Barassie - Irvine Beach Walk

I am glad to say that the tendon is still slowly improving so I decided to do a favourite walk along the beach to Irvine. This walk is roughly 7 miles in total and as it is mainly on soft sand the pressure on the tendon will be reduced. The beach between Barassie and Irvine is relatively isolated, particularly in the middle section. It is a popular spot with walkers, runners, dog walkers and horsemen. It is a section of the Ayrshire Coastal Path. But, there are many times when I walk the beach without seeing another person.

View north towards Irvine

Down our way the wind is a constant factor and today was no different. In some respects this could be seen as a boring walk as it is basically a straight line along the beach, so you can see everything in front of you. No twists and turns so no major surprises. But you would be very wrong. On the shore side you are basically walking along a dune line so your views inland are limited. Erosion by the surging sea at high tide and in stormy weather has caused a lot of damage of late but the dunes are still holding on. On the seaward side there is a magnificent open vista across the sea to the island of Arran. The walk is ever-changing due to the fantastic changing quality of light due to the weather changes that we experience on this coast. It is no exaggeration that we can and do experience all 4 seasons in one day. There is a vast openness about this walk that people stuck in towns and cities would be impressed with.

Turn round, view south towards Barassie

The wildlife is principally of the bird variety and varies all year. Migrating birds will arrive for a day or two to plunder the rich waterline before heading off north or south. At this time of year it is common to see and/or hear the skeins of geese as they are coming down from Iceland and Greenland. A few will stop over in nearby fields but most keep going as their wintering grounds in Dumfries & Galloway are not far away now. They are a spectacle that I will never tire of seeing and always brings a smile to my face.
Today, out at sea, there are eider ducks and mergansers bobbing around along with cormorants and shags diving for fish. The shoreline has the normal gulls: the massive great black backed are increasing in number; lesser black backed and herring gulls next in line and the constantly noisy black headed gulls feeding in groups. If you are lucky you can also spot Glaucous, Iceland, Common and Mediterranean gulls along the shore. I notice that there is an increase in the number of bobbing pied wagtails on the beach, presumably a few migrants have joined the locals. Curlews and oyster-catchers are also feeding along the water line. I am absolutely delighted to hear a stonechat and get him through the binoculars, a handsome male sitting on top of the whin bushes amongst the dunes. These birds were common along this stretch but they have not been seen for 3 years so what a delight. As the walk progresses it is clear that there are a few pairs around, good luck to them lets hope for a mild winter.
About the middle of the walk there is a sight to smile about. There is a lot of flotsam on this beach, partly items dumped from fishing boats but also the rubbish from Glasgow which is dumped in the trenches in the Clyde.

Today I was so lucky with the changing light. Arran could only be seen in parts as the low cloud and rain engulfed it. Two tankers sit riding the waves apparently protecting the island. The weather front was moving northwards and a single ray of sunshine illuminated Arran as it moved north. The rustic colours of the hills in the sunshine, in contrast to the grey low clouds and black higher level clouds, were stunning. At one point a rainbow was focused through the gap at the same time. I have walked this beach hundreds of times and never seen this weather display. 

Arran with the rainbow shining brightly

Long and straight it may be but it is never boring and rarely looks the same twice. 
The wind changed direction to a westerly and now the rain that swept Arran is coming this way, time for the waterproof trousers.

Big Idea Bridge at Irvine Harbour

I have reached the end of the beach section and now take the short walk along Irvine harbour. Sad to say it is quite run down now. There are no local fisherman around the old pier today. The salmon have to pass through this stretch on their way to spawn up the rivers Irvine and Garnock. There are mullet and mackerel to be caught along with the normal flat fish. The dereliction is reinforced with the bridge to nowhere, where its middle section has been removed just in case anyone goes across. It did, for a short period play host to the 'Big Idea' a millennium project but sadly this did not last long. There is the Magnum leisure centre which is also due to close as well as the Scottish Maritime Museum. The housing in this area was part of a regeneration project, mixing new and old and fits the part but more can and needs to be done. 

Irvine harbour

Time for a coffee and scone in Small Talk. A small but excellent cafe for lunch or home baking. Not the cheapest around but I like it.

Suitably refreshed I reversed the journey back home. As it is an isolated beach horses are a frequent site as their riders take the opportunity to let them gallop along the waters edge. Frequently, as here, with a dog in tow. 

Nothing remarkable about the walk home but again some stunning views as the weather played its tricks of the light. The view below is from the beach looking across to Troon harbour with the Ailsa Craig in the background. The storm clouds passed over quickly and I'm glad to say none of it dropped on my head.

The foot is now throbbing but another nice day was had.
Time for a beer.

Circular route - Barassie - Dundonald via Smugglers Trail

I decided to give the tendon a longer workout this morning with a decent circular walk. My route starts from Barassie, walking up-to just before Loans where I join the Smugglers trail to Dundonald. From the village I head for Symington; then towards Langholm farm cafe/shop and back to Barassie via Loans and the Darly golf course. A good circuit of around 10 miles.

