Thursday 23rd June 2022

This entry is going to be quite long because we knew it might be difficult and so we took a lot of photos mainly for our benefit and possibly for other coast walkers who may find it useful if they wish to follow this way. Just skim over the bits that don’t interest you – I am sure you do already.

Today was a bit of an unknown quantity. The first part was along tarmac but then there is a three mile section along an old track/path. The history of this path is obscure but it has been suggested that it was a coffin or corpse road. These were paths used to transport the dead from remote parts of a parish to the nearest church. This may well be the case for the graveyard at Inverchaolain has graves for people up and down the west side of this peninsula. Most round-Britain walkers miss this bit out but I was keen to give it a go. Reports from various sources describe the route as difficult to find, very overgrown, boggy in places and that one will need about three hours to complete the three mile route. The land is owned by the Glenstriven estate and when I researched it all I could find was the sale details when it changed hands in about 2020.  It was fairly clear that the previous owners did not wish to encourage walkers and so they had allowed the path to return to nature. We even came across a report from walkers who were mildly abused by shooters on the estate. Fortunately the shooting season does not start for a couple or more months.

We walked up the road from Toward Castle alongside Loch Striven.

There is a NATO refuelling depot which had a tanker berthed presumably off-loading fuel.

There are a number of small properties along the road. It all feels very remote.

There used to be community at Inverchaolain. Now there are a couple of houses and the church which appears to be a starting point for a 200 mile pilgrimage “Holy Cowal”.

We came to Glen Striven and walked boldly past the lodge, noting a small sign welcoming “careful walkers”; this seemed really positive. We continued along their very convincing mock cobble drive  and eventually came down to the lochside by a new bungalow. There was table and benches here so we “borrowed” them whilst having our coffee and were treated to a Hercules flying low over us.

When we moved on we followed a dirt track for half a mile or so until it performs a hairpin bend and a small path disappeared under some rhododendron bushes. 

When planning the route I had very carefully followed all the twists and turns of the path shown on OS maps and plotted this on my GPS. The problem with this route is not that you can get totally lost because the loch is never far away and is a very reliable landmark but it is very easy to lose the path and then stumble through dense undergrowth and trees, wasting valuable time and energy. I had determined to follow the course of the OS map path as faithfully as possible using my GPS. 

Following the tiny path was fine but shortly the path appeared to fork, we followed the more worn left fork but according to my GPS this was taking us too far west and appeared to lead to a pheasant feeding station and so we returned and took the right-hand fork. This was definitely under-used but was spot on the position on the GPS line on the map. We continued but got bogged down in bog and tied up ducking under low-branching trees but then it brought us on to a better path – which was almost certainly the same as the left fork we had initially followed.

The path then became a discernable track and took us to the lochside.

After that, I can honestly say that by sticking exactly to the path as shown on the OS maps, with the aid of a GPS to show our precise position, we did manage to follow the path right through. That is not to suggest for one moment that the path is easy. It would certainly be easier to walk in winter. In the spring and early summer you can almost see the vegetation growing; the bracken is chest high or higher  and the tree leaves obscure the onward view and hang across the path. On a few occasions we strayed from the path for a few paces (well, quite a few) but we got ourselves back on track very quickly. There were certainly some boggy bits to step around and there were gullies in which to lose a boot.

The interesting thing is that historically the path was once well-defined and you can see evidence where stone was built up to support the downhill side of the path that means this was a well-maintained and used path in times long ago. I think this is borne out the incredible accuracy of the OS mapping which was presumably done many years ago when the path was still in everyday use.

Partway along the path, we suddenly came across a fish farm very close to shore. It made me think we must be nearly through but the farm had no shore base anywhere near.

Eventually we came to an old iron gate in a dry stone wall. This is the boundary between the Glenstriven Estate and the Ardtaraig Estate. It had taken exactly two hours to walk just over two miles.

From here it was an easy walkout to the main road. In the absence of anything resembling a bench, we sat on the grass verge leaning against the wall at the entrance to the estate and ate our lunch. Then since we had nearly two hours to wait for the bus we walked on a further four miles – on tarmac – to Auchenbreck.

For anyone wondering why we are not walking down the west bank of Loch Striven the answer is as follows. There is no recognised path and on examining satellite images there is no clear route to pick out. I found reports from two walkers who have done it and they both report that it is extremely difficult and suggest it would be impossible to do so in the except in winter because the vegetation is just too dense. A few years ago an experienced female walker disappeared in this area and her body was not found for a couple of years. That is enough reason for me.

At the Auchenbreck road junction we caught the bus back to Dunoon and then had nearly two miles to walk back to Hunter’s Quay.

