18th May 2025: Stranraer to New Luce – 14.5 miles
Well, what a dreadful night. First City get beat in the cup final and then when I’m trying to get off to sleep, the neighbours decide to have a party! I tried to drop off about 10pm, but all I could hear was laughing, screaming and shouting from one of the nearby rooms, along with the high pitched barking of one of those awful little yappy dogs. The peals of laughter came in bursts too, so just as I thought it was settling down, and I started drifting off, the noise would erupt and start me back awake. I’m not sure if it stopped, or if my tiredness overcame it, but I eventually dropped off. My watch says I had a pretty good sleep and despite waking up for a pee at 4am, I dozed until about 6.20 and then got up.
My plan for today was to hit Greggs for breakfast at 7.30, stock up on a couple of sausage rolls and a scotch pie and then hit the trail. I could then take my time, having plenty of stops and time my arrival in New Luce for about 3pm. I’ve arranged to stay in Nadav’s Hut in the village, which I discovered on Facebook, and made all the arrangements using messages on the same platform. I have no idea what to expect, but Harry, the owner, promised shelter for the night and a bed and that seemed like a good deal when compared to the alternatives, one of which was a double taxi journey, and the other was the ridiculous rate (it breached my £100 threshold by quite a margin!) for a night in the Kenmuir Arms.
I arrived at Greggs for 7.30, only to find the door locked, and informed by the young lad behind the counter, via sign language, that it didn’t open until 8am. I pondered setting out without any breakfast, but quickly dismissed that as crazy thinking, and besides I also needed to stock up for lunch, potentially an evening meal, and lunch for tomorrow. I sat on the wall, in the sunshine and waited patiently.
Once I was allowed in I had a bacon baguette, large tea and added the savouries I needed. In the end I was out on the path by 8.20, heading into the sun and trying to ignore the weight of my pack. I’d compromised on 1 litre of water in the platypus, as I knew I could buy cold drinks four miles into the walk, at the petrol station at Castle Kennedy. But I don’t think I’ve ever carried as much food since I gave up backpacking a few years ago. I reckoned it would be better to have too much food and not need it, than the other way round, and the weight penalty wasn’t too arduous.
Just as with my last two walks along the trail, I chose to use Big Plantation to rejoin the Southern Upland Way, which actually skirts around Stranraer rather than going into the town (which I always thought was a bit odd – I wonder what Stranraer did to piss off the path designers). I was surprised to find loads of trees blocking the path, and not all of them were pine trees, which have notoriously shallow roots and are always the first to get blown down in a big storm. Many of these downed trees were big, mature deciduous specimens, and they’d obviously been down for a while, as well worn paths had been established to take you round them.
The woodland was glorious, with the bright sunshine being filtered by the canopy, and casting dappled shade on the path. The undergrowth is full and lush now, and in many cases it’s sprinkled with bluebells and other wild flowers, so the woodland feels ‘filled out’ and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through it. I was soon back on the Southern Upland Way and the fallen trees continued, even more numerous if anything and I weaved and wandered my way through the long thin section of woodland beyond the railway, before eventually arriving at the road, opposite the entrance to Castle Kennedy.
I stopped into the petrol station and grabbed two 500ml bottles of Vimto, stuffed them into one my outside pockets, stumbled slightly at the added weight, and made my way down the drive of the estate and stopped at the edge of White Loch for my first break.
I remember stopping here on my last visit in 2015, but the handy pile of felled stumps that I sat on that time have been removed, so I sat on the grass and enjoyed the sun. I watched a small bird, maybe a tern of some sort, diving down into the water to catch (I assume) small fish. I’ve never seen this activity other than in gannets, when I’ve been close to the sea, so this was lovely to watch for a few minutes. I finished half of one of the ice cold Vimtos and decanted the other bottle and the remainder of the first one into the 750ml bottle I carry for filtering water. I hoped to find a bin in the car park ahead, but ended up carrying them for the rest of the day.
Once you leave the grounds of the castle, it’s all a bit bland for a while, a short section of road, then a rough track that climbs steadily up to the buildings at Chlenry and then across a short but enjoyable section of moorland, before another short section of road. These are all the starter that leads to the main course: the wonderful path around the edge of Glenwhan Moor. The path is narrow and spongy and snakes around stumps and between bushes, keeping hard beside the wall on the left. To the left is the open moor, to the right is the slowly regenerating woodland that was obviously felled a good few years ago, you can still see the stumps of the old forest, but there’s plenty of new growth starting to take them over.
I remember having to perch on a broken section of wall last time I walked down this path, so I was delighted to find a bench, not quite in the shade, which would have been nice, now that the sun was shining directly on me. I decided it would be rude not to use it for my second break of the day. I had one of the sausage rolls and a wagon wheel and finished half of the Vimto, which was still surprisingly cool. I saved the other half for another break in the early afternoon, as it was only just 11am now. I’ve found that a couple of lunch breaks, an hour or so either side of midday, have served me better over the past few years, than a single break when I would normally have my lunch.
I had hoped, somewhat forlornly I was sure, that I could filter some water from the little burn that runs beside the path around Glenwhan Moor, but as I’d sort of expected Craig Burn was almost dry. It had some water in it, mostly in static pools, with very occasional slowly moving streams, but I wasn’t so low on water that I felt like I needed to filter any of it. I still had most of the 1 litre I’d put in my platypus and I was sure it would last me. The temperature wasn’t so hot that it would be a problem, and I was sure I could find a better source if I needed one later.
