Thursday 30 March 2017

Annbank Circular 29 March

Alan, Allan, Davie Mc, Dougie, Gus, Ian, Jimmy, Kenny R, Malcolm, Paul, Rex, Robert

There were no arguments about not going to Conic Hill today, as the weather forecast was for rain. And so, we set off from the Bowling Club in Annbank for a walk down one side of the river and back up the other, in a clockwise direction.
The outward journey is much longer than the return due to having to negotiate the big bend in the river, so after forty minutes a coffee stop was called for at a fisherman’s shelter. As we finished, the first spots of rain began to fall and it continued for the next hour until we made the Burns and Wallace Monument for lunch. The underfoot conditions had been good until we met the incline about twenty minutes from lunch. This proved to be the only tricky and extremely muddy part of the walk, but all negotiated it successfully. As we sat at the monument, the rain disappeared to be replaced by pleasantly warm, watery sunshine meaning that jackets could be removed for the return.
Crossing back over the river, it only took about thirty-five minutes to reach the cars (the big bend having been cut out), just as light rain began to fall again. ‘Three hours and three minutes’ was the call for a walk of about seven miles. The walk today had been sufficient, certainly for Jimmy, who was still in recovery mode, and the weather had been better than anticipated.
FRT was taken at the Tap o’ the Brae, where the barmaid was glad of our custom. A good day out with a reasonably early finish!

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