Cunninghame ramblers. Clauchlands Point/Glen Cloy,Isle of Arran. August 2016

Waterproofs were donned (only briefly)

Lovely view of the Holy Isle

Looking up to Goatfell

Walkers emerging from the ferns.

looking back towards Brodick

At the summit of Clauchlands Hill

Mr and Mrs walk leaders. (one I took earlier!!)

Yesterday Saturday August 13th Cunninghame ramblers met at Ardrossan to catch the 9.45AM ferry to the beautiful Island of Arran.Once safely in Brodick 16 members headed out of the village to pick up the track that took us to the summit of Clauchlands Point with its wonderful views of the different bays that are located on the east side of the island. A lovely forestry walk took us to our lunch stop high up above Brodick looking out onto the Firth of Clyde with all its shipping and headlands in view.Dropping down into Glen Cloy we then enjoyed a lovely walk alongside the river to the famous Auchrannie Hotel which was looking very opulent in the warm afternoon sunshine. Arriving back in Brodick several of the group headed for the local hostelries for tea or a light refreshment. This was an excellent 9 mile walk with all the usual banter you come to expect from the group who gave the leaders a big thank you for organising our day out so well.

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.

Cunninghame ramblers. Day trip to Arran. April 2015

Our ferry to Arran

Leader attempting to sort out B and C walking groups.

This house is being constructed high above Whiting Bay

First break.

Unnamed falls.

Glenashdale Falls

Lovely view of Whiting Bay and the Holy Isle.

Walkers at the Giants Graves

Refreshments in the Douglas Hotel

One very large group.

Our leader and organiser.

Yesterday Cunninghame ramblers went to the lovely Island of Arran for the first of two visits on this summers programme. A very large party of 39 walkers met at Whiting Bay after a rather busy bus journey from Brodick where we all got on including some other visitors and some locals. Overcrowded and grossly overloaded would be one description but at least we all got there safely. Today we were split into two groups one to Glenashdale Falls and the second lot to a waterfall high up on the forestry track between Whiting Bay and Kildonan.I went with the second group we were route marched up the road at quite a pace as time was not on our side whilst the others were able to enjoy a more leisurely speed . We passed the road to Glenashdale but we were on a mission to find a new waterfall that was unnamed on the OS map but our leader with all his navigational skills would locate it. After a good climb we eventually arrived at the falls which were in full flow after our recent rain falls in the west of Scotland. From here we retraced our steps stopping only briefly at Glenashdale falls and Giants Graves before a steep descent down to catch the 3.00PM bus back to Brodick for a wee refreshment in the Douglas hotel waiting on the ferry to take us back to Ardrossan. A very good fun day out with a very large group and thanks to the leader who had the unenviable task trying to organise the walkers into the different groups.

Cunninghame ramblers. Cock of Arran circular.September 2014

Conditions were perfect.

We have stopped here before.

Lunch in the sun

This was the fast group.

This fine group walked to Glenashdale Falls.

On Wednesday September 10th Cunninghame ramblers sailed off from Ardrossan to the lovely Island of Arran. Arriving in Brodick 4 of the ladys decided to go south to do a shorter walk to Glenashdale Falls whilst the rest headed off north toLochranza to walk round what is known as the Cock of Arran. 18 of us alighted from the bus to start a fairly gradual climb on a perfectly sunny warm morning to head over to the coast at Laggan cottage. At this point our leader sensed we had two distinct groups out today and suggested the faster walkers may want to go on first and this would allow the slower group to enjoy the sunshine at a more leisurely pace.I was in the first lot who soon arrived at Laggan cottage situated at the base of some rather majestic heather clad hills. After a lunch stop we started out heading north around the shore which was extremely difficult in places due to the large boulders. Slow progress was made with one or two minor falls which did not alter the enjoyment of this beautiful part of the island. Arriving back in Lochranza we were able to catch the earlier ferry back home to end the most wonderful day out to what must have been the best possible weather conditions  to complete this type of 8 mile walk.

PS. More photos are due to be published but I am still awaiting for them to arrive. Also thanks to Madam Chair for her contribution to todays blog.

ADRC Annual outing to the Isalnd of Arran. July 2014

The ferry was full of tourists

Approaching Brodick.

Glenashdale Falls.

We made use of good quality forestry roads.

Using the felled logs as a perfect place for a break.

At a pre-historic burial chamber with standing stones.

Todays small group

I was todays leader.

