stir It”, one of the many fine tearooms to be found in the town.

Next Saturday, November 10^th, the walk will be an 8 mile circular moderate route on farm tracks, woodland paths and open moorland from Castramont to Loch Whinyon. Please meet for car sharing at Breastworks car park, Stranraer at 9.00AM and Riverside, Newton Stewart at 9.30AM. If going to the start at Knocktinkle Car Park on the Gatehouse to Lauriston road (NX608 602) or for any other queries please contact the leader direct on 01776 840226. 

Dyke Hill walk, Darvel, November 1st 2012

It's the first day of November, and I've arranged with my walking friend from Cumnock to travel to Darvel in the Irvine Valley to do a short walk. This will be the Dyke Walk in the Ayrshire Paths Irvine Valley Walks.

It's a dry day but cold.

After parking close to the Ranoldcoup Bridge on the River Irvine we're soon climbing.

To the east we can see Loudoun Hill. This being a new area to both my walking partner and myself we know very little about the place. Loudoun Hill and it's William Wallace connections will have to be climbed at a later date.

Soon we're looking down on the village.

At Dyke farm, we leave the tarmac and take to a somewhat muddy, boggy and soggy path.

This takes us to the edge of the Dykehill Plantation where we turn west.

I now get to take a panorama of the opposite hills.

I've never seen so many wind turbines in one view !

Panorama of Darvel from Dyke Hill on CleVR.com

You can also view this panorama full screen here on Panogio

There's been a lot of rain, so there's plenty lying water. The views are great though.

After emerging from the plantation we have the option of extending the walk up Changue Hill. We decide to leave that for another day fortuitously !

Still walking west we see a nice big house on the opposite hill.

I zoom in for a close up.

Looking for it on the net later I find out it's Gowanbank House. A luxury Bed and Breakfast in the heart of Ayrshire.

Our view to the west now looks over Kilmarnock and the Firth of Clyde.

A full lens zoom brings up this plant on the coast. Is this Hunterston Power Station ?
(No, it's the Pulp Paper Mill at Irvine) See comment below. Thanks Gordon.

Just west of Darvel is the town of Newmilns. A very important town in the production of lace in the 19th Century. 

After a descent via track and tarmac we reach Gullyhill. The house here has a date of 1787 above the door.

It looks in good condition for it's age.

Now we enter the Lanfine Estate 

It's a lovely looking estate, and well looked after. There are some rare looking animals around.

We got talking to a walker soon after entering the estate. We learned that he's a member of the Early Ooters Walking Group . Nice blog gentlemen !

Lanfine House itself is available for private hire and corporate hospitality. A four bedroom self catering apartment inside for £500 a week sounds pretty good to me. Respecting the private signs, I didn't get a good photo of the house. 

I'm sure this sculpture been one of prominence at one time ?

The sun keeps making an appearance, and when it does it shows up the lovely autumn colours.

After crossing the bridge we took a look at the wild pigs enclosure, but I'll come back to that.

  

There are some very tall trees in the estate. We follow a path that goes up the Newlands Burn.

The photographs don't do justice to the depth of the glen. It's very steep.

This is my favourite photo of the day.

We had lunch looking upwards towards the Dykehill plantation. We then walked along to the walled gardens where we talked to the estate factor. There are plans to improve the gardens which at the moment are lawned. After an amiable chat, we retraced our steps to the wild pig enclosure. 

I take a short bit of video. They're certainly entertaining creatures.

After passing another walking group, (We've seen a few walkers today) we head back to the car.

In the above collage is our lunchtime view, another view of Gowanbank House, and the estate lodge house.

When I said fortuitous earlier, it was because we just got into the car as the rain and sleet came down.

The Irvine Valley is destined for further visits.

Brodick Castle, Arran

A few weeks ago, my walking friend from Cumnock was down my way visiting family.

As a follow up to Culzean Castle we'd decided on a trip over to Arran and visit Brodick Castle.

