The Critical Walker

Culzean Castle & Country Park

Distance: 3 and 1/2 miles (5.6km)

Date: Sunday 20th June 2010.

Weather Conditions: Warm & sunny

Temperature: 19C - 22C

Guidebook: Pathfinder Guide - Glasgow, the Clyde Valley, Ayrshire and Arran

Critique:

This is a pleasant walk but an expensive one! Culzean Castle and grounds is a National Trust for Scotland property and as such, unless you are a NTS member, you have to pay £8.50 entrance fee per adult to the grounds. The guidebook does not state this at all, so be prepared for this. As the NTS have a special offer on membership for 2010 if you pay monthly by Direct Debit, you may wish to consider this if you are planning to visit more NTS properties.

The instructions for this walk are relatively clear and easy to follow,  for once I did not get lost on this walk, although at one point this was down to sheer luck. The part where you have to be careful is near the walled Garden (well worth walking round if you love gardens) the instructions in the guidebook read 'take the tarmac drive which turns left and heads gently uphill through woodland, keeping on the main drive all the while.'  This instruction is misleading - mainly because there are 2 tarmac drives on the left, both of which head uphill. The 'main' drive, i.e. the bigger of the two heads out of the Park, whereas the smaller drive is the right one to take and clings to the side of the walled garden for a while.

Chances of seeing wildlife on this walk are very good, especially on the section between the walled garden and the Swan Pond. This is because the route taken is unknown to the average visitor, in fact I saw nobody on this section apart from one couple. During this part of the walk I saw a Stoat which bravely ran towards me and past me as if I wasn't there. (Sadly I wasn't fast enough to take a picture!) then, when I encountered the couple, it was near a smaller pond where I saw an adult Heron take off and fly away. The couple pointed out that there were 5 large Heron chicks nesting in the trees on the other side of the pond. This was a rare sight indeed!

There are also plenty of squirrels around, I only saw greys, but I am told there are red squirrels around too.

Another highlight of this walk is the lovely secluded beach at Port Carrick - fantastic for picnics as it is sheltered and seems warmer than elsewhere. It is also not signposted, so you need to know where it is to find it! Will definitely go back there one day.  (After I  have joined the NTS! )     

Catrine to Sorn

Distance: 5 miles

Date: Sunday 7th March 2010.

Weather Conditions: Cloudy  with hazy sunshine at times

Temperature: 6C

Ordnance Survey Map: Explorer 327 ()

Web site: walkingworld.com

Critique:

Something a little different. This time I picked a walk from a walking website. The website does have some free walks, but the majority have to be paid for via an annual subscription (£17) or the more expensive £1.50 a walk. The problem with this concept is that they charge even for walks which have been contributed by other subscribers and I don't believe any of these walks are tested prior to acceptance, so effectively you could be paying for a walk that doesn't really exist or the instructions are sub-standard.

Anyway, back to this walk. Find the starting point was a slight challenge, mainly because the road recommended for parking was very long and I ended up parking at the 'wrong' end. The other problem with this walk (and others from the website) is that instructions are minimal and rely on GPS co-ordinates. If you don't have a GPS (which most of us do not) you have to try to work out where each stage in the walk is located with the barest of instruction.

The starting point is in Catrine, a Mill town, which although does have signs of attractiveness, also has an overwhelming sense of menace, rarely have I ever been to a country town which seems more like an inner city trouble spot. This is somewhat in conflict with the obvious attempts to create a Tourism Industry in the town. There are lots of Historical Information Boards and walking routes which follow the Ayr River Walk, but the town is clearly down at heel and feels like there is a massive crime wave based on the amount of  'barracading' of the local shops visible. Even shops which were open on Sunday appeared to be closed due to the security provision in evidence.

Despite the starting point, the walk is OK, quite interesting from an Industrial History perspective, and later, along the river bank the scenery becomes quite pleasant. Sorn Castle and the Village of Sorn are both very attractive. The walk (if followed correctly) would take less than the 2 hours and is probably slightly shorter than 5 miles, especially if you follow the circular route (which is not actually circular, you just return the same way you have come - another weak point. )

Overall, an 'OK' walk but not the best walk I have done to date. As for the website I used, it's probably a little early to base my assessment on just one walk - I'll try one of the freebies and will report back.

Douglas Park, Largs (Failed Attempt)

 

Distance: 7 miles

Date: Monday 8th June 2009

Weather Conditions: Pleasant  & sunny, clear skies, with passing clouds

Temperature: 19 C

Ordnance Survey Map: Landranger 63 (Firth of Clyde)

Guidebook: 25 Walks in North Ayrshire (Nicolson Maps)

Critique:

This walk is taken from a small, local guidebook to walks in Ayrshire. At first glance the instructions looked quite easy to follow,  however once I started to follow the instructions in the wooded area near the beginning of the walks instructions, I quickly realised that the instructions were very, very weak. This was not helped by the fact that the map included in the walk's instructions is not a big enough scale to use to follow the instructions.  I quickly became lost, although I did manage to basically go in the right direction, finding the right path was impossible. I even ended up reaching Douglas Park from a completely different direction.

In summary, although the views for part of this walk are stunning, I was unable to follow the instructions properly to follow the correct route and therefore abandoned the walk. I may attempt to do this walk again one day as I suspect the second half of the walk is probably easier to follow than the first part.

Alloway & the Heads of Ayr

 

Distance: 10 miles / 16.1 km

Date: Sunday 31st May 2009

Weather Conditions: Warm & sunny, clear skies

Temperature: 25 C

Ordnance Survey Map: Landranger 70 (Ayr,  Kilmarnock & Troon)

Guidebook: Pathfinder Guide - Glasgow, the Clyde Valley, Ayrshire and Arran (Jarrold Publishing, 2007)

Critique:

Oh my! Instructions on this walk are diabolical, in places the instructions are just plain wrong! This is a very long walk and in fact really this should be split into 2 walks as a good section of the walk is through the town of Alloway which has nothing in that particular section of that walk of note,  so it is far better to split the walk to miss this part out.

Taking this action would also prevent another problem from happening. The car park used in this walk closes at 5.30pm  irrespective of the day or the time of year, so there is a very strong chance you could return from your walk unable to retrieve your car! I moved my car to the second Carpark noted on the map in the book, next to the beach near Longhill point. My recommendation is that you do the short version of the walk around the Burns sites in Alloway and then move your car to the beach and continue the walk from there.

OK - now for the walk - on leaving the car par you are instructed after having looked at the Burns Cottage to 'return to the car park and just beyond it turn left onto a paved path at a footpath sign to Auld Kirk and Auld Brig' - what they fail to tell you is that you need to cross the road opposite the carpark and that you need to look very hard for the sign post as it is completely covered by a hedge. The next flaw also involves the fact that the book does not tell you that you have to cross a road to get to the Tam O' Shanter Museum. Finally the worst sin of all...... the section of the walk between points B & C are wrong. The instructions in the book say 'The path later climbs to rejoin the track WHICH BEARS RIGHT and continues to a road'  Ignore this instruction completely as you will find yourself double-backing on yourself. You need to bear LEFT!!!!! 

The flaw in the second part of the walk near the beach is that it is not made completely clear that there is no pathway and that you are just expected to walk along the beach itself.  Once you know this, you are fine, but you can waste time following small paths just above the beach that don't necessarily lead you in the direction that you need to go. Be aware that you will need footwear suitable for walking in sand, unless you want blisters....

Despite the terrible instructions, the two walks themselves are very interesting, and in good weather they  pretty spectacular.