ADRC recce to Dalry. North Ayrshire. January 2012

Yesterday Wednesday January 11th I once again  met up with the teacher to do a recce for a forthcoming walk I am leading for ARDC.Well as I have said before all recces do not go smoothly we got into all sorts of bother by taking the wrong paths and saw the same trig point twice. Not bad for two reasonably proficient walkers and this is only a "C" grade walk. Part of this walk I did a while ago with the South Ayrshire Rambling group but it all seemed a little different yesterday. Anyway instead of me rambling (boom boom) on I will only say I am going back again to try and work out a different route as we covered at least 10 miles yesterday a lot of it on muddy fields and hard roads so was not quite suitable for a group walk. No worries though there is a way through this area and I will find it ,perhaps next time I will take a map!. Thanks to the teacher for joining me yesterday who when last seen was bemoaning about the state of his boots and  was completely knackered . Great day out yet again!!!!!!!!!

Elite walking group. Ardrossan to Goldenberry Hill. January 2012

Today's group.

Today Tuesday January 10  I joined up with 4 other members of the Elite walking group to do a 9 mile walk from the outskirts of Ardrossan to Hunterston Power Station and return via the wonderfully named hill of Goldenberry.Lack of photos today as Anne needed the camera for one of her outings to Glasgow. I was left with the camera on my phone which I have not quite mastered yet.
    On a fairly clear dry windy morning we parked the car on the shore just past the ferry port of Ardrossan and walked along the shore towards Portencross which  I covered back in July 2011 with the Cunninghame Ramblers so lots of info and photos are there. At Hunterston we then climbed up Goldenberry Hill (140M) where we had lunch with a panoramic view of the Firth of Clyde. Suitably replenished we made our way back down onto the shore to take us back to the car via West Kilbride and Seamill to end an excellent winters walk.To get a dry mild day in January is a real bonus for us and also for the plantlife in the wooded areas we passed through. Lots of Daffodils and early Bluebells starting to show they should not be appearing so early on in the year.

Grandson's 5th birthday party Luncarty village hall.8th January 2012

Our Perth grandson.

The kids just loved the bouncy castle.



Mum with the cake.

 As it was our Perth grandsons 5th birthday party today Anne and I made use of the famous bus passes and went off to Luncarty just North of Perth to the vlllage hall that our daughter had rented for the occasion.A bouncy castle was brought in that kept the kids and some of the adults amused all afternoon.The usual party foods were consumed before they had a wee game of pass the parcel which was hilarious as most of the kids wanted to hold onto it whilst waiting for the music to stop. Very pleasant afternoon watching all the children really enjoying themselves.

Doonfoot to the Carrick Hills and Dunure .January 2012

Todays small group.

Today Saturday January 7 five of us decided to do  an old favourite of mine up and over the Carrick Hills to Dunure. As I have blogged it on so many occasions I will keep this fairly brief with only one photo to post. We all met at my house in Doonfoot and made our way onto the shore to take us past Craig Tara and due to it being high tide we went over the heads of Ayr as opposed to walking the shore. At the Bracken Bay caravan site we went up the road to the aerials at the top of Brown Carrick Hill before making our way down through Fisherton and onto the shore at the now infamous Kibble school. As I was about to tell the story of the Kibble the chorus was "please not again" but 1 of our group had not heard it before so he was given an abridged version of the history. Lunch was taken at the usual cove in the lea of the wind before walking along the shore back to Doonfoot. Great day as usual a wee bit breezy with one small rain shower and the fact that I took a tumble in the wet mud made it all the more amusing to the group as I walked along  in front as usual with an extremely muddy ers*. Thanks to you all I really enjoyed your company today.

PS In a previous blog I mispelt the word bridal which should have read bridle. My apologies but how the hell was I expected to know there were two different spelling for the same word. This misdemeanour has now been corrected.