As it turned out it was a bit of a whistle stop day. Traffic delays and bad roads meant we ended up spending six hours travelling, and just under three hours on the island.  

We just made the ferry at Ardrossan in time, and the crossing was pleasant enough.

Closing in on the island we could see the castle nestling in the trees under Goat Fell.

I zoomed in for a shot.

Sitting just outside Brodick is the Chemtrans Oste an oil/chemical tanker.

Looking at it's details it left here for Dublin and is now in Pembroke.

We disembark at Brodick. I get a picture of our ferry, the Caledonian Isles.

We board a bus which will take us to the castle gates.

Brodick was the home for 400 years of the Hamilton family, the Earls of Arran.

This from Scottish Places explains the family crest.

The crest of the dukes of Hamilton, an oak tree with a saw through it, commemorates his escape in the disguise of a woodcutter, whilst the motto 'Through' was Sir Gilbert' exclamation on seeing his pursuers ride unsuspectingly past the place where he and his servant were in the act of sawing through an oak tree.

There's a comprehensive map of the grounds...........

.........and some lovely gardens.

We had lunch overlooking the gardens and the bay with the company of a few finches.

Lady Jean Fforde, a cousin of Prince Rainier of Monaco.

There's some scaffolding up on one corner of the castle.

I had to stitch a couple of pictures together to get the whole castle in.

As usual with National Trust properties I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside.

 Inside however is an impressive collections of period furniture, silverware, porcelain, paintings and sporting trophies.(The sporting trophies are mainly horse racing trophies, they won almost every major classic at one time or another.)

After visiting the castle we began walking back towards Brodick for the ferry. Reaching Arran Aromatics we waited for a bus.

The ferry was much busier on the return.

We stopped to eat at the Lauriston Hotel Ardrossan. Great food great prices.

 The road between Girvan and Newton Stewart isn't a very pleasurable drive in the dark and we were glad to see the end of it. A nice outing, but spoiled somewhat with all the travelling. Early and late boats might make a better day.  

Wigtownshire Ramblers New Luce Circular October 2012

Sunday the 28th of October 2012

Today's walk is a circular walk from New Luce. This Sunday walk came about because of the cancellation of the training weekend originally planned.

Today's leader is Shorty, I'm deputy walk leader and we recce-id this walk on Wednesday.

Because of the poor weather today, I'll be putting in some pictures from the recce.

Shorty's report will follow.

We're a group of eight intrepid walkers on this wet morning. (It looked like we'd be a group of nine, but that dropped to eight before we began.)   

Bully just outside New Luce on the recce (He was in the same place today)

A partridge holding pen.

Above is Balmurray, Artfield Fell Windfarm, and a filled in mine shaft.

The rain eased occasionally, but my camera stayed much of the time in it's case.

Another picture from the recce. There are definite markings on this stone.

Again on the recce, I could zoom across to the Mull of Galloway.

Today it is wet as we look around the mine ruins.

Atop one of our half a dozen small summits.

This is the steel bridge over to Quarter Farm. 

On the recce I'd been looking for the makers of this steel bridge.....today I found it. It was built in Scotland by the Lanarkshire Steel Co Ltd

To shelter from the wind and rain we'll lunch somewhere among these ruins.

I was nicely sheltered for lunch, but we need to move on again. There's not much information about this ruin ?

From now on the going gets much easier. We came across these feeding blocks. I guess they'll soon be antiques. "WALTER GREGORY & CO LTD Crawley, West Sussex 

History: Walter Gregory & Co Ltd was established in Crawley, West Sussex, during the late nineteenth century to supply animal health products to farmers in the west of England. The company was acquired by Upjohn Ltd in 1966 and dissolved in 1993. 

Records: Pharmacia & Upjohn Ltd, Davy Avenue, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes MK5 8PH "

More pictures from the recce.

