Wigtownshire Ramblers Loch Whinyeon Carstramon November 2012

Saturday the 10th of November

It must be an age thing, but I kept insisting I'd missed doing this walk in back February.

If that is the case, then an imposter walked and published my blog because it's here.

February Walk 

The 'Weaver' is once again the leader and her report will follow.

That's wrong, I've just learned that it will be the 'Milkmaid' writing the report.

There are 15 of us today.

The climb to Grey Hill and Benfadyeon

A zoom in to the Water of Fleet

Overlooking Loch Whinyeon

The group on top of Benfadyeon

What was once a sink or blow hole for the tunnel to Gatehouse of Fleet

Loch Whinyeon and sluice inlet

(Just looking back at February's walk, I'm taking much the same pictures. Maybe I should have just copied and pasted and changed the date lol)

The sluice gate

On reaching Craigtype waterproofs appear, it looks like rain

After descending the tussocks and bogs of the Fell of Laghead a solid track makes a nice change

Looks like we have a new member

Down into Castramont Cleugh

Lunch on a grassy knoll (no assassination planned yet !)

One of a number of wooden bridges

Rusco Tower

Colourful Castramont Cleugh

I was once as handsome as the bully boy above.

The woods of Carstramon come next

Carstramon Wood is one of the largest semi-natural broadleaved woodlands in Galloway and comprises a mix of ancient coppiced woodland around the Doon of Castramont and long established woodland in the northern half, planted over 200 years ago. Ancient beech pollards are found throughout the wood which provide valuable dead wood habitat for a number of rare insects. In spring the wood comes alive with the sound of summer migrant birds and in May the woodland floor is spectacularly carpeted with bluebells.

This felled tree proved to be a microcosm for fungi

I'll bet there's loads of creepy crawlies in there too

It's fungi season in the woods

Hello you guys up there

One of the largest of the coppiced trees

Heading over the fields on the last section the lowering sun casts a glow

It's been quite a tough walk today


My fellow snapper Scoop got me in the picture, so here's me

The 'Weaver's'  'Milkmaid's' report will appear here.

Wigtownshire Ramblers report for 10/11/12

On Saturday, 15 ramblers met at Knocktinkle car park, Gatehouse of Fleet, for an 8 mile walk over moorland, hills, and woodland and farm tracks. The weather was bright, but showers were forecast.

The car park is dedicated to the memory of the late Betty Murray-Usher, who along with the Stewartry Drystane Dyking Committee founded the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain.

Setting off over moorland towards Benfadyeon the group crossed a part of the lade made to transport water to Gatehouse-Of-Fleet.  In 1790 the water power scheme started to supply the new mills in Gatehouse as the Fleet did not provide enough. It cost £1400 and supplied 4 cotton mills, 2 tanneries, a brass foundry and brewery. The water came from the end of Loch Whinyeon through a tunnel and was canalised down the burn to two mill ponds at each side of the village. The system was extensive, originally 6.4 km long and there are over 4.6 km remains.

The climb up Benfadyeon was rewarded with 360 degree views over the surrounding area which included Gatehouse of Fleet and the Solway with the Wigtown peninsula just visible. To the west threatening clouds loomed above Ben John and Cairnharrow . Loch Whinyeon, a popular fishing destination, well stocked with brown trout, could be seen for the first time.

The descent from Benfadyeon disturbed a well camouflaged snipe and a couple of grouse.  On reaching Loch Whinyeon, the end of the lade tunnel and sluice gate for the water power scheme were explored. Today water is extracted from the dam at the opposite side of the loch and is now used as the local water supply.

After leaving the shore of Loch Whinyeon a short steep climb led to the summit of Craigtype where ramblers paused just long enough to don waterproofs before a heavy shower encouraged them to head downhill and back up to the highest point of the walk, the Fell of Laghead at 292m. After descending and crossing the Lauriston road, the forest road led to a footpath following Castramont burn. Due to the recent weather the path here was very muddy.  Lunch was taken close to waterfalls with a red kite circling above.  The burn was followed down to Culreoch farm road with a pause to admire a beautifully patterned new dry stone wall.

A screeching jay announced the entry of the walkers into Carstramon Wood. Bronzed fallen leaves covered the meandering path through predominantly oak woodland with many glorious, gnarled old coppiced beech trees along the way. The remains of charcoal burning platforms from the 19^th century were passed. Oak was chopped and burnt here, to produce charcoal for the iron, copper and brass industry. Timber from Carstramon Wood was also used to make bobbins in the Gatehouse mills.

Leaving the woods the walkers continued along the road to Lagg Farm passing a field of blackface tups with magnificent spiralled horns. A farm track was followed towards Laghead Farm, before crossing some fields to the car park and retiring to Galloway Lodge for tea and cakes.

The next walk, on Saturday the 17^th of November is a 9.5 mile linear walk from Stranraer to Portpatrick. Meet for car sharing at the Riverside, Newton Stewart at 9.30 am. The walk starts at Stranraer Breastworks (NX061 61) at 10.00am. Please remember bus passes (if you have one). Transport back from Portpatrick to Stranraer will be by bus. New members are always welcome.  Contact walk leader on 01776705818.

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.