February Day Trip to Glen Artney
Six walkers met at Café 21 on the Cultybraggan Camp area near Comrie, where coffee and breakfast were enjoyed. There were two walking options for the day, but an ascent of Ben Clach was not appealing as the hill had its head firmly in the clag, and grand views from the summit were not likely. Instead, we drove to a parking area across the river from the camp. The parking area has room for several cars, but access required careful negotiation of a gap between some large boulders, presumably placed to prevent access by motorhomes.
We set off north-westwards for a short distance before turning left towards Cuilt farm. There was a sign saying that there is no access via the farm yard, so we crossed some very muddy fields to the north of the farm house to reach a footbridge across the burn beyond the farm. We walked through a pleasant woodland area, much of it used to keep pheasants. We started climbing past Montillie and the houses at Tomanour, to the track along the eastern slopes of Ben Halton. At NN725187 we turned south towards a gate in the fence, aiming to find a path that would lead us down to the Water of Ruchill. There was a faint path, but this led us onto very boggy ground and in the wrong direction. We found a dry ridge to follow and descended to the west of Meall na Gaisge to meet a track at NN724175. This track, following the Water of Ruchill to the north of the river, is part of the right of way between Callander and Comrie.
After a brief pause while Allan located a geocache, we followed the track back towards Comrie. Although we had dodged the rain for most of the day, our lunch stop was a bit damp. After a few more geocaching stops and negotiating a tricky steep stream crossing, we joined the public road at Dalrannoch and were soon back at the cars.
As we were quite impressed by Café 21, we decided to go back for some refreshments before heading home. Unsure if the closing time was 3:00 or 3:30 pm, Steven phoned ahead and the café owners kept it open especially for us! Excellent cake and coffee was consumed .. but we were careful not to overstay our welcome.
Cornel Brozio
February Weekday Walk in the Kilmacolm area
Nine club members had booked onto the February Weekday Walk to the Kilmacolm area of Inverclyde. However, due to faulty traffic lights, it was very nearly only two club members! Miriam and I went to a local cafe and waited for the rest to arrive. Over the next 45mins, Jean and Tom, Bob and Steven, James, and finally Ian and Iris, arrived at the coffee shop. At least it gave everyone time to have some coffee and cake.
Eventually, we set off at the back of 11am. The sun was making an appearance, so things were looking up. It was a stiff climb out of Kilmacolm, but once we had left the houses behind it levelled off and we made good progress on well defined tracks. After a few twists and turns we arrived at the top of Knockmountain (GR373718), which offered good views of the Clyde from Langbank out to Greenock and Helensburgh.
After a short break we started heading back to Kilmacolm, and on the way we made a small detour to a stone monument to commemorate a couple of Clydesdale horses above West Glen Farm. There was a small challenge to get there by climbing over a fence, but we all manged it. I had promised a gate at the bottom of the hill to access the road back into Kilmacolm, but it had recently vanished ! So it was a hop over another fence. We then had a easy walk back into town.
Except for James who had to head home, we all enjoyed lunch at Punto .. the local Italian restaurant. All in all it was an enjoyable trip.
On returning home I checked Google Maps and here's a photo to prove the gate did exist !
Mark Setford
