Monday, 17 May 2021

A ride on the cyclepath

 Sorry for being a bit quiet but I haven't been anywhere interesting on my bike due to the, soon to be relaxed, Covid-19 restrictions.

About a week ago I went for a ride along my local cyclepath from Kilbarchan to Lochwinnoch. This is part of the Sustrans Route 7 and is built on the trackbed of the Dalry and North Johnstone Railway more commonly know as the 'Kilbarchan Loop', which closed in 1966.

It was a nice sunny day, so I decided to shoot some video, the first time I'd videoed from a bicycle. The camera was mounted on a chest strap with an external microphone clipped to a strap on my helmet. It was really just an experiment to see what it would be like.


Found a photo of the old Kilbarchan Station. I don't know when the photo was taken, but the line was only 2 tracks wide at the time, it was later widened to 4 tracks. Next to the station was a gasworks, so trains would stop on one of the 'extra' tracks to unload coal.

The 'tower' I pass is Kenmuir Hill Temple, more details here. Note the very Scottish euphemism ' made his money in the West Indies ' - he was a slave owner. When I was at school we were taught that no Scots were involved or profited from slavery, blatantly untrue, and there is still a degree of denial on the subject. I've walked up to the 'temple' a number of times, there is a very good view from it.





These photos were taken back in November and it was a bit misty

The outdoor centre at is within the Castle Semple Country park which has a lot of woodland walks.

It was a very nice day out but it reminded me of how unfit I am!





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