Waypoints: WP17 Wemyss Bay station, WP16 Meigle, WP15 hill route start, WP14 Noddsdale Water, WP13 Largs Pier
Distance: X m, Y km; Time: Z hrs;
Terrain: tbd
Public transport: tbd
Toilets: tbd
Cafes: tbd
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photo by Liz Smith
Waypoint 17 (Wemyss Bay station):
What3Words ///glue.wounds.laughs
Take time to explore the wonderful award winning Wemyss Bay Station. As well as the terminus of trains from Glasgow, the station also boasts a café, bar and second hand book shop. Ferries to Rothesay (on Bute) arrive here and there is a frequent bus service north to
Glasgow or south to Largs.
In 'The Ayrshire Legatees', Miss Rachel Pringle writes to her friend Miss Isabella Todd:
"When we crossed the stream that divides the counties of Ayr and Renfrew, we beheld, in all the apart and consequentiality of pride, the house of Kelly overlooking the social villas of Wemyss Bay. My brother compared it to a sugar hogshead, and them to cotton-bags, - for the lofty thane of Kelly is but a West India planter, and the inhabitants of the villas on the shore are Glasgow manufacturers.” (Chapter 1, Letter 2)
The Wemyss Bay Caravan Park now takes the place of Kelly House which was destroyed by fire in 1913. The "West India planter" who owned the property was John Wallace and it was inherited by his son Robert Wallace in 1803. Robert Wallace later became Greenock's first MP in 1832.
(to be prepared)
No. 72 takes you
photo I J Dickson
Waypoint 16 Meigle
What3Words ///request.engaging.adhesive
Here, coming from the path on the seaward side, you must carefully cross the A78 to reach the side road.
Follow the old coastal high road up which Galt's Pringle family would have travelled; called the 'Red Road', it is named from the old red sandstone silt from surrounding fields.
Cross the Meigle Burn.
You continue straight on.
Part way along, as you leave Meigle, Skelmorlie Secret Bunker museum and underground monitoring post is located on the right with magnificent views over the Firth of Clyde. Read about it here.
At a minor road junction, you are at Blackhouse Burn.
An alternative is the regular Greenock-Largs bus service along this route - McGill's 901 or 906
photo I J Dickson
Waypoint 15 Blackhouse Burn
What3Words ///still.insulated.shock
Ignore the side road going down to the main road. The John Galt Way continues ahead on the (usually) quiet road - a road marked on an 1820 map, possibly, but not definitely, the road up which the Pringles' coach came from Largs.
Continue straight on. You will pass the entrance to Knock Castle, a 19th c. replacement of an old tower house.
On reaching Largs, you walk down to the A78.
photo I J Dickson
Waypoint 14 – where Noddsdale Water path leaves the main road
What3Words ///wrenching.motive.jolt
Make your way to the shore at Aubery Park.
Follow the shore round to the centre of the town, though you may wish to stop in at Vikingar!, the Viking Heritage Centre, an award winning multi-media presentation of the Vikings in Scotland, on the way.
No. 72 takes you
photo I J Dickson
Waypoint 13 Largs Pier
What3Words ///relatives.money.shackles
If time allows, take the ferry for a 10-minute Clyde sail to Great Cumbrae (1,200 people) and its town of Millport, where local efforts have renovated the 1870 town hall. Many visitors hire a bike to cycle the 16 m. round the island. In the area around Largs pier are a range of eating places, including the well-known Nardini's (est. 1935).
Email: info@irvineburnsclub.org
Museum: Wellwood Burns Centre, 28 Eglinton Street, Irvine, KA12 8AS
© Irvine Burns Club
Wemyss Bay to Meigle