Culzean to Maidens. January 2012

Today Thursday January 5 I got the bus from Ayr to Culzean gates where I met the teacher. No photos today as I have blogged this area so much recently. After the very wet day yesterday it was just great to be able to get out . On a clear sunny cold windy morning we made our way through part of the estate which was officially closed due to the number of fallen trees and branches making it according to Health/Safety  a dangerous area to be in. Nothing stops us and apart from dodging some fallen branches we made it through with no problems at all. I suppose if a tree had toppled on top of us our claim against them would not have been valid.Once we reached Goats Green we made our way to the castle before going down to the swan pond where we had some wonderful  sightings of Golden Eye ducks in the sunshine. They fairly lived up to their reputation of ducking and diving. One minute there were 4 of them fairly close to us and then away they went into the deep to reappear some way off. On a bright sunny morning on the pond this made it all the more enjoyable best view I have had of them for a long time.Arriving in Maidens we had our lunch on one of the picnic benches looking out over Arran. The wind had abated by now so were able to do some bird watching as well. We went to look at the big new house being constructed around past the harbour. It is certainly different with a large fronted glass room over looking the Clyde. A fair description of it could be described as an architects dream but we both agreed it was not for us with its brown stone entrance against a white pebble dashed wall did nothing for the stone or the house. We would welcome other readers views on the house if you ever get to venture that way. It was then out with the bus passes as I went back to Ayr and the teacher made his way back to Girvan A very pleasant 5 mile walk at a very leisurly speed so we could admire the views and the local wildlife.

Golden Eye duck.

ADRC New Year walk. River Ayr to Annbank circular. January 2012

Starting out on the River Ayr path.

Lots of storm damage has been done.

Annbank village is still asleep.

Then the ramblers arrived.

Annbank railway viaduct.

Gadgirth Bridge.

Well it is New Year.

Some of the walkers had a wee swallie.

There was more than enough to go round.

The bothy finally collapsed.

Ayrshire version of "Nessie"

Must speak to the groups colour co-ordinator!

We were all hoping she was going to limbo dance under the tree.

Todays large group on Oswald Bridge.

The 1st leader of 2012.

Tea and cake at the farmers house.

The first walk for ADRC in 2012 was an old favourite on the River Ayr paths. I have covered this walk in 2 blogs in 2011 both in the company of South Ayrshire ramblers firstly back in March then more recently  in December so as most of the local information has already been covered I will make this blog fairly short.23 of us left the cars at Oswald Hall and made our way up the river on a cold windy morning to Annbank which was still asleep after all their festivities of the last few nights. Today our leader had worked out a slight variation from our normal route and took us over towards an area known as Gadgirth. At one time we believe there was a large estate house here but it has long since gone. Coffee break was a very jovial occasion with one or two bottles being passed round accompanied by Tiffin cake (I had never heard of it either) other delicacies included biscuits and sweets. Back on to the river paths we had a couple of detours on BRIDLE paths which made the walk a little longer than our normal one. Arriving back at the cars the leader was thanked by everybody for working out a route which was just a perfect distance of about 7 miles to work off the excesses of the new year celebrations.
A few of us were then invited back to the farmers house for tea and biccies which was a lovely way to end our day out.

A Happy New Year to all our readers. 1st January 2012

Well here we are again the 1st blog of 2012. I thought I would take this opportunity to recap some of the highlights of 2011 and also a couple of the low ones.In 2011 I posted 151 blog reports mostly on the walks I have done with various rambling groups. The mileage for the year was app. 1394 so I have already made my New Year resolution to beat that figure.I have taken the opportunity to highlight in yellow the walks that were in my mind without doubt some of the best I have ever done. If you click on the links you will be able to share the memories with me. Firstly there was the 5 Peak challenge  on Arran back in June. That day the sun shone from the start of our walk to the finish at Pirnmill. The views from the summit and the company of my fellow walkers made it a day out to treasure for a long time to come.Next was the the 3 Beinns Horseshoe again on Arran. Like my first choice the weather made the day for this very challenging walk taking in some of the islands finest mountains.Next on my list was a walk I did led by one of ADRC's finest, none other than Madam Vice herself when she took us to the Lowther Hills for a day out on some rather steep descents and ascents to make it another memorable outing with the group.
       From a more personal point of view Anne and I also had some memorable times in 2011, firstly at the start of the year we were enjoying our cruise in the Carribean, a super party in the garden for our Prestwick Grandson who celebrated his 3rd birthday back in July. Also my sister from Victoria in British Columbia, Canada came home for a visit and we were able to spend a few days on Arran with her remembering the good old days.
      Lastly with the highs come some lows and the one that immediately comes to mind was when I went down with a urinary infection that definately was the worst moment of 2011. Anything that keeps me off the hills has to taken seriously. Mind you I am sure you will all remember the famous grapes kindly donated by The Right Honourable Secretary who helped me on the road to recovery.Also the soakings we all got throughout the walking year it must go down as one of the wettest ones on record.
      To conclude it was a very good year with lots of memorable occassions which we hope you have all enjoyed sharing with us . Apart from the blog being a tool that Anne and I can record our year we know  it  brings some pleasure to readers in other parts of the world some not as fortunate as ourselves. We receive lots of feedback from the blog which we hope will continue  throughout 2012.

Anne and Gordon Phillips.