Day 75 of the End to End was a very hot one. I had plenty of water with me but it was hard going. I started at Auchinleck station, as hot this morning as yesterday afternoon.
The road to Catrine was reasonably quiet and included some nice stretches of wild flowers, including early spotted orchids. I had a rest in the car at Catrine, and some lunch and ice cream. The clear day made it easy to see the profile of the Isle of Arran to the west.
Bob then came with me to the River Ayr Way. Once again it proved to be a good route to have chosen. Through riverside woodland there was a good path and it was cooler. There were a number of bridges. We went under the A76, then over the Ayr and later under the Ballochmyle Viaduct (completed in 1848). Bob went back to the car and I continued on the path, that emerged at Haugh.
My route to the main road was via Station Road. There’s currently no station operating at Mauchline but there is a campaign underway to have it reinstated. The milestone on the A76 confirmed 9 miles to Kilmarnock (but that’s tomorrow).
I stopped at the Burns House Museum at the cross roads in Mauchline. There’s a lot of Burns memorabilia in the town in which he lived before he married. In the museum we sat down for a cool rest and listened to a recording of his poem ‘To a mouse’.
We picked up an ice cream on the way back to the car: it had been a very hot day for a walk. We popped back to Sorn, a village east of Catrine, further back on the River Ayr Way, to see the old bridge and the church.
From Psalm 113
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, God’s name is praised.
Today, the sun rose in blue sky.
Today, the sun set in blue sky.
Today it was wall to wall sunshine,
And God is praised globally.
Now we ask God for a quiet night and a peaceful end.
JAL 28.97.2019
Day 75 of the End to End, Auchinleck to Mauchline