Thursday 22nd June 2022

Today I had planned a short day’s walk because we were starting off with getting across the Firth of Clyde to Dunoon. We left the hotel at Largs and only took 20 minutes to get to McInroy’s Point. A ferry was in and loading and so we pretty much drove straight on  and were in Dunoon before 9.00. We left the car at the B&B which is only about 200 yards from the the Hunter’s Quay ferry terminal. We will be staying here for the next three nights. 

Now we had a simple walk on tarmac to Toward Castle.

We walked through Dunoon passing the other ferry terminal. The day was a bit dull with some very light drizzle in the air which lingered most of the morning. The view across the Firth of Clyde was quite pleasant with the ferries going to and fro their terminals, there were one or two larger ships and there were one or two yachts.

We were interested by a rock painted like a puffin and an information board informed us that it is an erratic and was originally painted to look like a crow and back in the 19th century was known as the Jim Crow Stone. Since Jim Crow laws in the US dictated the rules of black segregation it was deemed appropriate to rewrite history and school children decided the rock should painted as a puffin. Whilst I am appalled by man’s inhumanity to man in bygone years (and even today), I am also appalled by attempts to sanitise the past. The past cannot be undone and little reminders may help ensure we try and eradicate such things now and in the future.

We came into Innellan at about 11.00 and hoped we could find somewhere for coffee. There was a coffee machine in the post office but the hotel is not prepared to serve coffee so early. So we had coffee from our flasks sitting on a bench overlooking the Clyde.

At the south end of Innellan is a beacon, probably no longer functioning, called the Perch Beacon and it marks a rocky spur from the shore.

We moved on and in another hour we came to Toward. It is not an especially pretty village but it has a lighthouse. The former fog-horn house looks rather like a chapel.

We continued through the village, past the village school and then came to Toward Castle. I had hoped it might be a castle we could visit and possibly get lunch there.  No such luck. The castle is private. It is the home of the Lamont Clan Association and it recently hosted the wedding of Karen Gillan (no, I have no idea who she is but apparently she is a Scot) to Nick Kocker (none the wiser, but he is American) and there were lots of “celebs” (none of who I have heard of) in Dunoon for the occasion. Thanks to our taxi driver the next morning for that information.

Fortunately for us the bus from Dunoon turns around here and we just had to wait until 2.15. There is a convenient bench by the side of the village hall which was out of the breeze and so we sat there and ate our lunch. We could watch the boats on the Firth of Clyde and were fortunate to see the Waverley, the last passenger carrying sea-going steam paddle ship in the world. One of my former patients used to be very involved with the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society. The Waverley was gifted to them in 1974 for £1 and since then the PSPS has provided almost £4 million to keep her sailing. By some coincidence, the proprietor of our local garage/shop in Aysgarth used to be the chief engineer on the Waverley.

The bus arrived a few minutes early so we hurriedly put our flasks away and got on the bus. The driver got off and walked round the bus; he seemed to be checking something rather than taking the customary fag break. As he completed his circuit of the vehicle, he suddenly diverted over to the bench we had been sitting on and then got on the bus carrying Jill’s walking poles; in her hurry to pack things away and board the bus, Jill had left her poles leaning against the wall. We thanked him profusely; the last time Jill forgot to pick up her poles – from a railway station bench in Kent – local youths had found them and threw them on the railway track where we found them in broken pieces the next day. As we had hardly seen another soul near Toward Castle, we probably would have found this pair still in the same place later on – but who knows?

As we had finished our shorter walk rather earlier than anticipated, we had a brief look round the centre of Dunoon and bought ourselves a couple of large Dunoon mugs. The family-run pottery began in Dunoon in 1974 but moved to Stone in Staffordshire in 1982.

Tuesday 21st June 2022

Out hotel scores a Brownie point for serving breakfast from 7.00. There is a modern obsession for waiters to ask if each course of food alright and so we were amused when the waitress asked if our cornflakes and bran flakes were okay.

We had a walk of just under a mile into the centre of Largs to get the 8.09 bus to Fairlie to resume walking from where we finished yesterday. We have been using trains for the last two days, fortunately today, when the national rail strike has just started, we are only relying on buses.

The day was cloudy with a hint of damp in the air but it was quite still and humid. The walk along the front at Fairlie was quite pleasant. We walked past a field of show sheep some which had wires to make their horns grow evenly.

There are a number of attractive houses along the front including a B&B where we would have liked to stay but was fully booked. We came past the Largs Boat Haven where at intervals along the path they have a collection of different types of floats and buoys and an impressive collection of anchors, some dating back 200 years. Being extremely heavy I guess they are quite safe on display along a public path. I now feel the need to learn a bit more about the different types of anchor.

A short while after that we spotted some brightly-coloured objects bobbing around in the water. At first I thought they were buoys but they were ladies not buoys.

Largs is a little bit disappointing. Being a yachting centre and hosting a famous regatta were were surprised how much of the town was shabby and the eating opportunities rather down market. It does have three churches with tall spires two of which are next to each other.