After another mile or so, the path beside the moor becomes a path in the trees and I kept an eye out for the second kist of the walk, which I remember was close by from my previous visits. You may have been able to miss it a few years ago, but not now! Even if you missed the Ultreia plaque on the marker post (which is easy to do), you couldn’t possibly miss the site of the kist anymore. I was suddenly aware of dozens of strips of cloth tied to the branches of a couple of trees on my left, and between these two trees was the kist. Apparently, according to a sign above the kist, these are Clootie trees, where folk honoured the spirits of a well or spring, by tying a ribbon or a strip of cloth to the tree. There is no spring, but it looks like people have decided to honour the spirit of the kist in the same way. Anyway, that’s all hippy nonsense in my opinion, and I ignored the entreaty to add a strip of cloth from the box provided, and instead fished out my second waymerk of the walk.
I pocketed my coin and continued on, now enjoying the shade of the wood. No sooner had I zipped the coin away than I saw a walker coming towards me along the path. We stopped and chatted for a good few minutes. He was walking the Southern Upland Way, from Moffat to Portpatrick, and was hoping to finish in the morning. He said he’d seen maybe 7or 8 people walking the path in the traditional direction since he set out 7 days ago – this really is a quiet path! He was backpacking, using a hammock or a bivi, depending on what was available, and I wished him luck and we said our goodbyes. I dropped down through the wood now, to walk beside the railway for a while, still in the shade of woodland, but now the path was so narrow I got stung a couple of times by nettles through my trousers. There were more trees down and loads more bluebells, and I knew I would soon have to begin the climb up onto Kilhern Moss, so I found a nicely shaped boulder by the path and took advantage of the shade for the final time. I wasn’t especially hungry, so I just finished the juice and ate a handful of jelly babies before pushing on.
I dropped down again, to cross the Water of Luce on the impressive footbridge, and if I’d needed it, I could have filtered water here, the river was running and access was fairly easy, but I still had water in my platypus, so didn’t need the faff.
I climbed up to the road, past the houses at Cruise and then up the final hill of the day onto the arrow straight path across Kilhern Moss. I was still ahead of schedule at this point, so I slowed down and when I found a convenient section of broken wall with a large flat stone to sit on, I took another break. It was sunny, but not too warm and the breeze kept me cool enough. I ate a few more jelly babies and when my arse went to sleep I got up and continued.
I find that even after short breaks on long days like this, I take a good few yards to get back into a normal pace, my legs seem to take longer as I get older and I don’t know how long I can expect to manage these multi day walks. I know the willingness is still there, but I don’t know if the ability will be in me for many more years. I managed to stand in a massive and annoyingly fresh cow pat while I was looking at the views to my right, and I had to scuff my boot through whatever grass I could find for the next hundred yards or so. The cows were all congregating by the path, rather than using the rest of the bloody moor that has no paths in it, but they were no problem and even when I had to disturb a huge group who were lying on the path, they just moved along ahead of me, before heading off left as we approached the gate that leads off the moor and down towards the road.
A little more rough pasture, a few more cows and I was down to the road through the valley. I turned left and followed it for 1.25 miles (according to the sign by the road) before reaching the church and cemetery of New Luce. It was 2.30 and although I’d been told my accommodation for the night would be open, I decided to check if the pub was open. It was! I went in and ordered 2 pints of diet coke and sat in the shade of a huge umbrella on one of the tables on the patio. I could see fish jumping in the river at the bottom of their garden and I really enjoyed the next half hour or so.
At about 3pm I went across to find Nadav’s hut, following the directions provided by Harry. I found it quite easily and gave it a quick inspection. As I was doing so, Harry arrived in his van and after helping him empty the shopping, we had a quick chat and he showed me round the ‘facilities’. This is easily the most basic accommodation I’ve ever used, apart from a tent or a bothy. Even my campervan is better appointed. Having said that, it’s cheap (free) and it’s probably still slightly better than the alternatives. The shed is just that, a large shed with two rooms, one with two single beds in, and one with a large couch and a small fridge, washing up bowl and microwave. Outside the front door is a much smaller room, with a bucket for the toilet. Harry showed me his outside tap, where I can get water, but there is no shower, or running water in the shed. I’m properly roughing it tonight.
The inside of the shed was sweltering, so I sat on a garden chair outside and began to write up my journal. I was soon joined by Harry and his wife Marlene. We had a chat about the walk, where we came from, the local village politics and various other topics. Once they’d finished their brews they went back to attend to chores, and with absolutely nothing to keep me here, I went over to the pub. I’d enquired about food while I was wetting my whistle earlier, and although it was only just after 4pm, I decided to eat there, rather than dine in the shed on the food I’d just carried with me for 15 miles. I had some fried chicken, which was OK, and some lovely chips and another pint of diet coke. I sat and wrote up some of the journal, listening and partially watching the landlady training up a couple of new staff. The pub is quite expensive even for food, never mind the cost of their rooms, and I wonder how long that can last given the amount of passing trade they must get (not much I bet).
I eventually wandered back to the shed and spent some time working on the journal, and watching a couple of films on my tablet. By 9pm my lids were drooping, so I decided to sort the bed arrangements out. There were a couple of thin duvets, and some very thin pillows provided with the beds, but none of them had any linen to go with them. I settled for a duvet as a sheet, and the least grey duvet as my cover, and used my spare base layer and my unused fleece as pillow cases for two of the better looking pillows and settled down for the night. I slept in my clothes, and was glad of it, as the temperature dropped quite a bit just before dawn as the duvet would have struggled on its own.