Early morning 

The weather forecast for later in the day is for very strong wind and rain so up and away for an early morning start. There was a strong easterly wind already bringing cool air which helped to clear my stuffed nose quickly.
After half an hour I join the Smugglers trail which originates at Troon beach if you want to do the full walk.
Warning this trail can be popular with rambling/walking groups so be prepared for a mass of grey haired people, with all the new walking gear, suddenly appearing en masse. Luckily for me today there was nobody at all until I met a couple of walkers coming my way almost at Dundonald. After the sign you go up a small road, past some workshops and homesteads until the gates of Troon Angling club appear. You go round the side and follow the path. On your right hand side there is a deep water pool fenced off, surrounded by trees. Have a look into the trees over the water as these trees are used as a roosting area for grey herons and from time to time you can see over a dozen of them. None around today though. Up the short walkway and have a look at Collenan water, the home of Troon Angling Club. No early morning fishermen to be seen and no trout rising either.

The walk through the woods to Dundonald takes around 30 minutes. Once in the woods there is minimal views of the surrounding countryside. This is a true ancient Scottish wood full of elm, beech, ash, oak pine etc.

If you are into trees you can spend more time investigating here and I'm told it has some interesting flora & fauna. Shortly after going past the reservoir there is an option of a small diversion, thereis a small path to your right which takes you up a slope where at the top you can get good views of Troon and afield plus the old pond where I'm told curling used to take place. If you climb over the fence you can look into Hillhouse quarry which takes you to a different landscape. Take care. it can be a dangerous place and if you hear a siren the ground may soon shake as a blasting takes place in the quarry. Walking through the woods today the leaves were falling and carpeted the path in an attractive way. In terms of wildlife just some normal woodland birds chirping away; blue tits, robins, dunnocks in the main. I spotted a few trees together in the woods where I thought the bark was peeling but on reflection it is likely to be the spot where the stag rubs his antlers against the bark. It is common to see small deer in these parts, probably roe deer but I am not an expert. From previous walks I know the woods host quite a few birds. Crows & buzzards frequently mob each other. Woodpeckers tap the trees. Sparrowhawks fly through the trees trying to flush the smaller birds. By day on the reservoir water house martins feed and at dusk out come the bats. In a nearby location raven & peregrine can be seen. So keep your eyes open.
At the end of the trail, go along the walkway behind some houses and you come to Dundonald castle. There is a tearoom but it is only open Apr-Oct. The castle can be visited but I'm  not sure if its restricted to the same timescale.
You then go through the village of Dundonald but not many shops to explore here. 
Instead of going back via Dundonald Hill I cut off to the left taking the Symington back road. This is a pleasant tarmac walk, surrounded by fields with livestock dominated by cattle, sheep and horses. Not too much traffic but be alert.

There are pleasant views over East Ayrshire, you can spot Louden Hill ( see an earlier blog ) and Alex Salmond's legacy for Scotland, the biggest wind-farm at Eaglesham moor, an abomination.
With Symington in sight turn right to Corraith and stop at Langholm Farm cafe for refreshments, usual menus as well as some superb home-baking. Not the cheapest place but nice surroundings and staff.
The return now, walking off the scone and jam is back to Loans. I walked down to the golf course and walked back to Barassie via the Darly course, once upon a time an Open championship qualifying course and can be a demon of a links course, bring a supply of golf balls if you want to play it.
Thankfully the rain stayed off and it was a dull sky but nice walking morning. Time of walking was 3 hours 30 minutes and for the last half an hour my foot was' xxxx' painful. Still progress is being made albeit slowly.

Looking back over the fields to Troon

Salmon fishing Tummel & Tay

Well what a bummer of a summer. What I hear you say, the weather was as good as we had for yonks. I do not disagree but as you might note my last blog was in June this year. During that walk I was aware of pain in my right foot which was diagnosed as the dreaded plantar fasciitis. I suffered from this a few years ago and was grounded for almost 4 months. Now I am 4 months in and only started walking again but still with considerable discomfort. Basically it is a tendon which runs along the base of your foot and is linked to your Achilles tendon. With me it is constantly inflamed, painful, you hobble about most of the time and time is really the only true healer. They say it can take up to a year to fully heal. So, my summer was not as intended, blue skies, back garden, beer, weight gain but not the outdoors I expected. I did manage to cycle regularly, not long distances, as this exercise put the least strain on the foot. I also got some fishing in but again this was limited as even standing was a sore option, but you have to move on and I have tried to get back into some sort of action.
A couple of weeks ago we managed to get some salmon fishing action in beautiful Perthshire. Too many people, myself included, Perthshire is the best overall outdoor experience in Scotland.  I had fished the River Tummel before but only for brown trout & grayling, but never the Tay, so this was an experience I was looking forward to.
Day 1 took us to the River Tummel in Pitlochry, fishing the two beats below the dam which are part of the Pitlochry Angling Club waters. There were 5 of us fishing today so despite the time of the year expectations were high.

