Kilmarnock OIR Darvel circular on the Lang Cairn walk. January 2016

Tea break in the rain.

 On Tueday January 12th Kilmarnock OIR met on a dreich wet morning to do the Lang Cairn walk to Loudoun Hill returning on the old railway line. The forecast as usual said it would be dry in the Darvel area with only a slight chance of a shower. Well how wrong could they be,the rain was constant for the first 3 hours of the 8 mile walk with a little bit of relief early afternoon.Undeterred off we went into the gloom and up the hills to the lang cairn before lunching at the Wallace monument at Loudoun Hill. The leader quite rightly suggested that we miss out the climb up to the top of the hill as it has an extremely steep descent and would be too dangerous today. In the afternoon we trudged along a very wet muddy disused railway line back top the start.I enjoyed the company of this hardy group of ramblers they just take weather and mud in their stride and get on with it. Lets hope for better conditions next week at Troon.

PS. Lack of photos due to the conditions.

Cunninghame ramblers.Darvel to Loudoun Hill circular. April 2015

Ruined building at Loudoun Hill

We had one steep descent today.

A teacher on a mission.

Loudoun Hill (310m)

There are always some awkward fences to cross.

Now we are on the "Lang Whang"

Todays group

Johnnie Backpack was our leader.

Yesterday Cunninghame ramblers set from Darvel in East Ayrshire to walk a circular route to Loudoun Hill. 18 walkers set off on the old railway line with myself catching them up after a couple of miles as my bus was delayed due to a road traffic accident just outside Galston.It was a cold windy morning as we arrived at the base of Loudoun Hill where several walkers decided to walk round the base as the ground would be very slippy on the hill. Lunch was taken at the William Wallace monument before going up Cairnsaigh Hill (288m) one of the local hills none of us had ever climbed before. Excellent views from the top as we stood on a very blustery hilltop before descending onto the track known locally as the Lang Whang to take us back to Darvel. Very enjoyable day with only a couple of hail showers that soon passed to allow the group to enjoy a new wee twist to a well known trail.

Cunninghame Ramblers .Darvel circular. May 2013

He was pleased to see us

as they all know the walkers have food for them.

Which way do we go now??

I know it is this way. Do as you are told!!

Lovely display of tulips in this cottage.

Group at a view point. (including little old me)

Our leader.

Today Sunday I joined Cunninghame ramblers for a 5 mile walk high above the town of Darvel. 11of us set off through Lanfine Estate on a calm cloudy morning before we climbed to some lovely wooded area that took us  up towards the TV mast that serves the local area.When we were having our lunch stop we were treated to a greater spotted woodpecker rattling away on a tree right above us,this was my first ever experience of seeing and hearing it at the same time. This was a short 5 mile walk finishing back in Darvel where 5 of the walkers decided to extend their day by climbing Loudon Hill. I decided I could climb it with relative ease my problem is still coming down steep slippy slopes so I decided not to bother today. Excellent walk to parts of the estate I had not visited before ,thanks to all involved.

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.