Walking with ghosts: Epilogue (Part 1)

[Graeme D]

After my epic and nostalgic ramble around the hills and moors of East Ayrshire over the previous couple of days, I awoke to a thoroughly miserable day on the Friday. After unceremoniously packing away my wet tent, I drove back down into Muirkirk village to buy a few supplies at the Co-op before deciding that pish weather or no pish weather, I was going to do Middlefield Law and Nutberry Hill.

As I said in my main report, I had walked on Middlefield Law before in my childhood (although I don't recall ever being at the summit) but had never been out the track to Priesthill or beyond to Nutberry Hill.

Fairly uneventful really so will let the pictures tell the story. Only real point of interest as such was the memorial to and grave of the Covenanter martyr John Brown on the slopes of Priesthill Heights.


The enticing looking start of the ascent of Middlefield Law


From near the edge of the Lamonburn plantation


Muirkirk and Cairn Table from the summit


Drookit


Descending alongside the Lamonburn plantation


The B743 snaking its way towards Muirkirk


Start of the track towards Priesthill


Bridge over the Greenock Water and the stretch where as a boy I landed my first ever brown trout


Back to Middlefield Law


Approaching Priesthill


John Brown's grave


Nutberry Hill beyond the plantation


Nutberry summit

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Back at the car I decided that I hadn't had quite enough of a soaking yet for one day so I drove back into Muirkirk and then east out of the village on the A70 towards Douglas. My destination was the appealingly named Common Hill and its even less appealing collection of wind turbines just outside Douglas. On the way I made a brief stop at Glenbuck (or rather at what used to be Glenbuck), where my gran was born in 1911 and visited the shrine to local hero Bill Shankly.


Shankly shrine


Windrow Cottage


Old bridge over the disused railway line


Glad I don't need to go over it!


Windrow Hill from the Windrow Burn


First of the turbines on Windrow Hill


Summit trig on Common Hill


Descending Burnt Rig


Douglas (and the car) from Scrogton

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[Mountainlove]

Aw the days spend doing some smaller hills can be so rewarding. It looks like a lovely area and some of your pictures turned out really nicely! Had to laugh when I spotted 'Windrow Hill from the Windrow Burn' at first glance I was thinking it is a washing line and thought great location to hang out the washing (certainly too early for me at the moment)