Ayrshire

10 miles / 16 km

This walk is on the narrow back roads just east of Beith and Dalry. There is hardly any traffic on these roads as they wind themselves past some farmfields, farms, hamlets and through some small forests. There are no really stunning views here. This is still a charming walk with some idyllic areas. This walk offer some good training in the winter months.

Pretty Hard

This is a long walk. The surface is mostly good tarmac. There are some short, steep climbs here too. The two climbs out of Gateside and Barrmill are the biggest two hills here. The rest of the walk is pretty flat to undulating. Bring plenty of bottled water, protein bars and some good shoes here.
Also bring a good map here... preferably on a mobile phone as there are some crossroads here which cannot be missed. It is a very good idea to memorise the turns at the crossroads here some hours before starting the walk.




McGill's Bus 904 from Paisley Abbey to Beith 1 time an hour.

Jump off the bus at the Beith Laigh Road bus stop. Ask the bus driver or follow the advice from the onboard announcer or TV screen. Take the road to the left, back up the road from the bus stop and then the first road to the right, Wilson Street. Then after 100 yards/meters, take the first road to the left, Mitchel Street up the hill where it changes name to Head Street. Continue on this road to the Beith bypass road. Cross this busy road and go straight ahead, choosing the pavement on the left side of the road. This road should be signposted Gateside and Lugton. The walk on this pavement to Gateside is pretty scenic. See picture below from an early morning walk.




Gateside too is a nice hamlet and worthy a visit. The road becomes pretty steep after this hamlet and the pavement disappears up to the first crossroad of the day. The crossroad is marked Balgray Bonds. Take this road to the right. This road are flat in the beginning before it climbs a small hill which it then crests. The views from this hill is very good. Just before the industrial estate to the right, take this narrow small road to the right again past this industrial estate (whisky bonds). This road takes you past a small farm until you reaches another crossroad. Take the road to the left. After 20 yards/meters, take the next road, Balgray Road, to the right again. This road takes you over a disused railway bridge into Barrmill, a small hamlet/village. The main building in Barrmill is pictured below.



I believe this is an ex milltown. I am not sure. Take the road out of Barrmill to the right again towards the west/Beith on some good pavements until you get to a "Kilwinning 7" signpost. Take this road up the hill... Yes, this is a short but pretty steep climb up to another fenced of industrial area. The road is narrow and very good. There are some good views over this part of Ayrshire from this road as the two pictures prove.







The road descends down to a shallow river valley and the views are good throughout. The road ends up at the crossroads below... Take the road to the right here.



The next couple of miles / 3 km is by far the most interesting part of this rather peculiar walk. It starts with another short, steep climb and follows a forest to the left and some very idyllic meadows. There is a short, steep climb at the end of these enthralling meadows, which should get your attention. It got my attention..



The views from the top of this short climb are very good. This narrow road is excellent for walking until it reaches the Dunlop - Dalry road, the next crossroads. Cross this road as the narrow, small road on the other side of the crossroads also offers some very good walking. This road has some small climbs and descents too. See picture below...



The road ends up at the Beith - Kilwinning cycle road/route 7. Take this road to the right again on some undulating terrain before it reaches the crossroads at Blair. The top of the hill has a good view towards Dalry.



Take the road to the left here, which crosses a bridge over the new'ish Dalry bypass road and then drops down through a housing estate to the Dalry train stop, where this walk ends.


Train to Johnstone/Paisley/Glasgow 2 times an hour.
Train to Kilwinning 2 times an hour.