Yesterday saturday July26 ADRC met at Ardrossan for the annual trip to the lovely Island of Arran off Scotlands west coast. After all the wonderful hot weather of  last week today was a wee bit cooler with some clouds. On arrival  in Brodick 8 of the group headed for the mountains to do the the 5 ben challenge,17 members headed over to the buddhist owned Holy Isle with the other 8 accompanying me on a walk from Whiting Bay over the hills to Lamlash.Once we all survived the journey on a very busy bus to our starting point we set off on a slow steady climb up to Glenashdale falls which due the lack of recent rain was not in full spate but still gave the group an opportunity to see one of the islands many waterfalls. Still climbing gradually we came to a stoney forestry road which takes you up behind the local golf course onto the highest point of the walk overlooking the Firth of Clyde where we stopped for our lunch break as the rain threatened to start as the forecast had mentioned for this afternoon. Our next stop was a burial chamber with standing stones which had lain in the undergrowth until it was discovered as recently as 1961.Once back in Lamlash the rain came on a bit heavier but fortunately we got most of our walk done in dry conditions. A pleasant sail home ended another great day out to one of my favourite islands in Scotland.

Cunninghame ramblers. 5 Ben challenge ,Isle of Arran. July 2014

There are a few gates at the start.

Starting to get serious

Coire Fhionn Lochan

Climbing up Meall Bioroch

Well earned rest on Mullach Buidhe

The bear on top of the world.

Hoi wait for me!!

Pleasant way to end a walk

The mountaineers

The head honcho

Yesterday Tuesday July 1 Cunninghame ramblers met at Ardrossan to catch the 7.00AM ferry to Brodick on the beautiful Island of Arran.. After a wonderful sail on a calm suuny morning we took the bus round the top of the island to a hamlet called Thunderguy.10 of us then took to the path which climbs steadily up to the lovely lochan at the base of Meall Bioroch our first ben of the day. Once on the summit it is an undulating ridge that takes you onto Meall Bioroch,Bein Bhreac,Mullach Buidhe and finally Ben Bharrain.The going was a wee bit tough due to the heat coupled with the flys that only apppear when there is no wind. Lunch was taken overlooking the Clyde with its scenic views of the Paps of Jura, a more scenic view would be hard to find on a day like this. A very step descent took us down to a burn with a very welcome stop to replenish the water bottles. At this point a walker was spotted pouring large volumes of water over his head in an attempt to cool down a sight not often witnessed in Scotland. Once back in Pirnmill an ice lolly was a wonderful way to relax and wait for the bus to take us all  to the ferry for the sail back home. Everyone was very appreciative of our leader whose blood pressure soared when anyone suggested any kind of alternative to his carefully prepared route planning. Well done sir lets hope you can pick such a nice day next year for our outing to Arran which I believe you already have a new route in mind.

ADRC North Sannox to Lochranza. August 2013.

We had to use the ferry for today's walk.

22 of us on our own wee private bus.

This bouy appeared to be lost!

This lady thought we were going the wrong way.

Excellent paths along the shore.

We were rewarded with most wonderful scenery

which we all stopped to enjoy.

This guy is always waiting on the tourists to feed him.

Unfortunately we had a wee accident (see text)

The group at Laggan Cottage

The leader has to make an appearance

Yesterday ADRC held 3 walks on the beautiful Island of Arran off Scotland's west coast. After taking the ferry to Brodick the walkers were organised into groups for the different walks. I had the honour of leading my group of 22 walkers from North Sannox to Lochranza. As the buses were all very busy the driver asked a colleague to put on a special small bus to take  my group to the start at Sannox, so we had a wonderful journey on our own wee private bus. On arriving at the shore we walked along an excellent coastal path to Laggan Cottage which is owned by an author who uses it's remoteness to inspire his books. Lunch was taken here before we climbed up a fairly steep path to give us excellent views across the Firth of Clyde to Bute and the Cumbrae islands.Once on the summit the path crosses moorland and descends to Lochranza,it was at this point one of the walkers slipped and sustained a small gash to her head which required to be treated before we could carry on. We just happened today to have a young lady with us who runs her own first aid training company who assessed the casualty's injuries and applied the necessary bandages etc. to stem the flow of blood . The walker was able to carry on with the rest of the walk thanks to the sterling efforts of our first aider. Once in Lochranza it was a short wait for the bus back to Brodick and a lovely sail home on the ferry. Thanks to all who came along yesterday and I am pleased to report that our injured walker was checked out last night at Ayr hospital where a couple of staples were put in her wound and she was soon home in Patna enjoying a wee brandy after her traumatic ordeal. I hope this does not put her off coming out on any of my future walks, I promise to look after you dear if you do.Thanks to everyone involved in yesterday's walks but it is really all down to the organisational skills of our very own Madam Vice who puts in such a lot of time and effort to make these days run smoothly and efficiently.Thank you Madam.