River Ayr Way 1: Glenbuck to Sorn

Summary

Follow the infant River Ayr through wild moorland rich in natural and industrial history to the attractive village of Sorn. This long stage could be split at Kames by a short stroll into Muirkirk.

Grade

Bog Factor

3.5/5

Rating

Terrain

Well-made aggregate footpaths and surfaced roads including a section of the first tarmacadam road experiments.

Getting there

Start

Glenbuck Heritage Village car park.

Public Transport

None to start; the nearest bus at Muirkirk. Bus from both here to Cumnock and Kilmarnock.

Start Grid Ref

NS748295

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Walk Statistics

Distance: 28.5km / 17.75 miles
Time: 7.5 - 8 hours
Ascent: 118m (Profile)

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Walk Description

User reports (5)

Stage 1

Whilst the River Ayr Way starts from Glenbuck Loch, the nearest parking is at the Glenbuck Heritage car park up the lane (note there is a height barrier). Before beginning, you can explore the site of the former village, which was based around an ironworks. There was a post office, hall and community facilities here before the ironworks closed in 1813. Coal extraction continued and the village lived on until the 1930s when the last residents were rehoused in nearby Muirkirk; opencast mining claimed the remaining buildings. The village was the birthplace of legendary Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly; there's a memorial to him at the far end of the site, usually adorned in football banners. Begin the walk by heading along the lane back towards the main road.

Stage 2

Turn left along a lane marked as 'private' (for cars) by the cottage; the lane ends at a former car park now blocked off. Turn right through a kissing gate just before the end, following a woodland path and passing a carved totem pole. The path leads past a fishing hut and ends at a wooden hide overlooking the loch - the official start of the route.

Stage 3

From the hide return to the lane, and bear left to reach the junction with the A70. Just before this, turn right to follow a footpath running parallel to the A70 but behind a fence and hedge - this path avoids roadwalking. After a short distance it emerges on the road - go straight across with care and continue on the path on the far side. The route now follows the course of the Caledonian Railway line across the moors, passing the wooden remains of the former Glenbuck Station platform on the right.

Stage 4

The railway track bed makes for easy walking and enjoyment of the views towards the hills on the Ayrshire/Lanarkshire border, including Belt Knowe, Brack Hill, Little Cairn Table and Cairn Table. The route passes numerous ruins and evidence of the industrial past of the area, with the huge opencast mine on the other side of the road a reminder that Ayrshire is still a major supplier of coal to Scotland and beyond. The route briefly leaves the railway line at Crossflat, heading right for a short distance before leaving the minor road by a stile on the left and passing through farmland before rejoining the railway path just before Kames.

Stage 5

The car park at Kames is a popular start point for walkers ascending 593m Cairn Table, and possesses an information board outlining alternative walks in the area. Follow the path indicated - around the back of the spired Ironworks Institute built to provide a community centre for the hundreds of families formerly housed in miners' rows nearby. Returning to a roughly-finished track the route continues southwest - away from the river - to a ruin with large information board stating that the track underfoot is actually local man John Loudon MacAdam's early experiments with road surfacing, and the ruins behind the board formed MacAdam's residence in the late 1700s. MacAdam moved to the property to manage the 9th Earl of Dundonald's tar works before buying the company himself in 1790. A short distance from the ruin the earthworks associated with the facility are visible - turn right where indicated to descend alongside the outline of a row of miners' cottages to reach Tibbie's Brig (originally Garpel Bridge). Tibbie (Isobel) Pagan was a poet and contemporary of Robert Burns and ran a small inn adjacent to the bridge tending to the needs of the local workers.

Stage 6

Cross the bridge and follow the path as it bears right, join a rough track for a short distance and then turn left up steps to reach another dismantled railway. Follow this west for a kilometre before turning right towards Upper Wellwood, and then turn left onto a footpath before reaching the buildings. Follow the footpath through the woods, passing a fenced martyr's grave below close to the burn with an information board adjacent to the path. This pleasant footpath rejoins the river and follows alongside as it meanders to Wellwood Bridge. Remain on the southern side of the river, head through a short section of woodland and cross the A70 where indicated at Nether Wellwood next to an electricity substation.

Stage 7

Follow the path through a further short section of woodland before crossing at the river at the road bridge and entering the field on the far side. Continue along the well-maintained path before re-crossing at a footbridge above a set of stepping stones (or use these if the river is low enough). The route is now entering the enormous bog known as Airds Moss - protected by the RSPB as a valuable habitat for hen harriers, peregrine falcons, merlins and grouse. Pass a memorial to John Lapraik, a poet who lived on a farm in the area until the collapse of a bank in Ayr in 1772 forced him to give up his property. The path later passes the earthworks of a very early ironworks, and the lade and reservoir can still be clearly distinguished between the path and river. Cross another footbridge to reach the B743 at Greenock Mains. Turn left, cross the old sandstone Greenock Bridge and almost immediately descend steps to rejoin the riverside path via the tributary of Greenock Water.

Stage 8

After a short distance cross the mouth of Whitehaugh Water via a footbridge and pass the precarious suspension bridge known locally as Fisherman's Bridge. Thankfully there is no need to cross it to continue the route. The path heads away from the road once more and meanders roughly parallel to the river, before heading steeply up onto higher ground above the plantations surrounding Upper Heilar. The path bypasses steep cliffs and instead heads over moorland and along field boundaries before descending once more to Merkland Burn and reascending onto the wooden duckboards encircling steep Castle Hill. At the end of the walkway the path crosses aptly-named Wyndy Burn as it joins the river and continues alongside farmland to the west end of Hole Holm. Here a path leads away from the river into woodland to pass a steep cliff - the drop from the path is particularly vertical at one point, though well protected.

Stage 9

Back at the riverside the path enters the wooded slopes of Haggis Bank, passes a flooded limestone quarry in the trees, two ruinous limekilns and continues into the Dalgainbank Plantation. Ignore any paths leading down towards the river and continue onwards along the obvious path to reach the B743 east of Sorn. Turn left and enter the village along Main Street. There is a general store and Post Office in the village as well as self-catering accommodation.

Next stage: Sorn to Stair

Updated from original description by Phil Turner

Route Profile

Where to stay

Ayrshire Hotels

Ayrshire B&B

Glasgow, Ayrshire & Lanark cottages

Glasgow, Ayrshire & Lanark hostels

Glamping and Camping

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