ADRC Kirkconnel to Kirkland Hill. May 2012

Making our way up the "Bakers Burn"

Some excellent bridges have been erected to assist walkers .

Remains of St Connal church.

Coffee stop at the church.

We soon get well spread out when the going got tough.

Looking back down to the village of Kirkconnel.

Lunch in the shelter of a hill.

They did eventually cheer up!

Todays group. (including me)

The R.H.S. was our leader.

Today Saturday May 5th Ayr and District Ramblers travelled to the village of Kirkconnel in South Ayrshire for a 7 mile walk up Kirkland Hill (507M), one I have done before  back in April 2011 when I was out with Cunninghame Ramblers.Today 25 of us made our way on a clear partly sunny morning up the Polbower Burn more commonly referred to as the Bakers Burn and as todays leader was none other than the Right Honourable Secretary who is a retired baker it was a very appropriate start to the day.Arriving at the ruins of St Connals Church we made this our first stop for  a coffee break. The next part was a good climb up Kirkland Hill which some of the group found quite testing but were rewarded with the most wonderful clear views from the summit of Ben Lomond visible to the North ,Arran with the Papps of Jura to the West,Skidaw in the Lake District to the South and Tinto Hill to the East.Making our way down to the Glenwharrie Burn we stopped for lunch in a nice sheltered area as the wind still had a wee cold bite to it.Once refreshed we tried to navigate the fields without disturbing the sheep with their new born lambs who were really  enjoying playing in the sunshine.A track from the farm led us back to the church and down the burn to the village to end a great walk with lots of local history coupled with the fine views made it a super day out. The walkers then thanked the RHS for all his efforts today and for googling all the details of the  area on his PC.