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Annual General Meeting

On Tuesday 7 February, 29 members enjoyed an excellent meal at the Boswell Hotel, then were joined by another 4 members for the business of the Annual General Meeting.

Reports from the Chairman, Outings Convener, Treasurer and Membership Secretary were given followed by confirmation of the subscriptions for 2012.

One committee member retired, and one new member was elected, Steven Anson, keeping the strength of the committee at 10.

Finally, the Draft Outings Programme was accepted with no changes.

2011 Outings Report      2012 Committee      Outings Programme

2011 Day Trips Attendance      2011 Weekend Trips Attendance

February Day Trip to Galloway

Much to my surprise the number of e-mails and texts continued to rise leading up to the day walk to the Galloway Hills.  I was expecting the usual 8 to 10 walkers and ended up with a list of 19 !  It might have had something to do with Willie planning to knock off his penultimate Corbett ..?  I had arranged to meet the direct travellers at the tea room in Carsphairn, which was situated in the local shop.  Steven had notified the owners to expect 8 walkers, but when I arrived it was standing room only and the coffee and cakes were flying out of the kitchen.  With everyone fed and watered, arrangements were made to leave a couple of cars in St John's Town of Dalry .. thanks to James .. and we all congregated at Forrest Lodge below the Rhinns of Kells.

The low level walkers set off for a southerly walk through the forest to meet up with the Southern Upland Way, which would then take them into Dalry .. a fine walk by all accounts (see below .. Ed).  The high level group set off in a westerly direction and headed for Loch Harrow.  Signposts guided us through the forest to open ground and a snowy path led up onto Polmaddy Gairy.  At this point we were overtaken by a young skier heading for the summit of Corserine.  On nearing the summit, he sped by us at great speed on his way down the hill.  After a summit photo, the decision was made to head back the way we had come, as there was little point in walking along the ridge in the clag.  Time would also have been quite tight due to the surprising amount of snow underfoot.  It didn't seem to take long to retrace our steps back to the cars.

Once the walk was over we headed into Dalry for some refreshment.  The Clachan Inn was very welcome with its open fire and the added bonus of some 'Old Speckled Hen' on draught.  A perfect end to a good day in the hills.

Mark Setford

The low level group of seven, in addition to enjoying a great route in quite pleasant weather conditions, encountered or took part in various other sports ...

•   Motor sport .. car testing, or driving skills testing, or both, were loudly happening on the forest tracks to the west of Shinmount Fire Tower.
•   Ice skating .. the forest tracks at the higher levels were extremely difficult to negotiate without a pair of YakTrax, or ice skates!
•   Bog snorkelling .. the Southern Upland Way to the east of Coom Burn was a complete bog, which would be impossible to traverse on a warmer day without snorkelling gear or a change of clothes.
•   Erotic banana eating .. as a celebration of our ascent of Waterside Hill (172m) towards the end of the route, Ian and Iris gave this technical demonstration - further details from them by phone or e-mail.

... none of which, unfortunately, were photographed!

AMcG

Social Evenings

Join us on the first Tuesday evening of every second month at the Counting House, 2 St Vincent Place, from 7pm
to talk (among other things!) about past and proposed outings over a drink or two.

The dates are noted in our Outings Programme, and a reminder will be sent by e-mail a week beforehand.

NEXT EVENING is TUESDAY 6 MARCH!