Walking along the promenade was pleasant enough.

Just before reaching our hotel, the ACP turns off the main A78 because it lacks a pavement and is quite narrow. There is a minor road that runs parallel a few hundred yards inland and a couple of hundred feet up providing a reasonable view of the Firth of Clyde but avoiding traffic. The main interesting feature of this road is the well-advertised “Secret Bunker”; tours arranged by appointment. After about 3 ½ miles the path rejoins the main road to cross a stream and then the ACP turns up another minor road. Since there was a perfectly useable pavement, albeit a little narrow at times, we opted to stay on that, not least because I knew that there were one or two café options on the main road into Skelmorlie and we were ready for a coffee stop. After half a mile we came to The Clyde Tearoom which we discovered is attached to a retirement complex and, in addition to being a café, provides food for residents. It was very nice and has a good range of food and was ideal for our coffee stop.

After coffee we continued along the road and, as if to reinforce the feeling that this was the better route, Jill spotted a lone seal perched on a solitary rock some distance off the shore.

At Skelmorlie we passed from Ayrshire to Inverclyde and the coastal route has a low route and a high route. Curiously I had planned a third variant.

Walking through Skelmorlie which becomes Wemyss Bay where there is a rail station (not working today) and a ferry terminal for Rothesay on Bute.  We called in at the Co-op at Wemyss Bay because it is a ticket agent for the McInroy Point Ferry. If you buy two trips (a return in effect) it only costs a pound or two more than a single so we did that (on the ferry you can only buy singles). The official coast path goes along the A78 but there is a perfectly good private road that goes to Wemyss point and then joins the A78 a little further on. It is worth walking because it has some very attractive wave-eroded sandstone rocky outcrops.

Back on the A78 we were on a cycle path which we followed to Inverkip. Here there is a big marina with some very impressive yachts. In sailing terms, the closer you get to Glasgow the bigger and swankier are the boats and the marinas in which they rest.

The coast path goes through some woodland just behind all the marina apartments; I guess they wouldn’t like common walkers tarnishing their view. Very soon the path is right on the edge of the shore. We were ready for lunch but there were no benches here and so I moved a log around to make a passable sit-upon and we had our cheese and biscuits. Now we had only about three miles to go and we would be getting a bus that runs every thirty minutes and so there was no need to rush.

The rest of the day’s walk was just a tarmac cycle path alongside the road. We did pass Cloche Lighthouse and we could see the ferries and so it was not without interest.

I soon realised that the Western Ferries are all named after Scottish sounds. (Calmac ferries are named after Lochs). I wondered whether there might be a future opportunity for Sound of Silence or Sound of Music.

I was keeping an eye out for buses coming towards us and had not seen a 901 all the time we had been walking alongside the main road. We got to the bus stop and the timetable suggested that a bus should have gone through about five minutes before. So I assumed that the bus was running late and so we stood waiting and after about five minutes the bus appeared. Half an hour later we were getting off the bus right outside our hotel.

In the evening the weather improved and Largs took on an altogether more attractive appearance.

Monday 20th June 2022

We left the car at Kilwinning Station (free parking) and walked back past Kilwinning Sports Club to pick up the coast path once more. The first four miles were along a tarmac cycle path and so were nothing special. It brought us back to the sea at Stevenston.

The sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Yesterday’s strong wind had dropped and there was a light breeze from the south. The tide was still on its way out.

At Stevenston we got onto the damp sand and walked the beach to Saltcoats which is quite attractive. Topographically it is rather similar to Troon having a wide arc of beach leading to a rocky promontory with a harbour tucked in on the north. It was a bit early for coffee and so we walked on by. 

We got onto the beach again; this time it was Ardrossan South Beach which, you will not be surprised to learn, brought us into Ardrossan. We were here last when I cycled from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.  I cycled to Ardrossan and Jill brought her bike on the train. We then got the ferry to Arran and island-hopped up the Inner and Outer Hebrides to Ullapool; we had a wonderful time.

Today we walked on through Ardrossan which was a mistake because I was meant to find us a coffee stop there. Nevermind; it was a beautiful day and we found a bench a mile on and had coffee from our flasks in the warm sunshine.

Coffee drunk, we returned to the shore and continued to walk on damp sand, dried seaweed or shells and shingle. Every so often a rocky spur would require us to make a bit of a detour. It was a delightful scene. The changing nature of the shore provided interest as did the antics of the dogs being walked there. Jill says “Hello” to all the dogs, she sometimes talks to the owner as well. 

We had to come up to the proper path to skirt round some rocks and happened upon a bench and so we stopped for lunch in comfort with a view across to Arran and we could watch the ferry and lots of small sailing craft. The only drawback was we were next to West Kilbride Golf Course and I was mildly concerned we might be close enough to encounter a wayward golf ball.

