Cunninghame Ramblers. Irvine town trails. November 2012

This is called the "black" bridge??

Leaders explaining some local history to the group.

Perceton House disused curling pond.

Underpass came in handy for a coffee stop.

Tournament Bridge in Eglinton Park.

Lunch at the visitors centre.

I found a tree lined avenue.

Remains of Eglinton Castle.

The ice house.

He is always smiling!

The Dovecote. (dookit to you and me)

Stanecastle at the Girdle Toll.

Today's group.

And finally our leaders.

Today Tuesday 20th November I took the bus to Irvine to meet up with Cunninghame ramblers for a mid week walk round some of Irvine new town trails which was ideal as we have experienced a lot of rain recently in the west of Scotland making the underfoot conditions very difficult for off road walking. Eleven of us started off on a dry cloudy morning from a car park in a local housing estate to make our way to Perceton House which was used as the offices for the new town when it was under construction. The leader also pointed out to us the remains of the local parish church sitting on top of a mound almost obscured by the trees.During a brief shower of rain we we able to shelter in a convenient underpass to have a wee coffee stop before going onto the grounds of Eglinton Castle country park where we had a pleasant lunch break using the tables provided at the visitors centre. Making our way through the park we passed an old ice house and then a recently renovated dovecote where the family must have kept their doos all these years ago.Next stop was Stanecastle where again lots of local history was passed on to the group by our leaders.Arriving back at the cars to end an 8 mile walk taken in conditions which were maybe not ideal we only experienced  a couple of real showers accompanied by some light drizzle. Thanks to our leaders today who were local to the area, we all had a very enjoyable informative walk.