Kit Talk

Wednesday 26 October 2016



Glorious Glenim 

With Winter  fast approaching it is definitely time to take stock and get some of those jobs done that are best suited to dismal days in the house. Jobs like bringing the blog up to date for instance. These type of days are  when invariably my mind wanders to adventures past and adventures yet to come, it's the ideal time to remember and a good time to plan ahead.  I love the changing of the seasons and  I am looking forward to some crisp Winter walks but today I am starting to look back over the year and decide which adventures to commit to paper.  

One such adventure that stands out is our wander up Glorious Glenim. A walk my friend Rosemary B. told me about one day when she came across me as I just happened to be almost blocking the road by standing in the middle of it so that I could take a photograph of the wonderful Mennock Pass.   Did not have time that day but stored it away in the noddle for another day.  So here is my little blog about that particular day.

Date of walk - 24th August 2016.
Starting point - Grid ref NS83783 09783.Leave the main road (A76) and take the B797 which is signposted to Wanlockhead. This road is known as the Mennock Pass The track for Glenim begins at Glenim Cottage which is situated over a small bridge at the side of the Mennock Pass.  At the time of writing it is unoccupied.
Surface - hard packed un-made (ie not tar) dirt track all the way.
What we saw - a huge amount of game birds, we kept the dogs on the leads most of the way only really letting them off to splash in the water under close supervision.   A gorgeous waterfall, the usual curious sheep, Corvids.  What we heard - the small burn burbling by, and the sounds of nature, the most wonderful thing was what we didn't hear - traffic.
Length of walk - around 2.60 miles.
Susan's Rating - a very gentle and easy wander up and down one of the most beautiful places I've been for a long time.  All the more beautiful because it's tucked away, off the road.  It's a little gem really.

As I said the walk begins at Glenim Cottage and all you basically have to do is follow the straight track up the valley.  Don't head uphill to the feeding pens, just keep on the valley floor, the track follows the burn, which should be on your right on the way up.


It was fantastically clear and sunny  on the day we walked but I do have a hankering to find out what it will be like in the Winter in the frost or even perhaps the snow.

 We walked up to a gate in the wall that crosses the valley,(wall shown in picture above) the track goes onward through the gate to the abandoned farm of Glenim, it was my decision not to go any further because I wasn't sure whether there were cows.  At the time I was still recovering from a very nasty cow attack and I just couldn't pluck up the courage to enter the unknown so to speak, particularly when I couldn't see an obvious escape route or hiding point. A few days after we did this walk a friend did it and carried on to the farm buildings, she reported there were no cows.  Ah well next time we will go all the way.   Looking at the map it looks possible to keep going to Wanlockhead, this could be an adventure for next year though now. 
Loved those clouds they were like wisps of hair blowing in the breeze.



So we turned at the gate and made our way back down the track, stopping at the waterfall we had spied on the way up.




Heading back down towards the cottage and Mennock Pass.


One thing I always make sure I do, or should I really say don't do, is leave any litter, in fact I am known to come back with other people's litter that
 I do find.  Nothing worse than leaving litter, it impacts on the wildlife, the farm animals and the game.  Never forget that the countryside is someone's home and often their workplace too.  Lets keep it nice and not give anyone the excuse to complain and try and clamp down on our freedom to roam. 

After our walk we headed on up to Wanlockhead and had lunch at the mining museum then went a wander round the village. I find Wanlockhead an extremely interesting place and it's possible that there will be a blog to come about our adventures up there. 


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