After lunch we were back on the sands and walked to Portencross where we paused at the castle which was open and, remarkably, had no Heras fencing.

After Portencross we stayed on the path which is a good track and took us below the Three Sisters, three hills that provide craggy cliffs  and a very different character from the rather flat land we had been walking past all day.

Beneath the final Sister we entered the realm of the Hunterston Nuclear Facility with the usual warnings and security signs and the double fence with the ominous no-man’s-land between. Now we were on the power station roads and so we now had tarmac until the end of the walk at Fairlie.

Beyond the nuclear site is an island connected to the mainland by a causeway and is described on the map as a construction yard, I think it was probably used for constructing offshore oil rigs. Further on is the ore terminal for which there were conveyors to move iron ore and coal. This closed in 2016 and the site cleared in 2019.

Then we came into Fairlie and caught the train back to Kilwinning. We retrieved the car and drove to Largs where we are staying for two nights.

Sunday 19th June 2022

This morning we awoke to cloudy skies and a strong wind. The forecast suggests no rain is likely and the sun may appear from behind the clouds at any time today.

We parked at Newton-on-Ayr station and walked the few hundred yards back to the shore and walked along the prom. There was no easy way onto the beach short of clambering over the huge blocks of stones which made the sea defences, an exercise best avoided. We walked past St Nicholas Golf Club, after which we got onto the beach and there we remained until we reached Troon nearly two hours and six miles later.  That is not quite true because we made  a short inland diversion just beyond Prestwick in order to cross Pow Burn. I had wondered about crossing it where it meets the sea but even there it would probably have been a significant depth to wade.

Being on the sands made for easy walking albeit navigating a route between the various pools of water and small water courses which were sometimes deep enough to cover our footwear meant we did not walk a very straight line. There were lots of people, mainly dog walkers. The wind was blowing strongly from the north at a good 20-30mph I would guess.  

We missed nothing on the landward side because it was all the same – golf courses. Just for the record the list of golf clubs we passed goes as follows; St Nicholas, Prestwick, Troon Portland, Royal Troon, Troon Links, Kilmarnock (Bassarie), Dundonald Links, Western Gailles, Glasgow, Irvine, and Ravenspark.

At Troon we left the beach and went to the Blueberry café for coffee and scones. We can recommend the café.

Then we walked out around the headland and back in past the harbour and noted the big sawmill there.

That done we got back onto the sands just outside the town and walked the entire way to Irvine (4.5 miles) on the sand.

There were more dog walkers, some horses and some kite surfers doing quite remarkably high jumps; the wind was still blowing strongly.

At Irvine the Rivers Irvine and Garnock unite and join the sea.

OS maps show a footbridge over the combined rivers to the Ardeer peninsula. Fortunately I knew that this bridge is closed. Originally the bridge had a sliding central section to allow tall ships to pass under it.

On the far side remains the domed (and doomed) science centre with its turf roof. It was opened in 2000 and closed in 2003 when visitor numbers slumped after the opening of a similar facility not far away in Glasgow. What a terrible waste (not least of a good potential walking route through to Stevenston along the coast).

We sat on the quayside to eat our cheese and biscuits lunch. There was a café but people were queuing out of the door. As it happened, there were other cafés further on but not knowing that we did not wish to pass over the numerous benches on offer on the quayside.

Being unable to walk along the Ardeer Peninsula, the only alternative is a rather tedious inland diversion along cycle paths. We were only going as far as Kilwinning today but even that involved 6 miles of cycle path. Tomorrow we will have another four miles of cycle path to get back to the coast again at Stevenston.

Saturday 18th June 2022

Today was a complete contrast from yesterday. The weather was dry but still windy and our route was full of interest.

Jill, who proof reads my blog, now sometimes scrutinises the route I have suggested by cross-checking it with blogs written by previous coastal walkers. Some of the blogs are by walkers determined to follow as close to the coast as possible even if this means navigating across very tough terrain where there are no paths at all. Others are by folk more like us who take a pragmatic view of what is sensible/possible for an average walker and provide a sufficiently detailed narrative that helps us know in advance where there might be significant problems. Very occasionally, I have planned a route which is too tough or even just not possible – it isn’t always easy to tell from aerial photos where there might be locked gates or other obstacles. Unfortunately when Jill checked out today’s route she came up with stories of difficult shoreline walking over slippery rocks and seaweed, steep cliff ascents and tidal sections, most notably at the Heads of Ayr. Jumping across slippery rocks can be challenging especially when you are not confident about a knee, so having become quite anxious about today’s walk, Jill insisted we set off really early so we had plenty of time to finish before high tide which would be at 4pm. The Heads of Ayr section may be impassable for an hour either side of high tide.