Looking upriver (Tummel) to the Pitlochry dam

Normally these waters fish well in the early part of the season but we knew that the salmon were still in the river. The price is well discounted to compensate. However, even at this late stage in the year almost 20 salmon a day were going up the fish ladder into Loch Faskally. The height of the water was lower than previous visits but within 5 minutes a salmon had shown itself, rising in the fast water just opposite my stance, a good omen I thought. On the day we fished up and down the beat, using both fly and spinning techniques. By my reckoning I saw well over a dozen salmon showing themselves but the bottom line was we caught nothing apart from catching a few spinning lures in the rocks in this lowish river. 

It was shallow but very slippy wading

As said the fish were in the river but we were not good/lucky enough to hook any that day. 

Colin instructs Paul on how to cast

We did provide entertainment for the tourists who were still out in force and a few of us will be stars in Japan as all the Nikons/Canons etc from the tour buses clicked away. If you are ever lonely stand at this river with your fishing gear on and plenty of people will talk to you. Despite, or because of the low water, the wading was challenging with very slippy rocks particularly on the Port na Craig side of the river, again this provided a few camera moments as we struggled with our footing. Also a couple of brown trout came and went just to prove they were also in the water but not to see us catch them.
Wildlife on the day saw the 1st geese of the year flying over in their V formations calling away to each other. An impressive site as always. A kingfisher flew past, a blue blur going downriver at speed. A beautiful immaculately white chested dipper was in and out of the water totally ignoring us. A grey heron and a merganser made up the birds.
The loudest noise of the day were the jet military aircraft that came past extremely low from the south, very impressive and very loud.
At the end of the day it was still enjoyable, being out on the banks of a salmon river close to the town centre, just fab.
Thankfully we had an overnight stay so after a good day on the river it was time for food and beer and the rest.
Day 2 saw us heading for the River Tay for more salmon fishing. Half an hour from our base in Pitlochry saw us just outside of Aberfeldy, fishing the Upper Farleyer beat. Again we are at the tail end of the season but when we got our permits we were informed that one had been caught just last night. This is a stretch that runs for about a mile. The water looked as if it was a reasonable height for salmon fishing, possibly a bit low, but optimism was again high at the start of the day. The one thing this beat has is one of the best fishing lodges.

Looking upriver (Tay) to fishing lodge

It is an extremely well cared for lodge, full of information inside, fishing logs going well back and even photographs of 2 of our team, Colin and Ally with salmon caught on their last visit, so despite the rumours we do not blank every trip. 
The weather was grey but not cold, a good day for fishing. When we arrived there was another bloke spinning further downriver. Strange as we had the sole rights for the day, was it a poacher? It turned out not, he was a French bloke fishing the beat downriver but had wandered into our beat, no harm done.

Tackling up outside the lodge

I decided to walk the beat to its furthest point upriver. I had never been here before so getting a recce in before fishing is no bad thing. The water beside the lodge was running fast and looked too deep to wade safely on our side of the water. However, as I walked the path the flow had eased and I could see plenty of spots for wading in relative safety. Still a wading jacket with its built in flotation unit is a must have safety item. The only downside of this stretch is the electricity pylons that split the beat in half. These are double banked monsters that disappear up the glen totally spoiling the natural beauty of the area. They are also extremely dangerous if your gear catches in them, instant death. I started fishing at the top of the beat where the Tay meets the Lyon. A really nice spot.

Colin pictured with his salmon

Shaun ever hopeful

Just as I entered the river I was greeted by the sound of geese yet again but this time they were not up in the skies, they honked as they skimmed my head, displaying their ariel skills whilst landing in the field opposite me. The river was nice fast running water, looked good and as it turns out the only place that I saw a salmon that day, apart from the pictures in the lodge. Compared to yesterday on the Tummel the salmon were not even showing themselves never mind getting hooked. As per yesterday we fished the whole beat up and down, again using fly and spinners but nothing came our way. Literally at the end of the day we had one of our safety reminders. Shaun, Ally and I had finished and were chatting away at the lodge. We heard a shout from the water but could not see anyone. Paul had waded down the river alongside the trees, just upriver of the lodge in the photo above. He found himself in deeper faster water than he liked but the power of the flow meant he could not turn and there was no obvious exit sideways. Luckily Shaun was able to jump down and acting as a lever helped Paul scramble out of the water. Paul admitted that he thought his only option was going to be letting himself go so that he was floating past us at the lodge and hoping we could get a hold of him as he went past. With the fast water in this flow this would have not been a given and would have been high risk. Paul was wearing an inflatable so he would have not gone under the water straightaway but it it was a good reminder of how dangerous wading can be. We all tried our best but yet another day without a salmon. For me it was 2 days salmon fishing in places I always wanted to fish. Yes, I would have liked to have caught a salmon, it would have been released in any case, but it is the being there, enjoying your sport in the countryside that is the true enjoyment.
Two subsequent events. When we were ready to leave, all the gear stored away, Colin roared off, I was about to go then the shouts, Shaun's battery was dead, despite our best efforts we could not get it jump started. Luckily a trip to a nearby farm saw us get some jump leads so off we went.
When we checked back in to report our lack of success we were told that 4 salmon had been caught on the beat below us today, maybe our Frenchman struck out after all!!
Time for more food, beer and a few drams.