The Wind Of Change

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One step across the diminutive Galloway Burn, and I’m in Ayrshire.

The coast stretching north towards the Clyde is gratifyingly direct, and with a marked path to follow, I feel like I’m flying along. The weather gods don’t want me to get too smug, however, and it rains for five days solid. Seeing me trudging along, a highway maintenance truck offers me a lift; “Aye, nee bother,” the driver says when I explain why I can’t accept. The friendly gesture lifts my spirits.

Following a disused stretch of the old coast road, I duck into a cave to escape the rain and eat my lunch. Nearby, a cairn in memory of the wayfarer who lived here reads: “Henry Ewing Torbet (Snib) of Bennane Cave, 1912-1983: Respected and Independent”.