Nine hardy Strollers ignored the doom and
gloom of the weather forecast and made their way to Pencaitland for a circular
walk. Never trust a weather forecast as it was warm and bright and we had
the feeling of being overdressed for the conditions.
More surprisingly, given the overnight and
early morning rain, the path was dry underfoot. No repetition of muddy ‘Moira’
today.
We were walking the route called the Hamilton
Hike round the Winton Estate, where the Strollers had once gone for Christmas
Lunch transported on an LRT double decker bus!
Our starting point was at the Sinclair Bridge
in the centre of the village following the Ormiston Express train route, which
has been decommissioned and gives respite along with the Walkers Roost Box. This
is basically a wooden seat made to resemble a train! Passing another walking
group coming the other way, we crossed the river by Kingfisher Bridge and went
along the edge of a small wood and pond, till we met up with the old Ormiston
to Pencaitland Railway line. We then followed it until it met the junction for
the Macmerry Line. Our guide was a bit hazy at this point as we had a choice of
3 ways to go, but luckily a ‘local’ set us on the right ‘tracks’ and we set off
again along the Hamilton Hike.
We stopped for a short time to enjoy a break
and some lunch, partly because we realised that we weren’t where we should be
on the Hamilton Hike but were following the walk that had been scouted!
Following the path back to the entrance to Winton House we then got back on the
right path and then met the group of walkers doing the route the other way that
we had met earlier.
The walking route was nice and easy and one
we will revisit at a later date hopefully when the forecast is better.
Our thanks to Ronnie for arranging and
getting the weather to go with it.
Look forward to seeing you on the next
walk.
