Cunninghame ramblers.Whitelees wind farm near Eaglesham. September 2015

Todays walk

Gathering together in the sunshine

Turbines beside the loch

My attempt at a saltire with the passing planes

He aye gets his mug in somewhere

Refreshments at the viewing point

Excellent walking tracks today

Todays group at a covenanters monument

A well kent face in rambling circles.(our leader)

Today the last day of September saw 22 ramblers from Cunninghame group assemble at Whitelees wind farm just outside Eaglesham for a 9 mile walk around the turbines. On what must have been one of the best days we have had this year ,glorious sunshine ,high temperatures and no wind to speak of. Our leader explained our route in words of two syllables "lets go"as he was in no mood to give long speeches,  he had been roped in at the last minute, due to a walk leader having taken ill ,to provide a walk for today. Leaving the visitors centre we passed Lochgoin a stretch of water glistening in the bright sunlight before arriving at a viewing point where all the distant mountains could be identified. Lunch stop was at a covenanters memorial perched high up above the wind farm giving us some magnificent views of a distant Isle of Arran.Arriving back at the start the leader was applauded for arranging such fabulous weather for our walk as he is not renowned for arranging outings in such dry conditions. His real claim to fame is 9 wet walks in a row, well he excelled himself today and thank you also Mr leader for your photo contribution to this short bolg.

Wigtownshire ramblers day out to the island of Arran. September 2015.

On the ferry

Looking down of Coire Fhionn Lochan

She always does this at the trig point

"A" walkers including me.

Some well earned fish and chips.

C group walk looking over the the Holy Isle

C group walkers

Yesterday Saturday September 26th I the deerstalker and I were extremely honoured to be asked to lead two walks on the island of Arran for the Wigtownshire ramblers. It was a cloudy morning when 18 of arrived in Brodick after our sail over for Ardrossan on the cal mac ferry. 8 of us were going on the "A" walk led by myself whilst the rest went with the deerstalker for a more leisurely low level walk. My group caught the bus to Thundergay on the West coast of the island. After we had journeyed past Lochranza the bus stopped on the crest of a hill to allow passengers a birds eye view of a basking shark displaying its swimming skills right in front of us. It was without doubt the best sighting of the worlds second largest fish we were ever liable to see and made a wonderful start to our day out.Arriving at Thunderguy we started out up the hills to our first stop at Coire Fhionn Lochan a small stretch of water at the base of a ridge we were about to climb. First benn on this walk is Meal Biorach (551M) and then onto Meal Donn(610M). At this point the mist was swirling about us giving only the occasional blink of sunshine but no worries our resident meteorologist assured the group that it would be full sunshine by 1.00PM . (it was now 1.30PM) Pressing on to our next summit of  Beinn Bhreac(711M) the mist started to lift giving us all some magnificent views of the Arran mountains. After a steep descent it was good climb up to Mullach Buidhe(721M) before the short challenging rocky ascent onto our final summit of Beinn Bharrain (717M). After a another short break we started the extremely difficult descent down to the village of Pirnmill where we caught the bus back to the ferry.

The other group did a very interesting walk from Brodick over the Clauchlands hills towards Lamlash where you get some of the best views over to the Holy Isle. In the afternoon and the welcome sunshine had arrived they walked along forestry tracks back to Brodick for some well earned refreshments.

My thanks to the deerstalker for all her help in reccies and planning for yesterdays extremely successful day out without her assistance it would not have been possible to do an "A" and "C" walk on the same day. Thanks pal.

ADRC Turnberry to Culzean Castle. September 2015

Walking along the Maidens shorefront

Climbing up from the shore into Culzean

New adventure playground

in Culzean by the swan pond.

Todays happy group

with our leader.