We departed from our pretty terrible B&B and left the car at Maidens and were walking by 07:45.

The beach at Maidens was an easy walk the sand was exposed. The stroll through the empty grounds of Culzean Castle was enjoyable and easy being on tarmac or formal paths. We really must visit the castle one day.

From the castle we descended to the beach past the gas works and the gas-works manager’s house. Once upon a time the castle produced its own gas. 

Walking Culzean Bay may be restricted at high tide but with low tide not until 9.30 that was not a problem for us. It is not quite a smooth sand walk but the various rocks and stones and seaweed did not pose a problem. There were some very attractive yellow sandstone rock formations on the beach but we were not stopping to take many photos at this stage of the day.

At Katie Gray’s Rocks there is a well-graded track up to the cliff top. From here it was largely a field edge walk.

It was not entirely clear to me which particular rocks have been nominally assigned to Katie Gray. But the picture below is, I think, the Shuchan Sisters at Dunure Point.

I stopped to put gaiters on because I expected to get soaked by the long grass after yesterday’s downpour but in fact the strong wind and occasional sunshine had dried the vegetation more than I could have believed.

As we approached Dunure the castle stood out in the morning sun.

We went down to the harbour and sat on a bench to have a brief coffee stop. It was 10.15 and it had only taken us two and a half hours whereas the guide had suggested allowing three.

The walk from Dunure along the shore had been variously reported as being very difficult walking with route-finding not easy and one walker reported taking 45 minutes to cover just one mile. Forewarned is forearmed! We set off and noted various footprints along the beach. Jill had seen a large group of walkers way ahead and feared we would be boxing and coxing with some DoE walkers but actually they had left an easier route for us to follow especially through the long vegetation.  We worked our way along the beach around various rocky bits, on and off the shore in places and noted the white painted circles to guide us along.

Many of the white route markers are becoming indistinguishable from patches of white lichen; never mind, the path was pretty easy to follow. We caught up with the group of walkers who were more U3A than DoE, my apologies to all. There is a section where a pretty little path has been constructed through trees lined with small rocks. Nearby two tents  had been pitched on the little space available. The campers had clearly managed some cooking and they had various items hanging out to dry perhaps they got things very wet in yesterday’s rain.

On we continued and soon found ourselves climbing some steps up a gully to the cliff top. And that was it! What was all the fuss about? It is possible the steps were only recently constructed – but they really didn’t look very new. Now we had barely two miles to go to get to the Heads of Ayr which would be along the course of an old railway line; easy-peasy.

Before we descended to Bracken Bay we read the warning sign about the tides and wondered to which particular rocks they were referring because it is all rocks at the end of the beach.

It was barely two hours since low tide and we could the see the expanse of exposed rock and sand and knew we had plenty of time. The Heads of Ayr are just a number of rocky cliff tops, they look interesting – perhaps not that impressive. The “significant” part of the walk around the heads is only about ¾ mile and was across a mixture of flat rock and sand; mostly it was firm and easy walking. The few bands of weed-cloaked rocks were easy to avoid, generally by walking closer to the cliffs. 

In no time we were round the Heads and walking along the sandy beach beneath the Craig Tara Holiday Park; just a load of mobile homes. One man walking his dog told me how the place was going downhill and becoming rowdy with rubbish, especially glass, being left to the beach. He said he was handing in his keys and going down the coast to Croy (the beach at Culzean) which was a much nicer place.

We continued around the shore line past the remains of Greenan Castle which clings to the end of a promontory which is getting undercut. One really wonders how long it will survive. We walked along the beach until we came to the River Doon.

Then we walked a few hundred yards to the footbridge onto the start of Ayr’s long promenade. We sat on a bench and  ate our lunch looking out to Arran. It was only 13:00 and so it had only taken us three hours from Dunure (well inside the 4 ½ hours on the ACP website).

As soon as we could, we got down onto the sandy beach. It was now noticeable that the tide was coming in quite rapidly and with still 2 ½ hours until high tide, it was very well up the beach. Tide tables  suggested that though the tidal range here is quite narrow, today was indeed likely to a very high tide (possibly a spring tide). We continued along the beach until we reached the harbour wall and the mouth of the River Ayr. 

We crossed the river on the new bridge and walked into Newton-on-Ayr where we will leave the car tomorrow and return to it by train.

Friday 17th June 2022

Today’s blog will not take very long; I may even need to pad it out a bit.

The forecast is for heavy  rain all morning and temperatures 12-15°C. By contrast London is expecting 32°C today.

We had the “do it yourself breakfast” at the B&B, all the food was ASDA’s finest which is not very fine and so we did not tarry over breakfast. The B&B is pretty terrible.

We caught the 07.47 bus to Lendalfoot and were walking just after 08.00. It was quite pleasant and not raining. Five minutes later all that changed and we were scrambling for waterproofs and rucksack covers (for all the good they do).

