BEING WRITTEN
6.15 miles 2h 36m ascent 215m (707 feet)
El Sub Sta-source of the Nith-El sub Sta
The Nith, till after it gets away from Ayrshire, is one of the most cheerless of streams, sluggish and shallow, seldom more than 15 feet wide, deeply tinctured with moss, and rarely graced with plantation, greensward, or even a bold bank, to relieve the dreary monotony of its moorland landscape.
Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland
El sub sta, South Kyle Wind Farm, Under the “tori gate”, Wee quarry, The quarry (Meikle Hill), distant turbine in the mist, probably A02, Valley of the Loup Burn, Beside/above a young Nith, Another set of buildings, substation compound, Guys moving rocks, JCB man, H01, Source of the Nith a hollow at about 440m, Moved a bit, log for coffee, 180 and back
This was a wee walk to find the source of the Nith amongst Ayrshire’s mosses, waters, slaps, and stiles. We parked near what the Ordnance Survey labels “El Sub Sta”. Electricity Sub Station rather than a Spanish outpost. We waved to the man in the “All visitors report here” hut and gathered from his lack of interest that a couple of dog-walkers fell outside the parameters of those who concerned him.
A century ago this would have been an upland moor. Grass, mosses and heather in waterlogged peat with the odd stubby tree in sheltered hollows. An old sheepfold sat in one such hollow, beside the Powkelly Burn.
But what we saw was mostly extensive felled forestry. Half a century ago it was probably dense forestry commission plantating, but there has seen widespread felling and areas replanted with saplings. The smell of pine reached our noses before we came to the stacks of logs beside the track.
We were not walking forestry tracks. These roads, built for the construction of the turbines on South Kyle Wind Farm, would make a rural “A” road envious. The massive quarries we passed along the way presumably provided the rock base. But it meant easy walking for us and kept us out of the marshy ground around us.
There were still some trees awaited the loggers but stands of dead larch, heavily laden with lichen told us that larch disease has reached here.
So what would have been a forest walk a few years ago is now on road through wild upland. A wilderness that could easily be mistaken for wasteland but a close look soon shows it is not. We had a misty day so you tend to notice stuff close at hand.
The slime holds were an interesting find. These are neither animals nor plants. Nor are they fungi. Talk about not fitting in. The balance of opinion on the internet seems to be that they are inedible, according to some, edible according to others, not flavourful, suggesting someone has tried them, but not obviously poisonous. The “dog sick” alludes to its appearance rather than its action. Mind you, the internet also says the literal translation of Mucilago crustacea is “great lime foam” which is clearly not correct. Though “great lime foam” is the translation of its name in Dutch, Groot Kalkschuim. The Latin name, though, is more about mucus and encrustedness. Gelatinous material produced by plants is apparently called mucilage whereas it is mucus in animals. Another day, another pearl of knowledge discovered. Vocabulary = Vocabulary + 1.
Eyes up from the ground we could see a wind turbine ahead in the mist. I thought at first it would be the turbine close to the Source of the Nith but that proved to be a little further along.
The wind farm construction has included two roads on embankments crossing what would have been the fledgling Nith. There are drainage pipes but they were above ground and presumably only operate if there is flooding.
The source of the Nith, as marked on the OS map is in the marshy ground behind me in the pho above. The Prickeny Burn, which flows south to the Water of Deugh drains the land where there are still trees.
The source of the Nith has been moved north about 100m. Certainly that is the first recognisable channel.
Some kind soul had left a log in front of turbine H01 so we had somewhere to sit for our coffee.
