Cunninghame Ramblers. Darvel circular walk. April 2013

Darvel main street on a sunny morning.

Me with today's leader.

21 turned up today.

Memorial to one of Darvel's most famous sons.

Information boards are posted around the town.

Group being briefed by our leader.

Started with a good climb out of the town.

Still lots of snow lying in the gulleys.

We passed the road end.

and this was his schoolhouse.

Nice straight road back to town.

Lunch in the park.

Wild boars in Lanfine estate.

This year's young.

Snowdrops still flowering in mid-April!!

Hi everyone sorry there has not been much on the blog recently as I have been concentrating on sowing seeds for planting out when the weather turns warmer. Also I turned 65 last weekend , Anne organised a wee party to celebrate the event and our thanks to everyone who made food etc for making it a most memorable day.
  Yesterday SaturdayApril 13th I went by bus to Darvel via Kilmarnock to meet Cunninghame Ramblers who were doing an 8 mile walk split into two parts. As this was my first ramble since breaking my leg last November I felt this was an excellent one to start off with as we were mainly to be on hard even surfaces as I still have problems walking on uneven ground.21 of us  met at the car park in Ranoldcoup Road on a glorious sunny morning to be briefed on the proposed walk. The first part was to consist of 5 miles mainy on quiet country roads before returning to the town for a lunch stop  and then in the afternoon we would do another 3 miles through Lanfine Estate. Setting off along the main street we made our way up onto the hills south of the town .Lots of lambs were gamboling in the fields , many of the gulleys were still completely covered in snow reminding us all of the extremely recent bad weather. Stopping on a bridge over the Glen Water we had a wee coffee stop to allow me to catch up on all the gossip of the last few months when I was unable to get out.Arriving back in the town lunch was a very jovial stop in the local park before we went into the estate and did a further 3 miles finishing up on a road alongside the River Irvine which flows right down through the valley to the sea. My sincere thanks must go to our leader for all the work she put into planning today's walk and reading up on the local history of the area it was the perfect walk for me to break back into rambling on a fairly gentle note. Thanks also to everyone in the group who kept a watchful eye on me and kept asking if I was OK and they were not going too fast for. Changed days for me bringing up the rear of a walking group and but as each week passes I am getting stronger and look forward to the day I am back up at the front with the Kilmarnock Rocket and all the usual front runners.Thanks to you all for making my day so enjoyable.