After passing an old cairn we pass by Barlure farm.................

.............a couple of fields later we've an awkward drystone wall and the lovely Ward Burn to cross.

This train was photographed on the recce, we saw it today but from a distance and just a fleeting glimpse.

Back in New Luce i spot a few curios............

...............................an interesting knocker and a flush bracket number 11886

We finish the day with a warm welcome for tea/coffee, scones and cake at the Kenmuir Arms

Here's Shorty's report.

Wigtownshire Ramblers – Sunday 28 October 2012

Nine ramblers met at the New Luce village hall just as the kirk bell was ringing.  It was a dreich morning with low scudding clouds and desultory rain.  One member decided that he believed the weather forecasts and set off homewards.  The remaining group walked through the village and turned up the farm road leading to Barnshangan farm.  A few finches hopped around the roadside hedges and sheep grazed unconcerned in the fields.  Otherwise the group had the world to themselves.

At Barnshangan they turned northwards up the old track leading to the old lead mines.  As they progressed the track became wetter and less well defined but the group soon reached the remnants of the mines.  A series of banks, ditches and pits covered a wide area.  The workings extended to the top of the low hill.  From there there were views over the valley of the Cross Water of Luce and the surrounding countryside.  The large windmills at Artfield Fell to the East and Arecleoch to the North were turning in the steady breeze.  It was noted that the proposed windfarms at Glenchamber, Carsecreugh and Glenkitten would soon form a complete arc around the horizon.

The group then zig zagged northwards over the moors, avoiding the worst of the bogs over the low hills of Craigiegower and Big Milldown.  They continued following cattle tracks over squelchy mires and low hills until they could look down on Quarter Farm, once known as the Dougaries, on the far bank of the Cross Water of Luce.  They descended steeply to the Quarter Bridge.  This turned out to be constructed from Bailey Bridge sections made from Lanarkshire steel, probably of post war origin.  The river was pouring forcefully below the bridge with some dramatic eddies pulling at the banks.

After a short pause the ramblers set off up the farm track towards the Barrhill road. They turned northwards up the road and crossed a cattle grid.  When they reached the next area of firm ground they turned off the road and made their way up to the ruined house at Cairn Side where they sought shelter below the walls to have their lunch.  Cairn Side had been a substantial house with well-built outbuildings and a garden but old maps indicated that it had been derelict for more than a century but some walls stood up to the top of a second storey.  There was speculation as to why it had been abandoned as it had apparently only been in use for about fifty years.

Once lunch was completed the group made their way up to the top of Craigbirnoch Fell.  The views from here were dramatic in spite of the weather.  To the north they could see Beneraird, the objective of next week’s walk, and Knockdolian, another favourite hill.  Southwards they could make out the sea in Luce Bay and just the suggestion of the Mull of Galloway.  After a brief pause they descended the fell and made their way across the very soft ground towards Barlure farm.  With some relief they soon reached the hard ground above the farm and continued through the fields past the farm and southwards towards the railway.  A train trundled southwards towards Stranraer; a rare event.  After traversing a dyke and crossing a small burn they clambered back up to the fields which they followed, under the stern gaze of a flock of sheep, back to the county road.  A short walk down the road brought them back to the village.  The group repaired to the Kenmuir Arms where they were made very welcome in spite of their damp condition by the host and staff.  The group enjoyed excellent tea and cakes and a warm fire before dispersing.

The next walk will be on Saturday 3^rd November.  It will be a fairly strenuous walk in the South Ayrshire hills between Ballantrae and Glenapp. Meet at the Riverside Car Park in Newton Stewart at 9:00 a.m. or the Breastworks Car Park in Stranraer at 9:30 a.m. to share transport.  The walk will start from the crossroads on the A77 above Glenapp (NX 095 790) at 10:00 a.m.  If meeting at the start or for any other queries, please contact the walk leader on 01292 441268. New walkers will be made most welcome.