Dalrkil one

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Review of Slow Ways route Dalrkil one (Dalry to Kilwinning)
I walked this route on a very wet day in July 2023. Fortunately, I found the route easy to follow with no significant challenges except for the need to take care when walking along the winding sections of the country road which it mainly follows. Views were limited by low cloud, but on a clear day I would imagine they would be very pleasant. The route out of Dalry is via Bridgend (past the railway station) and Blair Road (past the intriguingly-named Stoopshill Farm). After crossing the Dalry bypass, the route follows country roads bordered by woodland and farmland. There is much of interest here including old buildings (several carefully restored) and verges full of wild flowers. However there is no pavement for virtually the whole route, so diligence is essential. After three or four kilometres of this type of walking, the route leaves the road and heads along the bed of an abandoned railway (part of the Garnock Valley Cycle Route), crossing a towering viaduct in the process, to reach the edge of Kilwinning. At this point the way is not entirely clear from the mapped route. However there is a grass path down to the river bank and then a packed soil path along the bank. This is the poorest section of the route in terms of surface and would be best avoided by wheelers or anyone not wearing fairly robust footwear. Instead, it would be relatively easy to follow the housing estate roads (Viaduct Circle, River Walk and Waterside Road), rejoining the mapped route at a much-improved section of path at the end of Highfield Street. I persevered with the river bank walk but either way it is then a short distance along good paths to Lauchlan Way (cross carefully as there is no pedestrian crossing here) and around the corner into Kilwinning Main Street and the end of the route. All in all, a mostly well-mapped and easy to complete route with its main limitations being the long pavement-less sections of roadway (cyclists will be fine – many passed me on the day) and the muddy section near the end (but with an easy alternative).

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