The first mile was verge-hopping and lorry-dodging. Then a path runs along the hillside above the road which spares one the traffic and should provide views out to Ailsa Craig and Northern Ireland. Needless to says the only view we had was the water running down the track. 

Two or three miles later, the path returns to the A77 for a further episode of verge-hopping and lorry-dodging until a pavement appears for the last mile into Girvan.

The coastal walk into Girvan is no more attractive than the road route.

We followed the promenade, such as it is, to the harbour and turned up the side of the harbour. The two cafés by the harbour were not open (in the middle of June). We went to Maly’s Café just up the main street where we had a friendly, welcoming reception in spite of being dripping wet. I spoiled myself with an all day breakfast to make up for the poor start to the day at the B&B. Jill just had Millionaires’ shortbread; probably just as many calories. (OK, this is what I meant about having to pad out the narrative today). Our coats and rucksacks left little pools of water on the floor and so we apologised as we departed. It was still raining.

We walked around Girvan harbour to the Golf Course and took a snap decision to try walking along the edge of the Golf Course making a short-cut from the Ayrshire Coast Path. That was a mistake because there was no easy way onward where the golf course abuts agricultural land and the beach was unfavourable too. So we walked around the perimeter of the golf course – not an inspiring walk – back to where we started from. Then we followed the Coast Path that we should have stuck to before trying our “shortcut”.

The path threads its way through the Girvan Mains Farmyard and is clearly way-marked and the coast is regained ¼ of a mile further on.

There we followed the track until a notice recommends the shoreline rather than going through the bull pens in the months December to June. There were no bulls but the route that way looked very muddy and so we favoured the shore route. It was a bit slow because the tide was well in and we were walking on a lot of shingle.

Beyond the bull pens we rejoined the main path along the shore top and then along the edge of a potato field (harvested) before returning to the beach. The shore here is not very attractive nor is it very comfortable to the feet. At Dipple there is an industrial unit and the shore is quite narrow and difficult at high tide. Anyway I wanted to take the inshore route because I had read good reviews of a café and farm shop and had planned for us to have lunch there.
Half a mile of verge hopping brought us to the café at Dowhill. We entered a fairly smart premises with an array of gifts and a café counter at one end. We could see smart tables and chairs in a raised area looking out to the gardens.

What a disappointment! Jill asked what hot drinks were on offer and the girl pointed to a Costa Coffee machine. The food comprised pre-packed sandwiches all made from unappealing white bread and various cakes and baked potatoes. Everything was served on disposable plates. It really felt that the proprietors had got it completely wrong – this was a prime location and well-appointed premises which could have been a magnet for locals and visitors alike if only they were offering something worth having. Jill and I settled on fresh-looking fruit scones and tap water. We dislike the American chain coffee franchises anyway but also felt that having to use a coffee machine was so inappropriate that we wouldn’t do so. To add insult to injury, we were expected to clear the table as we left, sorting the dirty cutlery into a tray and just binning the rest – what we were meant to do with undrunk liquids was not clear.

The weather had improved as we arrived the café but by the time we left it was raining hard again and the wind had got up.

We crossed the road and then walked down to the shore and essentially followed the shore line all the way to Turnberry Point (almost). There was one inland diversion to cross a small river right by Turnberry (village), another stream we hopped across.

The last few hundred yards we walked on the true coast path along the edge of the golf course and amused ourselves watching the golfers each with their own Trump Turnberry liveried caddy as they general failed to get the ball anywhere near the hole. The clubhouse/hotel looks pretty obscene.

From close to the lighthouse the path follows a track to the A77. Quite why one cannot walk along the coast around the rest of the golf course I don’t know but I am guessing there must be a barrier since no one seems to have done it. We only had half a mile or so along the road into Maidens where sat on a bench on the front gently drying off in the breeze until the 15.33 bus to Girvan arrived.

Back at the B&B, we showered and, while I began writing up my blog, Jill packed out our footwear with yesterday’s newspaper and then set to with the hairdryer to dry out our gear, there being no heat on anywhere at the B&B itself.

Thursday 16th June 2022

We stayed at the Craignelder Hotel last night. It is a nice family-run hotel and very different from the North West Castle Hotel where we were staying last time we were in Stranraer.

We drove to Glen App Church and left the car in the little car park on the other side of the A77 from Glen App Church. We crossed the Water of App and onto an estate track.

The revised path now turns off the main track and heads in the direction of Craigmore but turns down to Shallochwreck Burn which it follows to the sea at Currarie Port.

The path crosses the burn over a wooden bridge and up a track the other side.

It then follows a poorly defined path alongside a fence to reach the cliff top just north of Donald Bowie.

The route is well way-marked but the vegetation has grown so fast that it is difficult walking although there is a very faint line in the grass which we managed to follow.