Yesterday Saturday September 19 Ayr and District ramblers were doing a 10 mile walk from Turnberry to Culzean Castle returning back along the shore.22 of us set off on a lovely sunny morning along the Turnberry shore with its wonderful views over to the island of Arran towering up in the distance. Care was taken as we crossed over the hallowed links now known as Trump turnberry golf course that we did not upset the players who were also enjoying the fine weather. Once in the Maidens we stopped for our usual morning break allowing us a rest whilst some of us reminisced about how the village once looked as a thriving fishing community sadly no more.In Culzean estate there is a new childrens adventure playground built close by the swan pond. Judging by the number of children and a few adults enjoying the various rides  this will very quickly become a highlight of a visit to the estate.Lunch was taken at the Home farm accompanied by a few wasps before I thanked the leader for the first part of her walk but as I had travelled to Turnberry by bus I decided to carry on to Dunure along the Croy shore to catch the bus back to Ayr.The group did a tour of the walled gardens and then returned to Turnberry on the mornings route.

Cunninghame ramblers. Tinto Hill near Lanark.September 2015

Starting out on the climb

Leader pointing out places of interest

looking out onto the beautiful countrside

Good paths made the going a bit easier

Then it got a wee bit steeper

Local resevoir

The ramblers have their own karate kid

clean break

Taking a breather on our return to the cars

On the summit of Tinto Hill

Todays leader  
Yesterday Tuesday September 15 Cunninghame ramblers travelled to South Lanarkshire to climb Tinto Hill.11 of us met at the car park on a mild sunny morning and once the leader had briefed us on our proposed route we set off on very good paths to start the ascent. It was a fairly easy climb as it has steep  parts and then it levels off a wee bit to allow you to catch a breather before the next steep part. Once on the summit lunch was taken in the sunshine with our leader pointing out aided by the view finder all the distant hills and mountains visible on the horizons.The route back down was via the Cleuch resevoir (where the West Kilbride fireman showed off his karate skills on a concrete slab)  onto a single track road to walk the 2 miles back to our start.Another excellent day out with lots of jovial banter which you always have with this rambling group, for example one member thought I was an expert on Waterstones shops who sell books when in actual fact my expertise is in Wetherspoons pubs that dont sell books!. Great day out with thanks to our twitching leader who pointed out various species spotted on our way up the hill. 

2 day break to Carnoustie. September 2015

We stayed in the Carnoustie Golf Hotel

which was opened by one of my heros.

The signal box is still manned today

I used to stand on this bridge over 60 years ago and watch the steam trains thunder by.

A nice floral tribute on the platform

A lovely clean well maintained station

The towns oldest golf shop

Golfers enjoying a refreshment on the lawns

Found a Wetherspoons in Arbroath

Large rocks are used on the shore as land protection from some serious erosion.

On Monday of this week Anne and I travelled by train to Carnoustie using our over "50s"concession fare. (£10) We stayed at the magnificent Carnoustie golf and spa hotel situated on the famous links. This was a journey full of reminiscing for me as I used to go there on holiday every year with my parents as a very young boy..Arriving on a very warm sunny day we quickly checked in the to the hotel before venturing out to explore all my childhood memories like standing on the railway bridge at the station to watch large dirty steam locomotives travel pass emitting all the smoke and steam onto my nice new clothes.Later we joined lots of golfers out on the lawn of the local clubhouse for a wee swallie in the sunshine,what a super way to spend a Monday afternoon. On Tuesday we used our bus passes to go  Montrose in the morning and Arbroath in the afternoon ,the smell of smokies cooking away on the fires filled the air all around the harbour. On Wednesday we took the train home to end a great couple of days full of excellent food taken in the ambience of a lovely hotel.

The Air show held in Ayr. September 2015

Crowds of spectators on Ayr shore.

Last Saturday saw the air show being held on the shore at Ayr on a glorious sunny day. I am not publishing any photos of planes on this blog as the press and social media have both played them out big style. I just wanted to add my thanks to all who were involved in organising or taking part in the wonderful displays  to make this one of the best days out we have ever had in the town