Drow 'n' Smirr

8.19 miles 3h 55m 113m ascent

River Ayr Way: Tarholm-Ayr

This, our final stage of our River Ayr Way, brought us to the coast. It was a relatively short walk, mostly on riverside paths, but with some mud near the start that needed close attention. It wasn’t especially well signed, and where there were waymarkers, their arrows were often too faded to read. That said, there were some interesting sights along the way, we found a bench by the river for lunch, it didn’t rain (much) and, at the end, we could bask in the warmth of our achievement.

8.4 miles 4h 7m ascent 229m

River Ayr Way: Failford to Tarholm

It was back to Failford for the next stage of the Way. This time with the luxury of pavement and without rain. A path took us into Ayr Gorge to walk through the woodlands in the footsteps of Robert Burns.

Can I forget the hallow’d grove, 
Where, by the winding Ayr, we met, 
To live one day of parting love! 
Eternity will not efface   

To Mary in Heaven, 1789

7.05 miles 3h 5m ascent 139m

River Ayr Way: Catrine to Failford

This short section is a walk along riverside paths, woodland wynds, wooden walkways, fenced and mown farmland tracks, un-named and little used tarmac, quiet residential streets and unpleasantly busy B-roads; over bridges of metal, of wood and of stone; beneath viaducts for road and rail; through deciduous woods and conifer, by hedgerows of soft and sharp branches, with colours of summer and autumn; past waymarkers, ambiguous signposts and places calling out for signage.

10.55 miles 5h 32 m ascent 82m

Glenbuck-Greenock Water Bridge

The River Ayr Way follows the River Ayr from its source at Glenbuck Loch to the sea at Ayr, a 44 mile route. We had talked of walking it for quite some time, but never got round to doing the actual walk. Well here we were at last, ready for our first stage. The plan was to start on Tuesday but Met Office alerts delayed us a couple of days. So instead of heat, humidity and thunderstorms we had sunshine with just the right amount of breeze.