Beyond Wilson’s Glen the path is mainly along field margins and again is very well marked with white painted post tops.

Near Langdale we didn’t spot the marker posts and wasted a few minutes “going high” whereas the path actually goes quite close to the shore. Otherwise all went well and it was good to have seen that part of the coast. 

That brought us to Ballantrae where there was a slightly confusing sign; the top two signs are for southbound walkers and the bottom one is for north bound walkers.

In Ballantrae there is a garden centre with a café which I had researched. So we had our first stop and had lunch there. After leaving the café, we returned to the beach where the path runs. There is no path as such and because the tide was almost fully in, we were mainly walking on the shingle at the top of the tidal reach. There were still occasional big waves which had us darting up the beach to keep dry feet.

At the end of the beach at Bennane Lea the official coast path follows the A77 – a very disappointing inland diversion over Bennane Hill. I had already decided we would follow the old road along the seaward side of Bennane Hill. A sign warns that the path we were about to follow ended 500m before rejoining the official path. I had looked at aerial photos in advance and was confident that the last 500m would not be a problem as long as there was no tall barbed wire fence I had not detected. I decided the sign was really a “nod and a wink” letting walkers know that “it is better to go that way but you may have to deal with some cattle and locked gates”.

The route is the old A road and the tarmac is remarkably well preserved. It goes past Snib’s Cave where Henry Ewing Torbet (Snibs) lived until December 1983. He was not the first resident. The cave can be visited but I would not be keen to spend a night, let alone decades, living there.  We continued up the old road.

There are excellent views of the cliffs at Benane Head and indeed this was the best part of the day’s walk; definitely a route well worth walking and not one to be avoided. Near the top there were several large piles of old manure on the road but not obstructing the way and then we had to scale a couple of gates to bring us back to the A77.

Once we joined the A77 it was all downhill both physically and with the walking. There is no path but the A77 does have a wide grassy verge which we followed all the way to Lendalfoot.

There was a bus at 14.47 from the far end of Lendalfoot but we were not going to make that as we still had half a mile to go. From a distance Jill spotted the bus coming into the  village and so we crossed over to see if we could make a ”request stop”. The bus had just come round a corner and there were two cars in front of it so we were not confident the bus driver would see us in time even if he was minded to stop. Jill put out an arm and to our delight the bus stopped to let us board.

Twenty minutes later we were back at the car at Glen App. We drove to Lendalfoot and, in leisurely fashion taking just our cameras, did a there-and-back walk to do the last ⅔ of a mile to the formal bus stop in Lendalfoot where we will be getting the bus back to start walking from tomorrow.

We are staying in Girvan for two nights; unfortunately the B&B is a bit basic and the self-service breakfast fairly awful but there was not much accommodation available when we booked possibly because is is regatta week at Largs. We had supper at Austin’s Restaurant just around the corner from where we are staying.

Wednesday 15th June 2022

We finished our last walk a fortnight ago today and so we have had a bare 13 days between walks. 13 days to catch up on home, admin, garden, family, gear-sorting, blog-writing, recovery and planning the next leg – no wonder it didn’t feel very long.

We left Cumbria at 07.30 and drove to Stranraer and, despite lorries and roadworks, we parked up and started walking at 10.30.

It was a glorious day with almost clear blue skies and a gentle breeze. We pitied those in London for whom the forecast is for steadily increasing temperatures until reaching the low 30s by the end of the week.

The front of Stranraer looks rather sad with the derelict marshalling yards now that the ferry terminals have moved up the loch to Cairnryan

We had an easy stroll out of Stranraer along the A77 but more often than not on a seashore path close but not actually on the road.  At coffee time we perched  on the edge of the concrete sea defence wall and just enjoyed the sun on our faces and the gentle breeze off the Loch; we don’t get many days as good as this.

We did recourse to the road for three or four hundred yards before Cairnryan because the path was overgrown with gorse and very unpleasant on bare arms.

Despite having two ferry termini, Cairnryan looks pleasant and prosperous. A lady was tending the colourful planters along the promenade but there is not really a lot of the village.

There were variety of birds, noisy oystercatchers, silent swans, and eiders to name but three

During WWII there was a large naval base on Loch Ryan and the picture above is of South Deep the main pier of No. 2 Military Port. After the war the site was used as breaking yard for decommissioned naval ships. In 1980 the then Ark Royal arrived at South Deep to be broken up.

On the north side of the village, just before the Stenna ferry terminus, we turned up a side road that leads onto the hillside thus avoiding a dangerous walk along the A77. The road climbs steadily then becomes a gravel track before becoming a grassy path where it levels out. Just past the old anti-aircraft emplacement is a standing stone known as the Taxing Stone on the basis that it was a place where tolls were paid. It is also said to the burial place of Alpin, King of Dalriada killed in 741 in Glen App.

We had excellent views over Loch Ryan to the Rhins and we could watch the ferries coming and going.

The path is well marked. There were lots of skylarks and other moorland birds.

At the north end of Lochryan the A77 turns inland up Glen App and the path does likewise a few hundred feet above it.

The grassy path joined a gravel track which services a wind farm. I was expecting the path to come down and “kiss” the road before turning up into the hills to cross Hagstone Burn; at least that was what the OS map shows.

Before the descent to the road at a mobile phone mast there is a helpful sign pointing out that the route on the OS maps is incorrect and advises walkers to follow the way markers. This we did. Unfortunately the path then crossed quite a lot of long grass which was not really a problem; it just slowed us up and I already had my eyes on getting the 15.07 bus rather than wait two hours for the 17.07 (but had not said as much to Jill – bit of a mistake there!)

We stopped for lunch at about 14.00 for about twenty minutes sitting on some rocks overlooking Glen App. When we set off again, I let Jill know that we had a fraction under two miles to go and that we could just make the bus if the ground was reasonably fast. She did point out that, had she known, it would have been preferable to take five minutes less over our lunch break and have five minutes extra for getting to the bus stop. Unfortunately the ground then became a bit more difficult up and down through the long grass before the steep climb down to cross Hagstone Burn which was a decidedly over-grown.  On climbing up from the burn we reached a stony track; we had a mile to go and about eighteen minutes in which to do it. Though stony tracks are a bit a tough on the feet and ankles, it was all down-hill and so we made it to Glen App with a couple of minutes to spare before the bus arrived.

After our experiences trying to follow “core paths” on the Mull of Galloway, it had been quite a pleasure to follow a walkable path especially in the sunshine with good views. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s walk when we cross Glen App onto the Ayrshire Coast Path and the first section to Ballantrae which has recently been re-routed and reopened in April this year – so I am expecting it all to be a breeze.

Wednesday 1st June 2022

Today was a short walk because we were travelling back home at the end of the walk.

We had a taxi organised to take us back to Corsewall Lighthouse. I had spoken to the proprietor at the lighthouse who had confirmed that the “coast path” is not walkable for at least a mile from the lighthouse and so, rather than bang our heads against a non-existent path, we decided we would take the road to Lady Bay about two miles away.

We had an easy walk along Lady Bay to Portbeg from where the sea laps the base of the cliffs, requiring walkers to turn inland.

A route is way-marked; I did wonder about cutting along via Clachan Hill but we followed along the road and to our surprise and delight found a new, marked path through Dove Cot Plantation to Loch Ryan. It involved a little extra walking as it cut back before descending to the lochside but we didn’t mind that. There is an information board and with a map of the path and a statement by Corsewall Estates; they have constructed the path for the benefit of all and were welcoming walkers and comments regarding any possible improvements. This was very unusual for this part of Scotland and very enlightened. The path had been engineered and finished with a gravel surface and so in a way it was rather ‘over-sanitised’ walking for us but nonetheless welcome and we happily followed the path. It certainly ensured that we did not bother to try walking through other parts of the the estate which is a benefit for the estate who do not want walkers disturbing their visitors in the estate holiday cottages. The walk is very pleasant and we even had a choices of benches upon which to sit for our morning coffee.

At The Wig we followed past the old WWII flying boat station and it brought us to the A718. We had a two mile road walk, though had the tide been out we might have been able to walk on the shore.

Just after Soleburn Bridge we turned down a rather overgrown path to the shore of Loch Ryan and followed this to McCulloch’s Point. It wasn’t especially easy walking on the loose, uneven pebbles to the corner but it wasn’t very far and we have had much worse.

At McCulloch’s Point we had to turn inland because of the tide but after just a few hundred yards we were back at the shore, following the top of the concrete sea defences and then a road that brought us into Stranraer.

On the way back to our car at the North West Castle Hotel we called at the Fig and Olive Café for lunch and had probably the nicest meal of this trip; we would strongly recommend it to anyone passing through Stranraer.

Having wondered if it really was worth walking up to Corsewall Lighthouse and back to Stranraer, I think Jill and I agree it is well worth the effort and makes a more complete and satisfying circuit of the Rhins of Galloway for any coast walker.

This trip has certainly given us a taste of what coast walking in Scotland might be like. We knew the west coast of Scotland would probably be the most challenging section of the entire walk and already we have learned not to rely on the core paths or even footpaths marked on OS maps. We will look to follow routes that keep us as close to the coast as possible but may have to accept there will be more road walking than we would like. With any luck that will mostly be along quiet lanes, hopefully with good views which we will be able to enjoy if we are not struggling to find a way through or over obstacles.

This walk is supposed to be for our enjoyment and fulfillment not just a difficult challenge.